The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-11-16
DUG WELLS BEFORE
DR. NADAMS TALKS ABOUT FOR
MER EFFORTS IN BORING WELLS.

How He Found the Current of Wichita
Underfiow:of Water and what He Think
of 1.-THE Made Thorough Examina
tion for Three Hundred and Fifty Fee
when McCampben Sunk HIS Famou
Shaft in Obedience to the Prophecy of ;
Medium--w Wichita is Way Below thu
Coal Measure.
II the prospect well would go down
as fast as public interest rises over ii
5he drill would be somewhere in the
neighborhood of China at this time
The election having gone by the wei
now the sole topic of discussion. Near
~ every Pennsylvania in town have
been up TO see ii in order that II may
remind them of home. A man from the
keystone state is a paragon Of wis
7on as he stands by the well, for he
.an talk about II intelligently, some
hing that few Kansans can do. He
expressed himself in the technical Ian
guage Of mining and, Of course, this
gives him am air of wisdom that few
people fail to see. In other words, ne
THE cock OF the walk.
Faith in the well is down lower than
dne we'll itself. but the people are in
Glued 10 be little pessimiStic anyway.
md because faith sinks faster than the
well is no sign that there is no gas,
eoal, oil or autesian water at the bot
tOn-
DR. McAdanns Of this city is an expert
On geological subjects. His brother
ell loo e-sey
lca and. Of course, the doctor caught
some of tine talent in that line that was
deaGt out 50 generously to his brother.
He not only has talent but he has a
practical knowledge of the formation
Of the earth at this point.
DR.. McAdams has made valuable ex-
periments here already, as president Of
the health committee of the city coun-
ell for many years. He has no faith in
the prospect well.
A reporter for the Eagle called on the
doctor yesterday and had a long talk
with him in which many things of in
terest were elected.
AS stated above the doctor was, for
years. chairman Of the health commit
tee Of the city council and had so much
experience with wells that he has TAX
en- a keen interest in the development Of
started. When he saw in last Saaur-
days paper 1.-THE statement of State Geo
lOgist IIin of Pennsylvania in which ne
said There was no underfiow of water in
this vadley( he laughed at his ignorance
and was about to contradict him in a
l6hter to the Eagle but a. press of pro-
fessional business prevented him. The
doctor knows there is a strong under
flow of water in all this valley from ex-
perience. In MAY, 1880 Wichata was
threatened with am epidemic and the city
council commissioned the doctor to eX-
anime the water supply and report. The
postOffice lot was then vacant and Dr..
McAdarns caused five drive wells to be
sunk There for the purpose of getting
Information about the purity of the
waiter. He put the first we'll down
thirity-six feet and made a test of the
water at THE depth Of every five feet,
after first ascertaining that there was
a strong under-iow from eight TO forty
feet below the surface. At a depth of
eight or ten feet hefound the water
badly discolored and so offensive that
the men could hardly stand it. 1t got
purer as the pump went deeper. This
offensive smell and discoloration Of the
water was caused by the decomposition
Of surface refuse and he desired to
know what the direction of the under
flow current was with reference to the
heart of the town where impurities We're
MOST numerous. In pursuance of this
Idea de sunk three other wells, one ten
feet directly south, one ten feet ait an
angle OF 80 degrees southeast and one
ten feat at the same angle southwest
Of the Original well. He put an ounce
Of anfline in a piece OF cheese cloth
and inserted it in the perforated bps
Of The drive pipe which he inserted in
well No. l. This done he ordered the
men ITO commence pumping uniformly
put of the other three wells. In 81
minutes water dyed with analine came
quit OF the southeast well. A minute la
ter anaFane came out of the south well
and not TIL / y minutes after that did
water tinged with the dye came out of
the southwest we'll. This thoroughly
demonstrated that the current of the
mderf1ow ran in a southeaSterly di-
recrfon and that it was comparatively
strong. Ait that time the doctor wrote
very able paper on the subject which
De read before the council, extracts of
which were printed in many papers
both in and outside of Kansas. 1t was
known then that there was an under
ground lake at Wichita but 1t was
grossly exaggerated 1t is no lake at
al but a strong underfiow of water
caused by perculation and Il extends
from one side of the valley to the other,
in some places a width Of fifty miles.
Almost The entire land under Wichita
for number Of feet. in fact all over
the valley, is composed OF sand and
that is one of the reasons the river IS
not always full of water. This sand
soal0s vt up as far as it comes down ex-
sept when the melted snow comes down
and then there is more water than the
sand can soak up.
About every five or ten feet down 10
A depth Of forty feet or until the blue
rlay is reached. there are LAYERS of
gumbo found. The top layer is about
Rn anch ithick ard the bottom layer
about three inches thick. Some times
bhey are in cakes and do not extend the
full width of the valley When DR..
McAdams was boring the pipe would
strike these cakes of gumbo and have
terrible time 10 go through them.
They are as stubborn as rubber and
when a penetration was made the next
lick maybe would send the pipe down
two feet Through the underlying cavity
of sand and water.
SOME FORMER PROSPECT HOLES.
In further conversation with D.. Nc
Adams a reporter learned something
about a famous coal hole that was sunk
In This neighboThood during the early
days An old man named McCambell
lived on n farm about twelve miles
southwest Of the city McCampbell
was spiritualist and was Informed by
medium that there was enough coal
Glfder his farm to make him a Million
aire. He didn't do a thing but sink a
smart 800 feet. He had too much confi-