Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1909-04-25

busy. On the other hand. II they
were nrpying very raptaly, ae soon
a. one drop was removed there would
tr another to take It's place.
4 Measures Flow Of Water.
So Slichter devised the first accur'
and scientific method fer measuring
the rate" of that motion. which was
also so practical that IL can be used
from TOW on forevermore whenever
anyone wishes To know how much
we,rr he can absolutely count on at
any one spot.
! What he did was to go cut into the
arid empty plains OF Kansas. near
! Dodge, and out into the dried up Led
| of th. Arkansas, and there dig three
wells across the stream, measure
hundred yards further down. and dig
three more wTlls. Then he rugged up
! a simple electrical device. That Is. he
p,It salammoniac into the up stream
wells and tied the down stream wells
to the upstream wells by pieces OF
COPPER wire, in circuit with battery
and an ammeter The saiamm0nlac
, turned the water underground into
an electrtdytic conductor Of electric
'ity When the current OF elect richly
! finally reached his second row or
wells he knew THAT the same water
winch had started OUT from the first
row of wells had now reached the
second. BY dividing the distance be-
tween his two rows of wells by the
time it took the water to flow between
he could measure absolutely the rates
of flow of those runaway underground
waters.
This apparatus showed the progress
of the water But reading had to be
taken regularly. He found 1t rather
tedious-after a while-tO sit up all
might taking observations. SO he
recording clock in place OF the direct
reading ammeter. After he had made
a few changes in the apparatus sich
that it could be readily carried about
and could live happy and do its work
in an cid box a hundred miles from
he went down TO Denver
Mr. F. II. Newell, chief engineer for
the government geological survey.
happened to be there. When he
heard the result of Shelters expert |
ments. he began to take notice.
Current at Garden City.
Slichter told Mr.. Newell that the
average current near Garden City was |
eight feet per day. although there !
were many places where the velocity !
was as high as 22.9 per day. He said |
that the strip necessary to recover
100-secOnd fee~. or 100. 100000 gallons
per day for $50 days in the year must
he $4,000 feet wide and 300 feet deep.
Such an area of the right sort of grav- |
FL existed about Garden. He called |
attention to- the existence Of abandon |
ed bitches. especially the well known |
Farmers Ditch which could be used
II large recovery plant We're built. |
That same Farmers Ditch which |
was then sand Choked. is now convey. |
ing water at the rate Of 10000. 900
gallons a day up to more than 10000
acres Of sugar Geets and fruit 4krm.
But the water is not pumped ont CT
wells where the chance guess CT the
man with a shovel lad looked for 1t. |
It is received way south Of the river
siphOned under the river, carried |
through the Ditch" through a con-
crete lined fume. over a mile, to- be
tapped of by innumerable little
bitches wherever 1t Is needed. Tween
ty-thIise wells suck the water in fsom !
these underground regions. All OF
which Is necessary because wells north |
Of the river cannot practically reach |
sufficient supply.
And 1t Is all happning there every
day now in exactly the region where
private webs had been abandoned |
and irrigation works given up because
the underground water supply seemed
to be too slight
There is fiourishing town. a line
of electric cars to connect that town.
with string Of others. a Sis. 00G. 0O01
corpcTaticn organized to provide cleo
trical power. all kinds OF capital, all
kinds Of prosperity sprung up. maze
possible because a certain 'ttEeorIst"
started to verify his equation.
Hard in the Technical World Maya
zine for April.