Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1892-05-24
AaresIAs WELLS IN SOUTH oAsorA

The story OF the artesian basin undei
part of south Dakota seems hbulous
II 10 even NOR. astonishing than th'
wealth of coal that underlles the farms
of North Dakota. God does, indeed
move In mystcriou. ways Ills wonder,
to perform when to the poor farmer
amid the cold blasts Of the Northern
winters, lie distributes coal that IL to b'
had Tor the taking of 10. and when under
the south Dakota .oil, that would be a.
rich a. any In the world were u but
moI.tenei, lie seem. to have placed a
great lake, ar az some would have Ne be
liryc q vast sea.
t'nder the Jim River Valley, In both
States, there 1. said 20 lie q vast lake oi
crystal water. IN. fact IL amply prov
en- In south Dakota, where, betwcen the
northern and southern boundaries, there
are ALREADY more than hfty high-pre-.
SURE wells, or "gushers," az they cal
th-m there. 4 hundred, or pcrhsp.
more, low pressure wells, reaching 4
fiow closer to the surface, are at the foot
of the same basin. In sanborn, Miner
aud McCook counties almost every far
mer Ia. hi. osn low-pre.sure we'll. Hut
the wonderful wells are the hlgh-pres.
SURF, deep ones, wherein water J. struck
st from GDD to 1900 feet. The pressure
In some of these wells IL 30 pounds Ia
the .quar. inch. One at Woonsocket
supplies 300 gallons q minute. One al
iluron serve. for the towns water sys-
TEN aud fire protection. One at spring.
field has force enough for more than
the power used In q sixty barrel four
mill. one at Tyndall !. expected To IT.
rigate so acres. II !. calculated that a
two-Inch we'll will water lJO acres q
thrce-inch yell, GO acres; and four
Inch we'll, itsJ acres or more. hight
mile. above Huron q well !. used on a
farm that produces ~ bushels and ~
pounds of wheat Ia the acrr, a. against
Is bu.hel. In the unlrriystei land Of the
neighbofhood. Some Who profess Ia
know say that Oh. great basin IL inex'
hau.,ible, and that the opening of one
we'll near another does not effect the
nr.t one. Then, again, read that thl.
IL not wholly true. Hut, at all events,
no one doubt. the presence of . vast
body of water, and no well, even among
those that are h,e year. oil, shows any
signs of giving out. \ Law called the
Melville Township Irrigation Law, sP-
proved on March ., lsal, authorizes
township. to sink wells for public use,
and Ia issue bonds Ia defray the cost.
This ain. Ia make the mysterious basin
the property of the people. For farm
ine. the fow of water IL not needed dur.
ing half of the year. II 10 said that "
the .ub.oll !. vet, the crops Will need
no more water. The water should be
turned onto the land after the harvest, j,
and kept soaking Into II for four or i've
months. The drilling of wells goes on
apscc. Ia our county where there were
eight wells year ago, there Will lie one
hundred this summer.
The james River Basin IL too mile.
long aud ~ to fifty miles wide. Well
boring has been = failure to the east
ward of IL, but to the westward there
are several splendid wells, some even as
Gar away As Hughes County, near the
Missouri. The boring Ia very costly,
some wells having cost sjoo0. aud even
more. ~ hrst q soft shale rock OF
white sand Ia pierced, and then there IL
reached q sticky clay like gumbo. Min
nows of brilliant colors aud with bright
aud perfect eyes have been thrown out
IL these wells, as II To prove tina; the
water comes from surface streams some
where. The theory IL that lts course is
from the west, and an official Of the DE
partment Of Agriculture holds that se,-
erai rivers Ia the westward lo.e all or
part of their volume. Of water AZ certain
place. where they meet the ou,cropplng
~ this same sandstone which IL found
by boring. The Missouri, for Instance,
u .aid Ia loose two-thirds of its bulk
after its flight over the cascades at Great
Falls. The Yellowstone dlmini.hes
la bulk. Three or four streams In the
Black Hills run their courses and then
disappear In the neighborhood OF this
outcropplng of sandstone. When Twas
at Great Fall In Montana, l was not able
io prove that the Missouri loses the
greater part of it, bulk below there, but
Il was said that engineers have In
yestigated the subject, and are 10 report
upon II Ia the government. MAS told,
however. that several streams which
seem to be leading towards the Mis.ou-
ri In that neighborhood suddenly disap-
pear Ia the earth without effectlng the
junction.-iIarper's Magazine.