The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1896-02-22
BruIe County'S Artesian Wells.
The Greatest In the world.

The a.tesiun wells of I,rule county are the |
greatest within n given district in the world
est in size of hore rrc,test in prassnrp mud
greatest in volume of water They are ,he
wonder of even the wonderful West and are Mt
tracing so much attention ali over the country
that n brief dcscrip,ion of them seems appropos
at this time.
In early the DAYS of KimLall M, udeounte water
supply for the town was sermons nrobIem.
Chamberlain--;t the west end of the county-
constructed a system of water.works by erectip.
a pumring plant on the bank of the Nl;ss,ur;
and forcing the water to n reservoir upon the
bluffs above the town. As m last resort KimbaII
decided to try for an nrtesian we'll. This wns
ten wear ago At that time there were outside
of Yanlst:,n county less than a half dozen arte-
sim wells in the state, and situated a Kmbull
is upon the highest point between the Missouri
and the Jim river. grave doubts were expressed
of ever strlkirg a flow. But the well was atuc-
cess, water mains and fire hydrants were nut in
and a convlete system of water-works con.
structed ut cost of loss than 5000. The ex
pcnse Of OBS rating the system during these ten
years has been practically nothing and the re.
pairs on the well have not exceeded 500. In the
course of a few years Chamberlain abandoned
its extensive pumpinr plant and also snn, an
urtnSl1u we'll. and which las tur-
nisbed the town with nm abundant sunply of
pure water,
From these initial efforts spranr a desire for n
greater wafer suppiv NH over ,bn comfy other
than that from the ordinary fa,,, VOL With
nm ,bundance of tho most n,trit,o,S ,.rasses
known :, climate pnsnrnossed. nj, n l,cled y,.s
running streams to make II mn ideal stock
comfy and where tho business couI., no an,a ,ed
of n s,ote Inv i,,e comfy began i he construc,;,
of townshin artesinr wells-tba townshi,, n,v-
ing one fourth the cost tl,s connty one.tenth
and individual holdings the rem,;nder bv
spacial assessment in proportion ia henott re.
ceiyed, in five annual payments. Twenty of
these wells have alreudy been constructed and
their mopnilpde will be more readilv under-
stood whom il is stated that nearly evarvona of
them is c,m,ble of fcrc;n, wafer ,broueh tiftoen
miles of bitches. the bitches being about the
size of ordinary meadow brooks. The countv
now has over 400 miles of rpnnin. streams IN
addition to the Missouri on tho border. M
county in Iowa and Illinois tx So we,l snnnliea
with rnnninp water. Tie water from the w, lis
is oe b;-h ,emperaturc vuryirr from 70 to ~
degrees and as pure as soripr water. without it's
chilling effect, In addition to the running
streams large lakes arc frenuent ,bo ono in
kimbsll covering u ucrcs and affor,linc hoat,,p
and fishing in the summer. skating in the WINTER
onI from, which ia ya,horpd .n .hund.nca ot
the unrest ice
nuriun the mast Two wears IRRIGATION cyner;
ments on n small scnle hnye been made nv indi
yidupI farmers tapping the streams from the
township wells and with such wonderful snccess
that private wells are now gong down all over
the county. A few we're pus down last wear md
nearly paid for themselves with one crop. By
the time the planting season arrives in 1896 it is
safe TO estimate that TN. county will bave f,.rtv
nrtcsian wells all told. sending ont m;l,ions Of
gallons of water every twentv-fop honrs. Fopr
extensive irrigation nlants will bnye been con.
| stmctcd-one ,,os alrc,dv hccn com ,,,eted-cost
| ;no fran 3, roo to Sio GOO each in .aa;t,on IN
other private plants on n smaller scnlc. Over
loom ncrcs will ,,e irr;c,tod in 1srs from these
nr;vate we)ls and NIL Of the walls ex cent one or
two ure six n,,d eight inches in diameter md
aow from 50 10 60 barrels n minnie
II is n neculiar feature that in no other ,.nrt of
! t,,e statc-or in the world. for that mptter-are
| nrtes,nn wells foun,l Of snoh uniform nressure
and volume as in Brule county. Wells which
thrcw n solid six or eirht inch stream, three fee,
1 above the opening of the pine are common. Tie
| county appears to be located over the very hear,
of tho great urtcsian basin. Ono of the well.
recently nut down iI, the county throws an eigh,
inch column of water twelve feet above thu
opening. During test tile stream was reduced
to two inches and the tremendous pressure o
The we'll threw a stream of water 162 feet intt
.he mir The pressure of the we'll is 1GI pouud
to the square inch and when controlled the vel
developes 50 horse lowar Tic flow from thi
spouter is $50 gallons miuute or 1.2,H
b rrels every 24 hours
Think Of it.
The art sian wells in Brule county vary il
; depth from $50 to l,2oO feet, but the average
loss than 900 feet. They are icattcrcd all owe
the county and it is now easy to estimate with
in a fuot almost at what depth foY will b
struck. The wells range in cost from $1,000 I
$1,000, depending upon size of bore. The cos
is largly determined by the labor and cost O
i fuel. six inch wells capable of irrigating "a