The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-06-12
Water Wltcll1ug.

G. f. Latimer, now in Colorado, is a
water witch. He was recently interviewed
by reporter who propounded the follow
ing questions ...
"HoW do you propose to proceed Z
Where is your Instrument"
"Here it is, replied Mr.. Latimer, pro-
ducing the stick-a forkcd twig, each prong
being about foot long. 81 take fork Of
this stick in each hand, holding the point
upward, and walk over the ground. If
there is water or other substance under
meath near, the point will be attracted to-
wards it, 1t will be attracted by anybody,
by stove as well as, any thing else, as you
may see" Here the young man undertook
to illustrate the s,eodus operandt upon the
stove and the bewondered reporter saw It
gradually bend over towards the heater,
with about the same delibcration which
characterizes the ''devil" when he attempts
to rekindle the FIRE. 1t went over and at
last pointed towards the warming pan like
the finger of destiny. .,. ..-. 20"
"Bravol" exclaimed the reporter. "Now
can you tell me whether there Is silver in
the pile Of ore lying on that table 2" The
specimens referred to were from the sup
posed new carbonate district in Boulder
county, the character and value of which
are not known. ... .....
MIR. Latimer said he thought he could
tell. lie had not, however, yet had any
experience with ores. He would try. But
he must have silver on the stick in order to
determine the presence Of this metal in the
ore before. him. Could any one furnish
the necessary silver2 Half dozen editors
and printers said scertainly," and went
in their pockets, and were all on the eve of
furnishing the requisite piece of coin, when
the office boy, who had taken the hint from
the foreman, returned from the business Of
flee with the necessary amount, which was
brand new from the hand of Dr. Linder-
man. rr-rys, .N,.ss ,tr. l.t#| r# H
"some alloy in that, ;" said Wr. Latimer,
''but guess 1t will do" So saying, he
placed tho dime in slit at the end of the
rod, and took it in his hands as before.
Gradually, but surely and persstently, the
rod went over with great dignity until the
vortex touched one particular piece Of ore
top rock, and very shabby in'appearance.
"rhere's silver in that piece" said Mr..
Latimer. ps,
"Sure as you live. You can bank on
This piece was then taken out Of the pile,
8t|u kuo TOu was uelu over inc remaining
portion, with the same effect, though It
came down more deliberately. There's
some left, said the experimenter, 'but it's
nearly oil inotother p'ecG'T t
'Try 1t on the hammer. Is The stick went
down, but in going turned toward the ore,
thus carrying out the theory of the manipu-
lator, that ''like draws like" & That's his
motto .i' 4 d "fgta f'HN N N
''Can you find water with, the, rod, as
others boast they can Z" ~ al'5
every time" N@ sa"2' w
GLOW can you tell whether It is water
or other matter that attracts2 II you 20
into the mineral regions and your diver
goes down, how will you determine but
what the attraction is water Z"
: 'fOh, that's easy enough we 90 on the
ground Of affinity. Like attracts like. II
we want to hunt for silver we ppt silver on
the stick; IL we want gold we pit gold on
the stick, and 70 with iron, coppss, etc. No
bait 10 required to find water or tM but ,is
required In searching for oil othG 5htioles.,'
"How do you account for thtsAA6uence