Tombstone epitaph., 1890-02-01
The DiIining Rod.

Observing recently letter on the subject of the divining rod induces me to contribute notes based upon prac tical results extedding over a period of 1 thirty years, which 1 hope will en- tighten as well as interest your readers, who have at various times exhibited desire to understand this mysterious method of ascertaining the locality of water as we'll as metallic veins in min ing regions. In the first place, refer ence Is made in the Scriptures to the use of divining rod, and the Cornish miners are well acquainted with it's value in determining the run of metal liferous veins whose porosity enables water to reach its destination.
 have tried the divining rod in var ious countries with much success, notably in the Sierra Madre noun tains of Spain, the test resulting in the discovery of calamine, silver and lead; again in the interior of Norway, revealing the presence Of apatite; also in the sulphur and copper mines of Ireland, where l frequently eXperi- mented with different miners and ore dressers with interesting results. A dresser of copper ore, whose hair and beard had become sea-green by copper held in solution being deposited by the wind and rain, made good sub ject for a prospecting party. Again l discovered manganese on a nobleman's estate, but his agent disbelieved in the whole affair, especially when he heard of sane individual walking steadily over the mountains with an ash twig in his hands.
 have tried it with the same suc- cess over the iron range in Alabama, and I was the first to report upon the Canadian copper deposits at Sudbury, during he construction of the Cana dian Pacific Railroad, which have since developed into one of the largest and most valuable copper mining and smelling districts in America.
 As to the truth and correctness ot the rod there can be no doubt, but the results vary with different people pass ing over the same ground. and my ob- seryatiOnS have indicated that the best subjects were young men, especially those living in the neighborhood of iron deposits, where the water used for domestic purposes was impregnated to a greater or less degree with that metal.
 With regard to the divining rods application in locating the presence of water, it applies more particularly to vertical strata, which generally ap- proach nearer the surface. Any one having a rudimentary knowledge of geology knows that the earth's crust is composed of rocks, both compact and porous, and that a plentiful supply of water can always be relied upon in a temperate climate where the rainfall occurs at all seasons of the year, simply by making an open casting at right angles, and sinking a shaft in the most suitable strata. This subject is one the value of which cannot be over-estimated. and is, regret to say, little understood by country residents, whose water supply is usually taken within a radius of few feet from where the stops are thrown from the back door. The consequence is, that the slops easily percolate through the household, before having had an op- portunity to purify, and to this source much sickness may be attributed.
 For the information of your readers who wish to experiment with the rod, l say let them select pliable young branch of a tree which includes fork, the pr0ngs to be about eighteen inches in length. Bend the ends for the purpose of obtaining firm grasp. Hold the arms horizontally with the fork pointing upward, and commence walking slowly and steadily across the stratum, and not along its course. The presence of minerals or water, or both, will be indicated by the point of the fork yielding to the attraction un- derneath, and if the stratum is highly mineraIized or sufficiently porous to enable water to pass through the frac lures to its destination, the fork will continue to descend until it completes an arc of I60 degrees, resuming its original position as soon as the pros pector has passed beyond the influence
 T. BROWN ANDERSON.
 New York, January ?, 1890.
 Financial and Mining Record. |