The Detroit times., 1914-11-18
STAKED PLAI|
OF TEXAS RE
ON WATER g.
Secret Known to Indiana c.
Buifaloes, Long Sealsd q
White Man

PLAINvIEw. Tex. Nov. 1l.--QI
Of tho sights Of the great tablelan6
western Texas. formerly known q
the Staked Plains. 10 great stSo4u
OF water forced from many shaIIo
wells by powerful pumps. IN
early days the region w0 . treo1c
and waterless waste. and how O.
Indians and buffaloes lived there "
long mystery to the few white -
who had followed the trails. y
secret finally was revealed By = urI
A family of mowers" were trevo
ling through the uninhabited roEIo
when their water gave out Near ~
present town of Plainview they hel1
ed under q little clump OF hackbo<1I5
trees. the only vegetation they In
seen for days. and turned the mu1c
loose to shift for themselves. One cI|
the animals put its nose to the gr0rD
and seemed to be following some klu1
Of scent After going along Tor N
few yards II stopped and began poW
ing into the earth. The man saw tho1
the soil was moist and with Z opo10
he dug down q few feet The ho10|
quickly filled with water. clear. svoc4
and cold. E
It appears that It was the prac<1cc
Of the Indians TO obtain their woto<
supply by digging into the sands O.
the draws that run through the roGlon'
and after satisfying their wants o.
carefully all the holes 30 that tho11
secret would not be discovered w
whites. The buffaloes also got watof
by paving into the earth when thoro
was no water hole near. Often t1GD|
were q hundred miles apart.
While surface wells and windmfx11
solved the ranching problem. it No.
not considered q practical way O.
obtaining water for the purpose a
irrigating the land. BY degrees q
was established that the whole pIsip6
territory was 'splendidly adapted g
agriculture.
Some four years ago the Discovery
was made that the water basin non
which the windmills obtained Their.
supply was OF vast area and prao<1-
cally inexhaustible In It's storage o.
pacity: also. that lying not far below
this first water strata was one o.
more other lakes or rivers. The
came the FIRST utilization of the dr.
covery through the centrifugal pump
upon the wells. The flow from tho
many pumps that now dot the Land
are evidences that the undergrOuk0
supply has really increcsed. This ~
indicated by the rising of the water
In the wells. Water from these wells
Is now being utilized for irrigating thu
level lying land. One concern bought
$4,000 acres Of land in the Plainviow
territory two years ago and already
has installed 81 pumps In as many
wells. The company planssto drill SO
moro wells. q
The water is found In almost ab-
solute purity and inexhaustible quanr
titles at depths ranging from 30 q
100 feet. That this big sea Of under
ground water has q constant move
ment toward the south is claimed by
men of science who have investigates
the matter. No one knows for Ger
taintv where the supply has Its sources
except that IL must come from rain
fall or snow,
Most of the wells are 1000 to 1900
gallons per minute capacity. II =
calculated that each Of these smaller
wells is capable Of irrigating 100
acres Of land. The cost of pumping
is from rs cents to 81 for an acrefoot
of water. II Is estimated that more
that one million acres have been re-
claimed through this undergroun1
water supply.