The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1886-07-14
ARTEsrAN WELLS.
The Difficulties and Expense Of BOZ.
Ing Hundreds OF Eeaf

Hhe DifficuIttes and Expense Of HOrs
Ing Hundreds Of Feet.
The cost of an artesian well is compare
lively small now to what ii was ten years
ago, competition ia the business having
lad the effect of reducing the price. These
wells are made very much in the same way
"a are those from which oil is obtained.
The great difference between the two, how.
eyer, is that the water does not usually
"spout." 1t generally makes its way to
the surface and is pumped up to whatever
height is wanted. The possession of an
artesian well, therefore, involves that Of q
pump, the cost of the pump and the expense
of running it.
When well borer Is employed he contracts
30 sink the well OF SO much per foot He
cannot, of course, tell how far down he will
hove to go to reach water in desirable guam
titles. 1t may be one hundred or five hun
dred feet. It is the consumer who assumes
the risk of this The price of this work is
from So. so to $l2 foot, according to the
diameter of the we'll and other considera-
tons. The borer sets up derrick similar
to those used in the oil regions, and fitted
with walking beam, pulleys and drum
Then, by the raising and dropping of .
heavy weight, a section of pipe two or three
feet long is driven into the ground. When
1t has gone down SO far that there are only
few inches protru1ing 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 a sand pump, the piping has
been kept clear Of earth and sand, with
which it soon becomes choked
When rock Is reached the process
,hanges. 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 5000 and
$500 pounds, according to the hardness OF
through which it Is to pass, is brought into
play. 1t is shaped at the end something
like an axe. 1t is lowered by metal rop,
through the piping. When it reaches the
bottom it Is raised a few feet by powerful
machinery and then suddenly dropped
This splits the rocks and the broken pieces
are forced to the surface by means Of the
sand pump. It is tiresome work going
through the rock Sometimes it takes sew
eral 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 Of
the bottom of the WE'LL This is very try.
Ing situation for the contractor, for there
Is great danger that his work will have to
be stopped, and that he will lose the money
1t has cost him, for the contractor ia always
the loser in such instances, as O matter of
course. There are implements specially
made to recover the breakers, but the pro-
cess is tedious, and sometimes the recover
ing apparatus is itself lost. Gases have
been known where wells, q few hundred
feet deep, which have cost 81 900 or more,
have become so choked up with irrecoyer-
able implements that they have had to be
abandoned.
The cost of an artesion we'll can scarcely
DO estimated, owing to the competition al
ready mentioned. The expense to the bore,
Of fitting up his derrick at the spot where
he Is to make q we'll is from $40 to $l25.
This is before the earth can be broken, and
IT includes carriage of machinery, boilers and
derrick. or course this has to be recovered
from the sum stipulated on per foot foi
boring, as the consumer contracts to pay
only for every foot completed, and to take
no risks whatever. The borers say that the
competition that has reduced the price Of
an artesian well by fifty per cent in four
years has made the occupation of borer
precarious one.