The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-11-13


About Two Bits Day-The Tubing is
stin Standing In the sandy Bottom of
the Well with a Good Show to Brace it
up Soon Ouicksand is what Causes all
the Trouble-New Casing Expected to
Remedy the Trouble.
The storm raised at the council Mon
day night over the gas well and the
slow progress of its descent towards
China had a depressing effect on the
workmen yesterday morning and they
wended their way towards the tower
| that marks it's location as If il was a
gaHows from which they would be com
PEELED to do the great rubber neck act.
The morning was bright, however,
and their depressed spirits soon rose
under the warm glow Of the shining
sun.
The big pump was turned loose and a
pile of sand was lifted to the surface.
About this time the great foreman OF
the universe threw planet or two into
the firebox of old Sol and ne shot forth
a fresh blaze of radience. Great
Scotti' said one of the workmen, "glue
your optics on that sand" Immediate
| ly seven pairs of eyes were focused on
the sand and saw little crystals glisten-
ing like stars on the pile. City Engin-
eer Jackson arrived on time to stop a
stampede. He took up a scoop shovel
full of the sand and examined it close
iy. 1t was gold; pure, glittering float
gold. He washed it out and then esti-
mated its value. AS close as he could
figure il the sand would pan out about
cents ton. Just then all the hands
| shifted Back TO the realization that they
were after gas, coal, oil, salt or artesian
water and not gold, and went to work
accordingly.
Very few people know that there is
lots Of gold all along the Big Arkansas
river. 1t is fact. A man can go down
to the bridge at any time and pick up
shovel full of sand with gold in it In
fact it used to be a regular pastine
here in the early days. By mathemati-
cal computation a man can, in a life
time. pick up enough of the metal to fill
a tooth. Float gold is brought down
from the Colorado mountains by the
shifting of the sand. The sand that is
in the Arkansas river at this point now
was in the mountains about the time
! Columbus discovered America and the
sand at the bottom Of the gas well be-
/ longed to Colorado about the time
Moses was taking a sea breeze among
the bull rusheS. It can be seen then
that it is a mistake TO think there is
nothing ancient, besides maidens, in
Wichita. That sand brought up yester-
day with IT'S sparkling of gold was old
sand before the pyramids were thought
of and Mr.. Austin can look down in
that well and truly say the sands OF
forty centuries are looking upward at
him.
There is not enough money In the
sand, however, to waste any more time
over it; hence to the Well. The men are
still at the blue clay. They know they
are there but they can't tell to a GER
tainty how much farther. The blue
clay was the delta of the ancient Ark
kansas river. The river became slug
giSh at one time and blue scum form
ed on top of the lazy waters. This blue
scum solidified and made the blue clay
Of today. Vegetation followed. 1t lived
and died and the constant annual de-
cay is what formed the land which is
now embraced in the silk stocking ward
of Wichita. 1t seems there is still
lazy river of shifting sand and water
in the ancient channel. 1t hates to be
disturbed and the moment Anglo-Saxon
swallows it up with a gulp. It started
in with a terrible APPETITE for iron cas-
ing, but the contractor thinks now that
he has it on the hip. The worst thing
that happens the casing that goes
down now is that it gets out of plumb.
At a depth of forty feet the underfiow
of water strikes Ii and turns il out of
line about twelve inches. This is caus-
ed by a current of water that is run
ming in southeast direction. In order
TO harness this current and put a stop
to its southeast galavanting Mr.. Aus
tin Is driving down another casing
northwest of the permanent casing.
This is designed to stop the force Of the
current and ii is expected will allow the
permanent casing to go down perpen-
diculariy.
If this does not work the contractor
win abandon the well until such a time
as a boiler iron casing can be made
Mr.. Jackson is positive that a link or
two OF boiler iron casing will touch bot
tom and enable the contractor to put
down the work withuot further obStruc-
ton.
The people are asked to be patient.
They are asked to remember the motto
of Kansas reversed. They know that
the Arkansas has been giddy stream
in her old age and they ought to know
that she was much gidder four or five
thousand years ago in her youth. 1t is
unreasonable to think that cOuncilmen
who get only four dollars a month for
their services should know where the
"Arkansaw'' ran 1ler course fifty CEN
turtles before they were born. Western
people are inclined 20 ask too much for
81. All the men want IS time and by
the eternals" they say, they will make
mother earth think an earthquake had
struck her when they strike the hard
bottom of that underground shifting,
sandy river. If there is any coal, gas,
oil. salt or artesian water in her bosom
they will get it or know the reason why.