Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1886-05-09
WIND FOR WATER
A Wonderful Well Punc,ures the Pan
handle A Texas wlnd.Cayern
Tapped--A Sand-Spout.
The Esnueia Cattle Company's Lande Pro-
duce Phenomenon Mysterious
RnmblinEs from Lower Depths.

@~'Aah @+fNFh AfflfAAtHs
''Iiello, when did youcome ingr said
GAZETTE man as he gased on the we'll
known auburn features OF Tom p. Day.
Got in town day or two ago. said
Mr.. Day" and I've a queer story TO tell
you.p
The GAZETTE man was aware Of Mr..
Day having been 10 the nfront,n out In
Dickens county engaged IN boring wells
on the splendid domain Of the Espuula
Cattle company.
"Queer story, ehg Let Tux GAZETTE
readers have II, MIR. Day. said the inter-
Viewer.
ave had some experiences ln this we'll
boring business said the lnteryiewee;
81 have been familiar with the OIL wells
OF Pennsylvania, with all classes Of arte-
sian wells and all kinds Of bOres,r and
Mr.. Days twinkling eyes seemed TO imply
some sort of q personal application TO
the newspaper man before him; but he
continued straight on; "My recent ex-
periences were beyond anything have
read OF or seen. II was about this time
last week when we were Il. work on
well for the Espuela folks, located
down in the southeast corner of Dickens
county, on Duck creek. Cattlemen all
know the point. We had reached depth
OF 275 feet with our boring tools, and so
I far had met with no Indications Of water,
/ The soil which had been penetrated was
\ of reddish clay and sand character. At
1 the depth mentioned our tools got
/ jammed and fast and we could make no
| Roadway. We had gotten evidently TO a
bed Of white sand, and we began hoisting
| the drill TO the surface. just then there
began a sound which can only describe
rs what a person might expect to feel and
hear In the midst OF a thundeT-cloud.
! While there was an absence OF lightning
there was heavy artillery-like intonation
Ia rumbling, muttering growl, sugges-
! tive OF our having tapped the very retreat
Of departed and lost souls. In fact,
for aught we know at the moment hades
itself had been reached With some con-
Germ for our own safety we were scarcely
able to more than hasten our prepara-
tons 10 get the drill out OF that thunder
storm in the lower regions.
eve had barely started the tool upward
when with mighty rush and in o twink
ling the whole apparatus was blown sky
ward, followed bya column OF dry white
sand, TO e height OF twenty-five feet, OF
course we all stood from under' we
got away, as 1t Were, and from Il reas-
surfing distance we listened and saw the
strangest phenomenon Of our wonderful
state yet related.
"HerA we saw magnificent column OF
pure white sand rising in the air TO O
height OF twenty feet or more, aud resem-
bling nothing so much as gushing foun
tain OF clear water, IL was quite evident
, / kaN hs ft4 fNtc gtaadV
flowing stream Of sand was gas or wind
There was no water about IT, We came
closer to the novel flowing well and coulC
not detect any gaseous odor. 1t was eyi
IDENTIFY blast OF cold air gushing NJ
from some mysterious depths and carry
Ing with IL this steady column OF sand
All that day the sand fountain
I continued without intermission. TIL
! heavy, rumblng, thunderlik
/ noise did not decrease, We were unde
! cided what TO do, we were not exactl,
/ boring for fancy sand fountains on thu
\ bald prairles, nor did we want wind, W
have plenty Of wind,n aud Mr.. Da
. seemed inclined TO fall back into reverb
, while he gazed flxedly at THE GAzETTl
man.
, aBut, you did something's
4 eyes; yes, we waited until next da,
: and poured barrel of water down tn
, well as a sort OF hint; but the only effec
= was TO dampen down the sand supply
! which at once ceased TO now, while tn
usual blast of wind kept up regula
|, lick. BY the third day Mr.. Lomax cam
r down TO look at the wonder, and W
a thought we detected an odor Of gas. Sc
4 placing piping as TO carr
: a portion Of the wind or gas I
y a safe distance, we endeayored to ignlt
IL but il would not burn. We thought
possible that II was carbonic acid gas
but could not then test the matter. lei
the ranch last Sunday night, and our san
). and wind fountain wae still epoutln
r away. For some twenty-five feet belo'
n the surface the opening is about a foot
!, diameter; then II narrows down to fot
D. inchesn
"And will you abandon your phenon
enon?n asked the paper man.
"Oh, no; am in town to buy larg'
Is iron casing. We viii try TO put the ca
ing down and then bore on, provided u
wind does not hold the tools back. We
there's considerable pressure; bucket
"a water set over the opening is hurled awa
u with force"
~ "Whatis your theoryebout this pecphi
now OF Wlnui MT. lay was a1hNS'
He looked undecided as 70 his answe
but it was quite clear that he had built
a beautiful pct theory touching the wo
% derful wells he was reluctant To- yet
~ the world know more. Pressed Tor J
~ Div. he said that this draugh. oil VII
20 doubtless came through an immen
chain Of cayerns, extending from sol
point on the gulf coast and tFayeii
ncrthwesterly, aching in much the saI
80 way as an accumulation Of water una
" the surface begets artesian wells
aig Mr. Day seema Of the opinion that
Nc has struck very reservoir OF wind, an
considering this as political year OF !
no state, deems It fortunate and timely .
sh insuring desirable and novel supply
all campaign purposes. He leaves
civ tonight for Dickens county ana
will hear more from the wonderful WI
I'D fountain Of the Panhandle In the ne
100 future,
70. MIR Day needs no Endorsement on
rs. nart OF TnE GAzRrTE as 70 his rsilhall'
We and tire cold. blooded--or rather GO
les wiuded--facts above set forth speak
49, 4