The Princeton union., 1907-01-31

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vein of water had been passed. and
the witch-hazel was no longer at
tracted.
''There is your water back there. .
said Mr.. Eastman, with the air of a
man who was backing a ''sure things
When asked to explain he said:
"Whatever kind of attraction there
may be, I know it is there. l have
located fifty wells along the railway
without failure. picked it up when
was a boy of thirteen, by watching
an old blind negro witch for water
on my fathers farm. Not every one
can succeed at it. There must be
something in the theory of a magnetic
current flowing between the operator
and the hidden water through the me-
dium of the green willow or the witch
hazel. can't explain it any more
than I can tell you why one man sue
ceeds at water-witching and another
fails. .......s
81 have located a flowing we'll
alongside five dry wells that had been
located in the ordinary fashion. I
must have found nearly five hundred
good wells in the Dakotas, Montana
and Idaho in the last twenty-five years.
There isn't anything in it for me,
and have no reason for trying any
bunco games.
"Do voluntarily twist the twigs?
Not on your life. Grip one end, next
my hand, and see if you can keep it
from twisting, or take one end by
yourself as we go back.
"There, what did I tell you? OF
course it twists of itself. Why, 1 have
had my hands blister from the force
with which the twigs pull down when
there is water close to the surface.
After you have located water you
must walk away from it until the twigs
are upright again. The distance be-
tween the location and this other point
Will give you rough estimate of the
number of feet in depth you must dig
before you are likely to strike water -
Now, there is this to be said for Mr..
Eastman. Not only does Mr.. James
j. Hills railroad think it worth while
to 60 water-witching, but their water
witcher is not the kind of a man who
can be accused of any mushy senti-
mentality. He is gray-bearded and
elderly, there is something almost
patriarchal in his aspect. But ap-
pearances were never more deceitful.
For as Great Northern conductor he
as been for years noted as the most
sudden and valiant person to look out
for the interests of the road when
trouble is brewing in large consign-
ments aboard a passenger train.
It is still his delight to welcome to
his train carload of Minnesota
"lumber jacks" just come out of the
woods, full of bad whiskey and violent
purposes. Mr.. Eastman has made a
habit of wading through such storm
centers with a fighting ''lumber jack
hanging to every corner of his frame.
If it is to the interests of peace and
order on the train, the ''scrappers -
invariably chit the gravel" when Mr..
Eastman is done with them. Those
who know him avoid any semblance
of trough house" along his run. His
fame has spread afar as the most
effective peace envoy who handles a
conductor s punch on the system. 1t
would seem absurd to accuse such a
man of harboring stray "supersti-
tion" for no obvious purpose. What
ever there is in "water-witching, it
gains an undoubted official status
through this unvarnished narrative,
whose illustrations speak for them
selves.-Outing Magazine for Jan
uary.