The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-09-19
ARTESIAN WATER
Is Found at the Depth Of $40
Feet Near Coolidge.
Recent Experiments Cause Sur
prising Results.
MILLIONS TO STATE.
Shows a Great Lake Exists
Under the Arkansas Valley.
Santa Fe Has Done Much to De-
velOp These Conditions.
MILLIONS TO STATE.

on his ranch, a mile south of Coolidge.
oh the line Of the Atchison. Topeka &
Santa E'e, IN western Kansas, finds ar
tesian water at a depth of $40 feet. This
is not a new find, for an artesian veil
has been flowing on E P. Taylor's adj
joining quarter nearly 20 years But
better than new find, the Parsley we'll,
by its close proximity to the other well
and other evidences, fix and make Ger
tain for all time that far below the ''ur-
derfiow'' of the Upper Arkansas Valley,
itself so valuable for irrigation and do
nestle use, Is veritable lake OF water,
which, If tapped, comes to the surface
by natural pressure or which, if neces-
sary, may be pumped. More than this,
it is soft water, making it useful in To-
connective engines and other steam boil
ers Hard water will make steam, but
it 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 q
Santa Fe for use in it's locomotives and
in its local shops along the line, and to
aid and encourage manufacturers anu
others who must have water in their
business, that has led to Mr.. Parsley
experiment south of Coolidge. By many
experiments and much expense the COM
pany proved to certainty that the
country along its line in western Kan
sas overlies q reservoir Of water. The
underhow, at shallower depth, was
certain and beyond dispute, but the
lAdeep water was an unknown quantity
/ until the railway company demonstrated
its existence beyond 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 at the foot of Main street,
in Syracuse. and water was found in
Dakota sandstone at a depth of lao
feet One of these wells is to be bored
deeper, but for the present 1t supplies
the needs of the company 1t Is not
an artesian we'll but is pumped. Be
tween the Dakota sandstone and the
underf1ow above it is a deposit of inn
pervious soapstone, or shale, proving
that there is no connection between the
two. The undertook is the sunken
waters of the Arkansas. and the other
is carried from the mountains IN the
porous sandstone which underlies this
region at a depth of 1So feet and
| lower.
In the Parsley we'll the water spout
ed IS inches above the top of a three
inch pipe from a -depth of 100 feet,
and "a inches from 1876 feet. From
240 feet the water SDouted five feet
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 II more to see
exactly how far 1t 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,
! irrigating IS acres of orchard and gar
den, in addition to supplying the fam
/ lily and the live stock. Mr.. Parsley S
success has moved the neighbors to
bore wells. J. W. Egger, on section
1 8. has water to the TOD OF the pipe
at a depth of 200 feet. and Paul Rice.
section %, z. P. Taylor (another
weld, section 26, and Edward Ross.
section So, are drilling with a 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 county, which
! lies in a region that is labeled semi
arid by geographers and biologists,
| contains perennial springs. This is not
/ the statement of a land agent or of
| q. boomer" but of an unprejudiced
| observer who has seen the springs and
drunk Of their waters. North of the
| Arkansas river in this vicinity, tribu-
i taries of that stream, are seven creeks
Horse and Big Sandy in Colorado,
1 and West Bridge, East Bridge, Plum,
! Syracuse and Sand in Kansas (Hamil-
ton county,. These are dry creeks.
as the saying is, serving only to carry
4 off storm waters but two miles from
\ the river and for distance Of three
miles further, numerous springs break
/ from the little bluffs within four feet
! of the grassroots. and if opened and
properly cared for the supply from
each is sufficient for a family. And
they are not in the low lying fiat of the
/ Arkansas valley, but in the upland.
For Instance. 10 feet higher than the
townsite of Syracuse, or a total altitude
of $500 feet, is the Kitchener ranch.
where the family has a spring house
/ for the preservation of milk butter
spring is not to exceed five feet below
| the surface of the ground. and the
flow is sufficient to keep to keep large
pond full to a depth Of six or eight
feet, from which water is taken for
live stock and garden. This is not on
the creek bluff, but 100 feet away from
it. and 20 feet lower, in the bed of the
creek. for a distance of three miles are
numerous water holes, full the year
Al the Kitchener house and elsewhere
| along the creek clumDs OF cottOnWoods
have sprung up, vigorous and green
standing no less than 80 feet high. II
| Spots on top Of the upland, the grass Is
exceptionally green, and wherever these
/ little cases occur, a pick and shoVe
! will uncover living water at depth
Of a few feet. These things the writer
| hereof has seen on Syracuse creek. and
Mr.. Henry Block, editor of the SYRIA
cuse Journal, testifies that similar
springs break out of the banks of the
other creeks enumerated above.
These springs are always on the wesi
| side of the creeks, never on the east
| side. Mr.. Block says they occur only
where the Dakota sandstone crops out
and from the pores OF this stone the
water flows and comes down the creek
bed until It sinks in the sand. Thai
It is the same water found in the depth
/ of the Santa Fe well in Syracuse is
apparent from taste and use. and be,
ing so far away from the fat land Of
! the river valley it Is an indication al
least that the same flow of water, by
boring. some day will be found remote
from that stream. At least 1t is suffl-
cient for the AtcEison. Topeka & Sants
| Fe to continue its subterranean ex-
plorations. Sufficient soft water for To-