The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1875-09-01
Finding Nater-A Simple Well
Anger.

The continued prevalence of empty
cisterns and dry wells prompts me tc
give your readers my experience in water
finding, which, not being patented, costs
them nothing but the perusal.
About fifteen years ago | came to
Chatworth, ILL.,, then railroad station
with but one house. The country was
thinly settled, and the season had been
unusually dry. We had but one we'll at
the station, and that scarcely supplied
sufficient water for drinking. Water
must be had, and | had not the remotest
idea how deep | would have to go to
find it. All the methods Of boring | had
ever witnessed were decidedly TOO ex-
pensve to suit the condition of my
finances, and digging without knowing
how deep | would have to go, was risk
ing more than / cared to invest in such
a lottery. In this dilemma, | concluded
to try plan of my own. / accordingly
made pod auger that would bore a hole
about two inches in diameter On the
upper end of the shank of this auger |
made an eve that would receive a half
inch hook, then taking several rods of
half-inch round iron, l shrank hexagon
nuts on them Mt intervals of about two
feet, to prevent my hands from slipping,
while pulling the 2uger up. | then made
handle about two feet long, that could
readily be fastened anywhere on the rods,
and with an eye turned on one end OF
each rod, and hook on the other, | was
prepared to go to boring.
With this apparatus | bored to a
depth of sixty-four feet in one day, when
l found a good vein of water The last
three or four feet, however, consumed
nearly one-half of this time, as | found
kind of hard pan directly over the
water, which would not slip on the aucer,
but adhered to it so tenaciously that |
could only bring up an inch or two of it
at a time.
| subsequently tried in other places,
but failed to find water any nearer the
surface of the ground, but was prepared
TO 90 TO digging with some degree Of as
surance that my labor would not be
thrown away.
Since then have always kept an auger
of this kind, and, as hundreds of farmers
can testify, it is water witch that can
always be relied upon. Any blacksmith
who knows how to make pod auger, can
make a rig of this kind at a trihing
expense, and it will be the most profitable
investment, for a small one, that he can
possibly make, as it costs but little TO
keepit in order; and almost any farmer
would be willing to pay fifty cents or a
dollar for the use of it to find water. |
before commencing to dig well.
When boring with an auger of this |
kind, man should never stop until he |
gets as deep as he intends TO 90. as |
surface water may come in and interfere |
with his work And when he strikes n /
vein of water he should be particular to |
notice how quickly it rises, as a good |
vein will rise almost instantly. while
water that comes up slowly is not worth
digging to. While boring, there should
always he about six inches of water kept
in the hole, but if too much water is
used, it will create slush, and render the
auger hard to pull out If, while I'M
hooking the rods, one should be acct
dentally dropped in the hole, it can be
recovered by bending one of the hooks
to one side, which will enable it to catch
On corner of the lost rod, and bring il
up, or, what is better, short rod, with
he hook bent in this manner, might al
ways accompany the auger, to be used in
,ase of necessity, and thus save bending /;
he rods. Such an accident, however,
an only occur through carelessness, as I
be rods cannot possibly unlock while in $
be hole.-Cor. Western Rural. u