The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1886-06-17

be INDUCED only by people of means.
Some of the large hotels of this city get
their water supply by the aid of these
wells, aud there are private families of
wealth who have had these wells bored.
The cost of an artesian well is COM
paratively small now to what it was ten
years ago, competition in the business
having had the effect of reducing the
price. These wells are made very much
in the same way as are those from which
oil is obtained. The great difference be-
tween the two, however, is that the water
does not usually spout" Ii generally
makes its way to the surface and is
pumped up to whatever height is wanted.
The possession of an artesian well, there
fore, involves that of a pump, the cost of
the pump and the expense of running it,
When a well-borer is employed he con-
tracts to sink thewell at so much per foot.
He cannot, of course, tell how far down
he will have to go to reach water in desir-
able quantities. 1t may be 100 or 500
feet. 1t is the consumer who assumes the
risk of this. The price of work is from
$3.50 to $12 foot, according to the di-
ameter of the we'll and other considera-
tions. The borer sets up derrick SINH
lar to those used in the oil regions, and
fitted with walking-beam, pulleys and a
um. Then, by the ra sing and dropping
of a heavy weight, section of pipe two
or three feet long is driven into the ground.
When it has gone down so far that there
are only few inches protruding above
the surface, second section is screwed on
its top, the heavy weight is set in motion,
and this in turn goes down into the
earth. Section after section is screwed on
until the piping strikes rock. Meanwhile,
by means of what is called sand pump,
the piping has been kept clear of earth
and sand with which it soon becomes
choked.
When rock is reached the process
changes. The pipe, which has been
forced with some difficulty down through
Strata of earth, sand and gravel, remains
immovable against the solid stone, and if
the borer tried to drive it down with the
iron weight, something would break, and
that something would not be the rock.
A long cylindrical mass of steel, made so
that it will fit inside the piping, and
weighing between 300 and $500 pounds,
according to the hardness of the rock
and the diameter of the piping through
which it is to pass, is brought into play.
1t is shaped at the end something like
an ak. 1t is followed by a metal rope
through the piping. When it reaches the
bottom it is raised few feet by powerful
machinery, and then suddenly dropped
This splits the rock, and the broken
pieces are forced to the surface by means
of the sand pump. 1t is tiresome work
going through the rock. Sometimes it
takes several hours to bore one foot.
Very often when the rock-breaking is
going on the rope which holds the iron
breaker gives way, and the tool is left at
the bottom of the well. This is very
trying situation for the contractor, for
there is great danger that his work will
have to be stopped, and that he will lose
the money it has cost him, for the con,
tractor is always the loser in such in
stances as a matter of course. There are
implements specially made to recover the
breakers, but the process is tedious, and
sometimes the recovering apparatus If
itself lost. Gases have been known wher
wells few hundred feet deep, which have
cost thousand dollars or more, have be
come so choked up with recoverable i'm
plements that they have had to be aban
doned.
The cost of an artesian well can scarcel!
be estimated, owing to the competition
. already mentioned The expense to tn
! borer of fitting up his derrick at the spo
. where he is to make well is from 500 t,
1925. This is before earth can be broken
and it includes carriage of machinery
, boilers and derrick. OF couse this has t.
be recovered from the sum stipulated OF
/; per foot for boring, as the consumer con
tracts to pay only for every foot com
pleted, and to take no risks whatever Th
borers say that the competition that ha
reduced the price of an artesian well b.
so per cent in four years has made the oc
8 cupation of borer a precarious one.