Morning journal and courier., 1889-04-29
GREAT ARTISAN WELL.
1t Furnishes Hot Water From 1.400
 Feet Esepth for a Large Hotel.

1t Furnishes Hot Water From 400
 Feet Depth for a Large Hotel.
 Engineering News.l
 Florida abounds in lakes, river and springs of great volume of discharge, fed mainly by subterranean reservoirs of un known extent in the rotten nmbestone for nation which underlies considerable part of the peninsula. Some of the springs in among the more important may be ment-
 toned the following:
 The Silver spring, which supplies very
 considerable portion of the flow of the St
 Johns river, and the Homosassa river on the west coast, which flows from a rocky basin about eighty feet in diameter and forms ( river over fifteen miles long, flowing with { current of five miles per hour toward the gulf About Twelve miles from Tallahassee is great spring said to be 1, 800 feet deep ! with an outflow that forms 8 broad lake oi \ ice cold water. But perhaps the most inter \ esting of these outbursts of subterranear ! waters are found along the coast line, five ol ! more miles from shore, like the one opposite s5t. -.ue>--si-~y --hiAh raA-eeetih1y AGAess tA. ! surface of the ocean in circle over half ( \ mile in diameter, and forms flat cone witt | an apex slightly elevated above the genera | surface. Another of these great ocear ! springs burst out at Key West, and smaller ! ones show themselves at many points along \ the coast of Florida.
 As underground water is SO abundant in I this region, and Is very generally under suf- 6cient pressure to force it to and above the ground surface, it Is little to be wondered at the artesian wells are there popular and to a considerable extent relied upon for water supply. But the most wonderful we'll yet ,1, hat saf | fhon v,7f down by MT. H. M. Flsgler for his great ho- tels at St. Augustine.
 The artesian we'll at Ponce de Leon was commenced in November, 1886, with di- ameter of 12 inches, and by February, 1887, it had reached a depth of 1890 feet below surface with a yield of 0,00e. .00O gallons of water in twenty-four hours and a pressure of discharge sufficient to force the jet 42 feet above the mouth of the well.
 Though this great volume of water was struck at point only 1, 100 feet below the
 surface, and the quantity was more than ample even to meet the demands of the mammoth hotel which it was proposed to supply, at the earnest request of his super intendent MT. Flagler had consented to sink
 the we'll still deeper in an attempt to pierce,
 If possible the fossiliferous limestone for-
 nation, and practically test the question of
 increase in temperature in the water. But
 unfortunately the boring tools were lost just
 as the ], ,4O0-toot point was being reached,
 and the experiment was for the time at least
 abandoned. It may be proper to state here
 that the purpose of sinking deeper was to
 obtain water of sufficiently high temperate
 ure to be utilized in supplying heat in the
 hotels, and possibly power.
 With the temperature of 92 degs. Fah- renheit actually secured after the water had been piped, this hope has been realized to the extent of supplying huge bathing pool in the Alcazar hotel with water at S2 degs. Fahrenheit, as above described, and in rem dering all radiators and artificial heat in the hotels unnecessary. Ths water, conveyed in a system of pipes, does all the heating the climate demands.
 While the volume of water discharged Is greater than that of any artesian well in this country of which we have any knowledge, the pressure at the point of discharge Is also over four times that of the artesian well al Charleston, s. O., which is the nearest bor- ing on the level of the Atlantic coast. This pressure is utilized at St. Augustine by 8 turbine wheel, and the power obtained runs over 150 electric lights used about the hotels and grounds, and other machinery. Elec- trieians note that this power is the most uni
 form of any yet employed by them for g similar purpose.