The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-11-27

Veylng the property to Withers. The parties to the transaction became fast friends, maintaining correspondenoe nv mall for 25 years The Frencbman told of his endowment of St. Joseph,s bosnita taI Tn Philadelphia with all his estate.
 from that time to the end of his life
 pr Wlthers engaged in a. wide range or
 pursuits and stood as a leader anonp
 HIS IehoW In the advancement of general
 soclety. He purchased body of land on
 the east side of the Warrior. a few
 mics rom Retreat and built there A com
 ihoulous winter residence, Millwood ,m-
 proved the grounds and made his home
 happy and hospitable one. ITpon a
 promontory jutting into the river he
 i ouii' saw niil flour mill and a grist
 i.,.i mi oh the surrounding elevation, he
 bored seven artesan wells. I copv the
 following printed account;
 The first application of artesio, ,,a,, as Water-power in America was at MlilWood, ten miles from Greensboro faia' lnose Wells were bored in 1S44 and Ie4o ana owned by Dr. R. w. witbers 1he mill at that place was not onI,, tho hrst one in America run by artificial water-power but the first mill in tho world where mill-seat and water-no,yar meie potn artihcial. To quote the words U, pr. Wltners, writing to a friend in New York: The only mill in tha u,o,.,d where water-power and mill-seat ,',. "o.i iu both artificial; where a mill-seat wac oro ated where nature never dreamed os making one, and water used where no ture supplied none." -'" The mlll-seat was made by sinlx;ne q shaft or pit, six feet in diameter Eo st to the lower water mark of tbe plaa,e Warrior river, the last 12 feet ba,,,, | through the solid rock. A tunnel fron,
 the bottom of the pit to the river gives the water an outlet
 The maximum yoluma of .,
 was 1000 gallons per minute which c.,,sr,,, in canals and then transferred tbro,,sb
 the "race,' or underground inclined t,,,,. mel to the turbine wheel fixed in tba ,i+ This mill is still in operation as srist ,,,;Ii
 and cotton ginnery. As insurance ,yas impracticable at that time, he da,,,sos
 a fire department by fitting can and piping to the largest of the wells u,ith a capacity of 460 gallons per minute
 which enabled him to throw the water b0 feet to the top of the mill.
 These wells range in depth fron, oso to 46S feet, while others in this and adS joining counties are over 1000 feet ,r depth.
 The wells were bored by Mir. coona-
 native of Vermont who invented and planted augers and instruments for tba
 purpose of penetrating the solid rock Articles relating to this mill were n,h- lished in the following: Scientific AmerJ-
 can, September 1851; Philadelphia I,edger
 and Transcript August 25, 1852: orrna, of Franklin Institute, 1S49; Professor Ton-
 meys Report of the geology of Ala bama," 1850; Sir Edward Lyelps Travels in the United States, in which he de.
 scribes the wells, placing them at Ere
 that being the town nearest them at tbat time.
 In those days there were no steam mills. The trade in lumber and f,our from these mills embraced Tuscaloosa and Mobile and the region between. Grain for them came from St. Louis via New Orleans.
 At Millwood landing, near the mills. a small hotel was built for the accommo- dation of passengers to and from Mobile by steamboats. A four-horse coach was placed on the road connecting Millwood with Greensboro. Instructions left at the hotel were that ministers of the gos- pel were to ride free on the coach pr, Withers glancing over the list of pas scngers, found the name of an Episcopal minister who had paid for his passage The local agent was called on for an ex-
 planation. 70, sir, that is one of these