The Globe-republican. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1889-1910, 1906-09-20
UNLIMITED WATER.
RECENT EXPERIMENTS SHOW
SURPRISING RESULTS.
Artesian Water at Moderate Depth in
the Arkansas Valley in Western
Kansas
MEANS MILLIONS TO THE STATE.

MEANS MILLIONS TO THE STATE.
Syracuse, Kan, Sept. ia well
drilled in by Edward Parsley, OF
Syracuse, on his ranch, mile
south Of Coolidge, or the line
of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa
Fe, in western Kansas, finds ar
tesian water at depth of 24O feet.
This Ia not new find, for an artesian
well has been flowing on e. P. Taylor's
adjoining quarter. nearly 20 years.
But better than a new find, the Pars-
ley well, by It's close proximity to the
other we'll and other evidences fix
and make certain for all time that far
below the "underAow" Of the Upper
| Arkansas Valley, itself SO valuable for
irrigation and domestic use, is a veri-
table lake of water, which, II tapped,
comes to the surface by natural pres
sure, or which, If necessary, may be
pumped. More than this, 1t Is soft
water, making it useful in locomotive
engines and other steam boilers.
Hard water will make steam, but 1t
corrodes the boilers, and so the rail-
way companies, especially, are always
on the lookout for soft water in semi
arid regions.
Indeed, it is the constant search for
soft water by the AtchiSon, Topeka d
Santa Fe for use in its locomotives
and In It's local shops along the line,
and to aid and encourage manufacture
ers and others who must have water
In their business, that has led to Mr..
Parsley's experiment south of Cool
idge. BY many experiments and much
expense the company proved to a GER
tainty that the country along its line
In western Kansas overlies a reservoir
of water. The undcrhow, at a shall
lower depth, was certain and beyond
dispute, but the deep water was an I'm.
known quantity until the railway com.
pany demonstrated its existence be
yond a doubt Drill holes were put
down by the company along the line
at intervals, and the deep water
tapped without exception. The latest
wells by the company were bored a
the foot of Main street, in Syracuse
and water was found in Dakota sand
stone at depth of 40 feet. One Of
these wells is to be bored deeper, but
| for the present it supplies the needs
of the company. 1t Is not an artesiar
well, but is pumped. Between the
Dakota sandstone and the underlloN
above 1t is a deposit Of lmperyious
soapstone, or shale, proving that there
Is no connection between the two
The underflow is the sunken water;
Of the Arkansas, and the other Is car
ried from the mountains in the porou!
sandstone which underlies this regioI
at a depth of 1870 feet and lower.
In the Parsley we'll the water spout
ed IS inches above the top of a three
inch pipe from depth of 100 feet
and "a inches from 1876 feet. From
240 feet the water spouted five fee
above the top, and when a section Of
16 feet Of pipe was added the water
flowed even out of that. Mr.. Parsley
will experiment with it more to see
exactly how far it will rise in the pipe
and later he will substitute an eight
inch pipe for the three-inch, and the
flow naturally will be increased by the
change. From three-inch pipe in the
we'll on the Taylor ranch adjoining
the flow Is about 40 gallons a minute,
irrigatlng IS acres of orchard and gar.
den, in addition to supplying the fam.
lily and the livestock. Mr.. Parsley's
success has moved the neighbors to
bore wells. ]. W. Egger, on Section
10, has water to the top of the pipe
at depth of 200 feet, and Paul Rice,
Section 20, e. P Taylor (another
welD, Section 26, and Edward Ross,
Section Sc, are drilling with GER
tainty of finding flowing water Over
the state line, in Colorado, Lewis
Mathews is drilling.
| This flow of water even comes to
the surface In spots without drilling
for it. Strange to say, Hamilton coun.
! ty, which lies In region that Is la
beled "semi-arid" by geographers and
biologists, contains perennial springs.
This Is not the statement of a land
agent" or of boomer" but OF an I'M
prejudiced observer who has seen the
springs and drunk of tA&ir waters
North of the Arkansas river In this
vicinity, tributaries of that stream,
are seven creeks-Horse and Big
Sandy In Colorado, and West Bridge
East Bridge, Plum, Syracuse and Sand
In Kansas (Hamilton county,. These
are dry creeks as the saying is,
serving only to carry off storm waters,
but two miles from the river and for a
distance of three miles further, nu-
merous springs break from the little
bluffs within four feet of the grass
roots, and II opened and properly
cared for the supply from each is sufIi-
cient for family. And they are not
In the low-lying fiat Of the Arkansas
Valley, but in the upland. For In
stance. 70 feet higher than the town.