Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1910-02-02
CORRESPONDENCE
For Pure Water Supply.
EDITOR COURIER:

IVi Iuio hdtoI oupply'
EDITOR COURIER:
enclose a clipping from the Literary
Digest which l would like 10 have you
publish in the COURIER. / live about
four miles from Berryville, and own the
largest and finest spring in the County.
have often wondered whether the old
wells or the new ones which have lately
been made in the town OF Berryville tap
this stream, or whether by percOlation
they could in any way contsminate it,
understand there are several old wells
and some new ones which are now used
as cess pools for sewage from dwellings
IN the Town. IL is well known fact
that impure water is one of the greatest
sources of disease, and, whether IL affects
mt or not, the thought Of this nasty stuff
being emptied into the stream and grad
ually working its way underground and
coming back TO the surface in stream
OF water used for drinking purposes is
! enough TO shock the sensibilites OF anv
one. But how about the farmers wlo
live near town and must use well water
with them | should say il was a very
serious matter, and ought 10 call for
prompt action by the authorities. I
know OF one case where a man dug a
hole in the ground and ran the sewage
from his house into il, and the wells in
the immediate neighbOrhOod were so
contaminated that their use had 20 be
| abandoned, and a suit has been brought
Tor large damages. ! am surprised that
there could be found anyone who had so
little consideration for the public health
as TO endanger IL in this way. am sure
| this Is a violation OF the law. and the
Town Council, the Health Officer. orthe
Grand Jury, should look into IL and
have il corrected. | have no doubt this
thing has gone on without thought a.
10 the consequences. by those who use
these wells. but that does not help the
matter. whether done through ignorance
or indifference a. 10 results Those terri
monsters, invisible 10 the naked eve, in
the shape OF germs, microbes. etc. that
lurk in the fence. corners. hide behind
doors, invade the kitchen, cooking uten-
sils, the food and drink that YOU con-
sumo, the kiss Of the "spooninC' lover.
also the kiss Platonic, all equally dan
gerous, and TO be stunned as YOU would
| some terrible plague. There i no need
10 lock the door after the horse il stolen.
and an ounce OF prevention is worth
pound OF cure. All doctors Of any stand
ing are using their brains and talents 20
prevent disease, by urging upon the
people the need OF precautiOn in the way
OF sanitation. 20 prevent these germs
which, with Satanic energy. are ever
seeking 10 enter the human body 20
destroy II.
Jos. PRICE.
Altho most people understand thar a
well may be affected by conditions in its
immediate vicinity, few realize the dis
tance 10 which contaminating influences
may penetrate the soil or rock When
one well is found 10 be bad, all the wells
in the vicinity should be under suspicion
Many suppose that because well separate
reservoirs and that the pumping Of one
can not affect the other. This i untrue.
we are told by Frederick c. Clapp in
Engineering News New York. Novem-
Der A. Ii Is common experience, saws
Mr.. Clapp, 10 find that the yield Of well
has been influenced by new well in the
vicinity. He goes on:
In order 20 understand the conditions
affecting wells drilled in proximity 10
e each other, il is necessary TO have in
! mind the various geological conditions
! under which wster exists below the
{ surface Of the earth Weu-water does
not come from vast inexhsustible sub
,erranean lakes, but, originating in rain
fall, il reaches the shallow or deeply
buried strata by absorption, percolatinC
and slowly descending through the more
. peryious formations and passages to the
2 ground-water level (waier-tablel
q Water which occurs in sands, gravels
} and other superficial deposits is gener
ally held in the pores or spaces between
the pebbles or smaller particles IL
b. certain types Of solid rocks. as som,
: sandstonds, conglomerates, and very
porous limestone, water occurs in IA,
same way, saturaling the eutire rock be
low the level of the water-table. Othe
y rocks, however, are so hard, compact
: and close-grained, that the amount o
d water held in the pores is very minute
. In such rocks practically all the water i
held in various forms Of Crevices, cSvi
ties, and tissureS. In States and argil
u laceous schists considerable water is hel,
:. in the bedding and cleavage planes Il
e GRANTEES, gneisses, Slates, schiS,s. an,
a most crystalline rocks the larges
amounts are held in Joint cracks ,dssure
- which cut the rock in various diraC
e tions)"
Under these conditions, as may b
imagined, pollution Of well-watsr
III greatly facilitated. Water from deep Q
al or salt wells under higher pressure
OF easily fored up into the shallower wei
u Of drinking-wajer above them. f,
Is instance, in Saginaw, Mich, the cit
T. wa,er-supply, from bored wells. W;
'F seriously injured by salt wells which ha
been abandoned without proper plu.
ging. At Dallas, Texas, q we'll used Z
r the city wster-wOrks penetrated the u
DERIVING strata and obtained miner
water under greater head, which entert
and polluted the water in the uppt
beds. Attempts at sewage disposal
drawing il of through drilled wells hs'
IL have been made, always with the resu
ne that wells in the same formation We
M seriously endangered and sometimes i
jured. Tests have often made by inSel