The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1907-07-13
FINDING WATER wITH a TwIa.
By G. H. ROCKWELL.

have been much interested from
time to time in what we must call the
"witch-hazel tales. Let me add a
little to them.
Some years ago / was desirous of
driving well near my house, for a
water supply, so that the pipe could
be carried under the house and into
the kitchen sink, where pump could
be attached to it. / therefore sent to
an adjoining town for the driver of
wells, who came with his tools, arriv-
ing about P. M. He asked me where
I wished to have the well located, and
I indicated the exact spot. A second
man who had accompanied the we'll
artist took a forked twig from his
pocket and began pacing over the
ground, and at the very spot where I
desired the well the twig seemed to
point directly to the ground. The
well was driven in the exact spot 10
dicated, and has never failed to deliv-
er an abundant supply of excellent
water. It was ready for use at S P. M.
I had often heard of this divining
business before, but I had never seen
it.. I asked the diviner to lend me the
twig, and | went off into the fields by
myself and to my surprise it acted
perfectly in my hands, and / found
that I also was a medium, and the
matter puzzled me very greatly. /
conversed with the seer and found that
he was an intelligent and cultivated
man, and was, at that time, principal
of the high school in a neighboring
town. He could give me no rational
explanation of the phenomenon, but
said that he was so sensitive to run
ming water and its connection with
what he had demonstrated, that in
driving over a bridge with swift
running stream beneath, his wrists
would twitch perceptibly when hold
ing the reins. Here was material to
work on, and SO / went to the foun-
tain head of knowledge and sought
for light.
In my house at that time as an hon
ored guest was my father. Learned
in sciences and ologies of all the ages,
theologian, student poet, teacher,
traveller in many lands, and familiar
with literature in several languages,
he knew many things and had vast
experience. To him submitted this
problem in natural science. and this
was his exposition He said that he
had known of the so-called divination
for water, and that the power or fa-
cility, or whatever it might be called,
undoubtedly existed, and had been
used with success on many occasions
which had come under his observation,
and said that he would give me the
ory, but could not vouch for its cor
rectness, for want of more exact
knowledge. He proceeded as follows
All nature is full of a mysterious
power or element, which we call cleo
tricity. We know very little about
it, but we know that it is present in
the earth, air, the sea; in fact, in all
water. We have it III our bodies.
In some persons it is very strongly
shown, in others it is less apparent.
The tendency of some electrical cur
rents is to attract each other, and by
the shortest lines. In this case we
have a strongly electrical man,
stream of running or percolating
water, producing or melting a current
Of electricity, and a green forked
twig, for a dry twig will not act.
Now we find that the wood Of the
twig is not conductor of electricity,
neither is the bark, but the sap be-
tween them is conductor. So the
man holds the twig, he walks about
until a spot is reached where water is
producing electrical action; his cleo
tricity is attracted toward that spot,
traversing the sap under the bark Of
the twig, and turning it down toward
the reservoir or natural mandatory
Of electrical action, and producing the
phenomena which has puzzled many
people. I give you this thing for
what il may be worth"
In like manner pass this explana-
tion along to the Forest and Stream
as contribution to the literature Of
the art Of finding water with forked
twig. g.-Fo,est and Stream.