Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1890-01-13
A SCIENTIFIC DIvINING ROD.
Inventor Heerdeuen Discovers Water
For u brewery.


Inventor Heerdeucn Discovers water
For brewery.
Opposite the Anton Hupfel brewery, In
ST. Anus avenue, Morrisania, New York,
a steam pump has been mt work drawing
water from driven well for the last three
days. The well Is out in stony field,
perhaps $50 feet from the avenue. It rep
resents the results OF the first practical
application in this country of an electrical
Invention for the discovery of subterranean
water currents, which Is said to have been
used with much success in Russia by the
inventor, John Hoerdegcn.
BY a series Of experiments Mr.. Heerde-
gen recently undertook TO convince scien-
tific men of the genuineness of his discov-
cry. He says that he can go into n building
and locate from q top floor the floor below
on which there is a length of hose filled
with water, naming at the same time the
approximate volume Of the stream. He
succeeded, after being driven about blind
folded, In finding location just above the
aqueduct, and stated IL feet as the approx
mate diameter of the stream under him.
Mr.. Hipfel Is now taking water from tho
city mt an annual expense of about 5000.
He has made two or three efforts in the
past to secure an effective driven well. The
most expensive Of these experiments was
carried out fourteen or fifteen years ago on
ground Just back Of the brewery. An arte-
sian well was driven down 1900 feet at a
cost of about $1,000. No water was OBJ
tained. The Ebling brewery, near by, had
similar experience. It's well was bored
nearly 100 feet. No water was secured,
and the well was given up as a bad job
Some weeks ago Mr.. Heerdegen under.
took to find water under the Hupfel prop
| grty ut depth wfHirh would not make the
boring too costly, and In sufficient volume
! to supply the brewery. lie made careful
examination of the land and wandered
over II for some time before he found the
| right spot with his diviner. At length he
stopped where the well is now.
"Here IL is," he exclaimed won viii
| f1nd water about thirty feet below the SUR
face, and you can get a stream of at least
| thirty gallons a minute"
A. Duh, of Fihy-first street and Seventh
avenue, who has confidence in the inyen-
| ton of Mr.. Heerdegen, agreed to do the
boring. lie put in his apparatus at once,
the same ordinarily used for artesan wells
At depth of twenty-six feet bed of rock
was struck. This was little over two feet
| thick, and as soon as II had been pierced
some water was found. At thirty feet
stream was discovered which fully justi-
fed the prediction Of Mr.. Heerdcgen. The
| well was run down nine feet further, and
then the test OF the permanence of the flow
| began. AT p. M, yesterday stream of
fiffy gallons per minute had been running
| for seventy-two hours. This is regarded
by all well diggers as a sufficient evidence
1
John Heerdegen IL an electric engineer
who was born in Bavaria and educated
there. For several years, however, he
| lived at MOSCOW. He came To this country
| only few months ago. His invention Is,
| as yet, neither patented nor sold. Therefore
| the inventor refuses to talk about its
nature at present. He says, however, that
| 1t IL strictly scientific and has no relation to
the "divining rod" of provincial supersti-
| ton.
| A lump of metal, looking like a "plumb-
bob, hangs by yerytine wire of bras from
small electrical appliance held in the hand.
The length of the wire is a little over two
feet. The metal is heavy enough to hang
straight down as the holder walks along.
II vibrates when in the vicinity of water.
The strength of the vibration indicates the
volume OF water. How the depth of the
current from the surface Is ascertained is
not yet explained. Those who are familiar
with the efforts Of large breweries aud
| other manufacturing concerns to secure
steady supplies of water from artesian
| wells say that MIR. Heerdegen's invention,
| If genuine, as It appears to be, is very
valuable.