The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-06-05
THRoUGH 500 FEET OF mock.
A Pennsylvania OII-wen derrick In Opern-
lion In ForiY-thlrd Strect.

A derrick similar TO those used in the oil
regions for sinking artcsan wells is in opera
ton in East Forty-thrd street near Third
avenue The firm employed s from Pennsyl-
vania and the most Of the machinery in use
has seen service in that State. The we'll Is now
over five hundred feet deep. Boring will BIO
suspended at tho end Of to-doys work In order
that the we'll may be- tested to learn whether It
will yield the requisite quantity Of water. For
this purpose il will he tubed some two hundred
feet down. and steam pump will be applied.
1t is expected that the well will yield 1.2OO or
1l0O barrels Of water in twelve hours. Tho
well If designed to furnish water Tor large
silk mill. ~
A derrick some eighty or. ninety feet high
stands over the well. in which there arc rI'ls
for holding thousand feet OF rope two inches
in diameter. Tho rope runs from the reels
over Il pulley ut tho top OF the derrick. An iron
grappcs tho rope short distance above the
surface and connects it with the end OF
wooden working beam that Is oscilluted by
and down about twenty inches. On tho end OF
the rope Is the dril-compOscd of II point.
stem and some toggle, Weighing about 2,OOO
with the oscillntng beam Is screw Tor lower
ing the drill rs It cuts its way into the earth.
There Is also an iron lever by which the drt is
turned part way around every time II strikcs;
Tho entire 500 feet Of the well in Forty-third
street have boon bored through solid rock
the hardest rock | ever saw, said the expo
riencod man mt the rope. some days we havo
made rs much as eighteen feet. and then agnin
We haven't gone through more than a foot in
twelve hours. 1t would just batter the point Of
the drill. aud we would have TO haul It up and
sharpen it, Ordinarily point in this rock will
last half or three quarters OF an hour. We can
tell by the feeling when the drill Is battered. IL
bounds instead of cutting into the stone. Put
your hand on the iron and see how plainly you
can feel the drill cut at the end Of the 5OO-foot
cable,
The drills are steel-pointed. md they nrc
sharpened in the forge here. They are tenn
pered by pouring cold water on them. You sec
they are chisel-shaped. and when we turn them
around they make n round hole. This well Is
six and fve-eghths inches in diameter. We
pump the sand out by hauling out the drill and
letting down the sand pump. The drauRht is
applied to the end Of the piston aud thus all the
sand is sucked M into the tube when the pump
is hauled up. Sometimes wO lose drills or the
rope breaks. In that cHse we have graphing
contrvanccs for getting them out Whom u rope
breaks in the well It coils in u spiral. leaving
hole straight down in the centre OF the coil. An
iron with barbs on 1t Is let down into the hole,
and when IL comes up it brings the rope with it,"
The sand pump IL u tube OF iron nearly as
large ns the bore OF the well. and about seven
feet long. and IT works ms described above. The
sand" taken out Of this we'll IL almost fine
as -four. and the men say that the rock 1t comes
from Is granite. Water is now standing in the
well to within six feet Of the surface. In an
other well recently sunk In this city. now yield
ing 400 barrels 81 water in twelve hours. the
water Is rs soft us rain wutcr. aud very pure.
The boring has been in progress about six
weeks. Ii costs eight dollars u foot. squad
OF Interested persons may DO seen around the
we'll at any hour Of the day.