Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1898-03-02
WONDERFUL WISCONSIN WELLS.
Strange Natural Phenomena That Eclipse
the Great Geysers.

the Great Geysers.
lhe great geysers of the West are
no more wonderful phenomena than
are the Glowing" or "whistling"
wells in Wisconsin.
These wells, says the Chicago Times
Herald, have been developed in the
northern part of the town Of Eureka
and in the southern part of the town
of Sterling in Poll: County. There are
six of these phenomenal wells, rang
ing in depth from 120 to 16O feet.
Most remarkable of all is that owned
by James Collin in Eureka. This
we'll is 100 feet deep and was dug ff-
teen years ago. The first twenty feet
is hardpan and the balance gravel.
Before storm the wind blows out
of this we'll with great force, making
roaring sound that can be heard a
long distance. This wind is so hot
that water placed over the we'll will
boil. The current blows out only be-
fore q storm, and the severity and du-
ration of the storm is always in exact
proportion to the force of this current
and its duration before the storm COM
mences. It is therefore On accurate
and absolutely reliable barometer, as
it foretells change from cold to hot,
or vice versa, with equal accuracy, but
remains quiet in settled weather, no
matter what the temperature. In win
ter current of air is drawn in before
n change of weather, just rs forcibly
as it blows out in hot weather. This
current of air will freeze the water l20
feet from the surface of the earth more
quickly than it would ut the surface,
and though many attempts have been
made to use pump in it, they have
all failed, and number of pumps of
different makes have been destroyed
by the water freezing and bursting the
cylinders and pipes.
Some years ago house was built
over this well, and stove placed in it
so that it could be heated intensely hot,
but strange as it may seem, this did
not preventive water from freezing and
bursting pipes 115 feet from the sur
face, and though there are but.eighteen
or twenty inches of water in the we'll
in winter, ice freezes several inches
in thickness in spite of NIL preven-
tives. Windmills have been tried with
the same disastrous results. A wind
lass and buckets have also been tried,
but the water freezes over SO thick in
one night that heavy stone dropped
from the surface will not break the ice.
The temperature at the bottom of this
we'll is SO much colder than it is at the
surface that in very cold wealth.: it is
extremely dangerous for anyone to
venture into it. In winter the heavy
downward current before storm or
change of weather will cause the water
to lower, while in summer the outward
current causes the water to rise-some
times fifteen or twenty feet. The curb
ing in this well is always dry and the
water of good quality.
The other five wells referred to,
which resemble this in almost every
particular, are all located within the
radius of about one mile, and vary in
depth from $50 to 160 feet. Some of
tho characteristics are not so pro-
nounced as in the well described, while
others are even more remarkable.
Within half mile of these wells water
is obtained at depth of from ten to
thirty feet, and the wells exhibit none
of these unusual or diabolical feat
ures.