The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1885-08-15
.AETESiAN WELLS.
Facts .bnHt Some Bored III New
Orleans.
n. o. S;atcS.l

The delta Of the Mississippi, on Whicl
The city of New Orleans is built, i'll fact
the whole of the Mississippi Valley, is
proven by its formation to have once
becn an arm of the sea. Not only did il
extend to Baton Rouge, where the frs
blunS are seen, but clear to Cape Girar
dcau, Mo-, where the ailuvial deposit
in its magnitude ceases.
a few years ago when the j"ttics were
being built, a great deal ofthc stone fol
he mattresses was from the bluffs al
Nicksburg.
Digging into the soft rock was found
marvel to the people aud a treat &c
gcOlOgistS in the shape of a bed OF oys-
ter shells, whose vast proportions
showed this family of ,nollusks to have
belonged to 4 prehistoricagc. In many
places in the a!luvial bottoms, known
by the common but Inappropriate name
of suhc swamp arc to bo found the
shell banks and other records of the
former presence of the sea; hence the
theory that the whole Of the valley is
! one vast accrction, formed by the slow
but steady action of the river, is not
only tcnablc but universally accepted.
Many arc the instances, hundreds OF
miles north of New Orleans, where I:
farmer digginga q we'll has been astound-
cd by digging into 4 bed of cypress logs,
that almost indestructible wood whose
life is hard to compute, and the general
verdict has been in the alIuvial section
that the vegetable stratum has no bot
tom.
In almost every section of the coun-
;,l,,
bored have a natural and perpetual
flow above hesurfacc, are to be found,
some sections more favored than others
requiring a less depth of boring, others
requiring patient drilling throug h rock,
gravel, and sand before the depth ncces-
sary to a natural flow is found.
Generally in the Mississippi Valley
such attempts have either been abortivc
or have never been tried forlack of fcOn-
lidence. Lately, however, some expert
mcnts have been tried in this city, with
entire success, which demonstrates
the feasibility of artesian wells
here which furnis', Il constant supply of
water.
The Southern Brewery has largely en-
tered into this experiment. and are now
just finishing the third well, all three
of which were thus described to a
States reporter by Capt. O. l.. Aldrich
and MIR. VIM. a. Green, who are en-
gagged in tho work Of boring;
Well No. l was sunk I02 feet, and
stream at the rate of IS gallons per
minute, with 4 ten foot head above the
line of water in the gutter.
Wcll No. , was sunk 400 feet and gave
Il voluntary flow OF n gallons, with
about the Same head. These wells were
put down to furnish 60 gallons per min
ute, and when pump was attached
the company from the first secured Is
gallons per minute. That volume has
increased to 90, and when the
water from one well is cut Off by stop
cock from the other, the remaining one
furnishes the quantity Of both COM
bined filling tn" pump without any
back last.
The third well has The casing down
l25 feet, tho four-inch pipe down go
feet and the tlrccinch pipe 800 feet.
There is flow OF artcSian water now,
but as the projected depth is $50 feet,
there is no record Of the present 1unn-
tity.
The reporter tasted some Of the wafer,
which is highly charged with carhonic
acid gas, the same as used in tho man
of soda water. The taste was
not unpleasant, and from the way il was
drunk by tho employees of tho brewery,
the taste can evidently be cultivated
until its drinking becomes pleasure.
The temperature is uniformly ~
degrees, and the water is pure, contain
ing nothing injurious TO health. 1t docs
not hurt machinery, but on the contrary
frees boilers from scale in an admirable
manner. The reporter has tasted Blue
Lick, Saratoga, GCyscr Hot Springs,
the California Castalian, and pronounc-
ed this water not more unpleasant to
the novice than any of them !; in fact it
is not near so unpleasant as Blue Lick
and Castaiian.
This water is remarkably free from
earthly salts. II contains no suIphatc
or phosphate, no sulphurcttcd hydro
gen, nor any metallic solution except
traces of iron.
Some difficulties in boring were
At a depth of13O feet a
solid log Of cypress two a half feet in
diameter was scncountcrcd, and fourteen
feet below that rotten stump was
struck. No rock or stone was struck
the only matter at a great depth being
very fine quicksand in which small
black PARTICLES showed the first for
nation of granite, which might yet
take thousands OF years to develop.
Many people pay the wells visit daily
10 quatr the water, and one gentleman,