Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1897-12-03

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The notion that you could detect
the existence and position of stream
of water flowing underground at a
depth of 100 feet or more by the
peculiar behavior of a hazel twig held
in your fingers has been looked upon
in modern times as ridiculous super
stition. Scientific people, and partic-
ularly the geologists, have discredited
all stories of this sort so long and so
decidedly that other folk have been
ashamed to evince faith in them.
Now, however, a professor of physics
in the Royal College of Science for
Ireland, approaching the subject with
a distinct prejudice antagonistic to the
theory, has been led to change his
mind by an extended investigation.
His name is w. +. Barrett, and the
subtitle OF the treatise in which is en-
bodied The result is "a scientific and
historical research as to the existence
and practical value of a peculiar hu-
man faculty, unrecognized by science,
locally known as dowsing."
The first great step in this work was
to collect all available narratives in
regard to the use of the divining rod.
In time Professor Barrett was con-
fronted with an amazing quantity of
evidence. Scores, if not hundreds, of
these tales are given in his treatise.
Here are three samples: A sanatar-
ium was to be built on high ground in
Somersetshire, England. The site was
apparently dry one. Three profes.
sional "dowsers" were sent for separ-
ately, each unknown to the others and
each working under the conviction
that he alone was employed. All
three pointed to the same spot. A
we'll was sunk there and abundant
water was found. William Ward
Sphinx, a justice in British Columbia,
walked about over his grounds for an
hour, blindfolded and carrying di.
vining rod in his fingers. Every time
the wand dipped an attendant drove a
peg into the earth. In many cases
the justice would pass over a spot
where the rod had moved before, and
it would invariably give the same sign
again. He dug wells at only two of
the places indicated, but got water in
both. This man declared that if he
stood over a garden hose with a divin-
ing rod in his fingers he could tell by
its conduct when the water was turned
on and off.
At Newport, Monmouthshire, well
was sunk to depth of 81 feet without
success. Local experts, noting the
character of the soil, then pronounced
the quest hopeless. A Cornishman
who was present advocated trial of
the divining rod, with which his boy,
aged II, had had some successful ex-
perience. The lad was sent for. In
his hands the twig gave distinct signs.
But the people who would have tc pay
for the excavation we're skeptical and
hesitated. The Cornishman offered to
take the contract himself and stipu-
lated that he would demand no pay if
no water was found. The job pro.
ceeded on that basis. At a depth of
48 feet the diggers struck a gushing
vein and were obliged to flee for their
lives.
The typical divining rod is shaped
somewhat like a wishbOne and is
about q foot long. The tip of one
prong is held in each hand, and the
hands are kept eight or ten inches
apart. The elbows are usually in con-
tact with ones sides, and the fore
arms extend straight forward hori-
zontally. The twig itself stands al
most vertically in front of the dowser's
chest. In the majority of cases re-
ported the upper part of the rod
swayed toward the operators body,
but in few instances it moved in the
other direction - namely, downward
toward the earth. The violence of the
movement seemed to vary greatly. If
the twig was so held that it could
move freely, it would perhaps revolve
on an imaginary axis extending from
one hand to the other. 1t is related
that on some occasions. when the twig
could not revolve, it would be badly
twisted and bent and would even be
broken. Much variety is discernible
in the accounts, both as to the way OF
grasping the rod and the latter's be-
havior.
Although Professor Barrett doesn't
attempt fully to explain these phenom-
ena, he has clear convictions on one
point. He is confident that it is the
operator, not the rod, that discovers
the water. The movement is not due
in genuine cases, he believes, to any
attraction or repulsion exerted upon