Morning appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1877-1906, 1886-12-11
ARTESIAN WELLS.
THE CONDITIONS NECES-
sARY FOR THEIR
OUTFLOW.
What They Are-Benefits to the
Stat0-Etc.

pears in the Silver State:
A company is about to be organ
lied in Winnemucca for boring ar
tesian wells, expecting that the cit
liens of Nevada, and especially
Humboldt county, are willing to
take shares enough to furnish the
necessary amount of capital. The
| following will give some idea as tc
the possibility of finding artesiau
veins, and the probable benefit a
shareholder may expect by his in
vestrlent:
| WHAT Is An ARTESIAN WELL?
| An artesian well requires per-
vious stratum through which water
can readily pass, under and above
which the existence of water
tight layer is necessary, which Sc
curely embraces the porous stratum
Continue these layers in one d.
rection to an elevated region, where
the porous bed can afford sufficient
supply Of water, pitch it down on
another to a considerable depth,
tap this water vat bed at some
point lower than the outcrop or
fountain head, and the water will
flow cut at the bore to level with
the head, allowing for friction and
air pressure:
FORMATION OF THE VEIN.
The water finds its way through
the strata by two methods. In
close textured rocks it passes
through assures formed by fracture
or tubular channels formed by So
luton; in open textured rocks it
seeps through pores, permeating
the whole bed. The close textured
rocks belong chiefly to the crystal
line class, such as GRANTEES and
greenstones. and the limestones.
Our mines show how far we are
justified to hunt for water in that
class Of rocks. The open textured
rocks constitute continuous water
filed sheets, underspreading wide
areas. and almost certain to give
artesian water at the proper depths.
To this class belong beds Of sand,
gravel, sandstone, conglomerate and
and other rocks of loose, granular
texture. Both formations are ex
tensively found in this State.
COMBINING BEDS.
Of the combining lmperious beds,
the upper one is Of the greatest.im
portance. Suppose the lower one
were leaky,'1t the consequences would
be that the water would run through
it till it Games to an impervious
layer, but if the upper one should
penetrate. the water, under pressure
from the fountain head, would es-
cape, relieve the pressure, and pre-
vent the outflow. The best imper-
vious stratum is formed by a thick
layer of fine hardened clay; next |
comes strata of clayey shales, clayey
lime and sandstone; and last, but
not least, water itself. As the sur
face water rises and falls with the
land surface, the former will press
Just as much down as the artesian
will up, and extending generally
higher than the artesian vein. will
even add to the supply of the vein.
SUPPLY BY RAIN OR SNOW,
There is without doubt an i'm
mense quantity of subterranean
water in this State, derived from
some yet unknown source. But not
knowing how far this will support
he flow of an artesian well we have
to take into consideration the an
1ual rainfall of 10 inches, which
would give about $4,000 gallens
per day would therefore
Train one acre Of ground in one day
f the rainfall were only one inch.
But as the fountain head is always
m that elevated region, where the
all of rain or snow is considerably
heavier than in the flats, we can
ecurely say that we can draw -
nch supply, of which of course
'nly the smaller part enters the
round and the artesian vein. As
ong as snow and rain ls falling,
he vein draws directly upon it as
n open reservoir. say for seven
nonths in the year and will for the
emaining $50 days have to depend
n the water in the porous bed. 1t