St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1876-10-27
Water Supplies.


ST. Johmshury does not stand alone
i'll her troubles concerning a supply of
water: there is hardly il town or vii
lagc in all England that has not been.
or has not got to he. VcNcd with this
moment"us question. Old time toun-
talnS have dried up, rivers have dwin-
died or been polluted. and smaller
streams have failed altogether. All
sorts of schemes are proposed to remedy
the deficiency. some of which are ctfica-
ciou> and many are not. As rule the
large towns and cities fare the best. be
cause of their ability To carry out works
on Il large scale. borrowing money and
sprradn" the expense over "A long term
of years.
Aqueducts and arteSian wells, both
involving large expenditure, are safely
undertaken 10y towns, but are beyond
the means of small villages. These lat
ter in some instances have been obliged
to rely on rain water gathered into clay
ciStelns from house roofs. The science
of geology. united with knowledge of
the general currents of streams, has
brought To light many sources of water
10y means of aItrsian wells. and it is
probable that still greater progress will
he made in this dnccliou as time goes
ON.
Onr of the most successful expert
ments of this kind has Just been com
plcted at the fashionable Watering place
bennington, in Warwick shire. 1t j.
Il town of some 25.OUO inhabitants. one
hundred miles y. W. from London: Il
place of resort in winter tor those in
high life who engage i'll field spots. and
i'll summer IL rillying centre for tourists
(moStlN Amcrican>) bound on II pill
gIimage to Shakcspcarc'> shrine AT
Stratford-" Avon. to Warwick Castle.
kcnilw"rtl. etc.
This town has hitherto drawn its sup
Lean, from which the place takes its
name, the water bcin" first pumped
into Il large cement lined basin on the
bank. whence it WAS filtered through
clean sand into "A second basin Il few
feet below. (GhiS sand was washed
often in simple mill made for the pur-
pose. and used over and over again.
From the lower basin the water WAS
forced 10y powerful pumps through Il
of IL hill some 300 feet high, Il mile dis
tant, and thence distributed by gravi-
tatiOn to all parts of the town. The
supply was limited only 10y the capacity
of the engines and pumps. and was
quite sufficient for all reasonable wants
but the quality of the water was very
unsatisfactory on account of partial i'm
purity and especially its hardness. 1t
is so hard that soap has no affinity with
it, but curdles OF coagulates like cam
phOr with water. 1t is also unfit fOr
many culinary purposes. Tea made
with it is a poor cOncOction, except with
the help of soda, and even then it is
inky in colOI and insipid in taste. A
move was made a few years ago to pro
cure a supply of better water from some
other source, and much hot controversy
was indulged in before final decision
WIS arrived at-namely, to bore for an
artesian well. The prognostics of
science formed the scheme, but for many
IL weary month, while the uncertain
work was going on, the croakers reveled
in their doubts and skepticsm. The
result, however, justified the attempt
| Water was struck at the depth of ~
feet. and it came at once to the surface
The boring was continued to the depth
of I30 feet, the volume of water increas-
ing all the while, until there was a
steady flow of 650,O0O gallons each
twenty-four hours. This quantity is
ample for every possible need, and the
quality is all that could be desired
The same engines and pumps. the SAME
pipes for distribution. and the same
reservoir will be used as heretofore.
Another town has recently come un-
der my notice, from visit there
namely: Eastbournc-a handsome and
growing seaside place on the English
channel, near Brighton. A company
was formed there a few years ago fol
the purpose of sinking an artesian we'll
They carried Oh the work of boring to