Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1922-03-29
)LD-TiMER DESCRIBES
USE OF 'DOUSING" ROD

Or using the "divining rod was an
art with the pioneers who came into
he west q century ago.
'Dousing" is no longer believed an
nfallible guide in the finding of ores
md water by the United States Gov
eminent.
There are scores of aged pioneers
Of Wisconsin who will resent that
statement. John March, Shullsburg,
S one Of the most noted men in south
4rn Wisconsin IN the use of the "divln-
ng rod" At the age OF So years, hay
ng been resident Of this vicinity
s0r more than 70 years, he believes
that he is the only living man who
knows the location Of old Fort Ora
tiot, which played a prominent part III
.ne Black Hawk war in 1892.
The strange art Of "dOusing" is as
ISOLATED by Mr. March with electricity
md magnetism. He believes that this
is the logical and the only way to
prove the scientific phenomena that
lnderlies the art.
There are only few persons VINO
can 'douse' and l have never yet met
4 person who can tell how or why
they can 'douse,'" said Mr.. March.
Source of Rods
There are many kinds of wood that
make rods, some good some fair,
some poor. A little shrub that grows
from two to four or five feet high ana
gloWs a small white berry about the
size Of small pepper grain is the
best. This shrub has the habit OF
losing its leader. 1t dies and a bud
on each side OF the dead points starts
out on opposite sides Of the dead
leader and in quite = few instances
are almost alike in size and strength.
Red cedar makes a good rod. These
rods can be charged with electricity
when properly held by a magnetlc
observed that the poinxs of the fingers
OF both hands are pointing upward
and they gather electricity from the
air. The rod becomes heavily charg-
ed with electricity. The person hold
ing the rod start forward. OF course,
if he is in a mining district, or may
be wanting to find place where he
can bore a well, and when he gets to
place where there is crevlce, the
rod tries to turn dow: and the larger
crevice the harder the pull.
when a crevice has been located,
the operator wants to get the direction
the creyice runs. To DO this he cross
es the lines and when he crosses the
Inc he gets a pull. He marks the
spot. then he goes a little farther
along the direction he thinks the vein
runs and tries again, and If he tlnds
it he marks the spot and notes the dl-
rection the two marks indicate. He
goes a little farther along the line
indicated by the two first marks, and
in this way he can trace the crevice
in either direction.
"The general opinion is that "dous-
ing" is used to locate ores, but that
is not So | have tried the rod over
wagon loads Of crushed ore and over
huge cubes of lead ore that would
weigh several hundred pounds, but
got no action. 1t is the electricity IN
the creyices or veins that causes the
action Of the rod
Twenty years ago ] was "dOusing
IN Platteville, Wis, in the heart OF the
city. A number of prominent persons
were present l had one Of my pre-
ferred rods and so strong was the pull
that it broke one side of the rod
twisted it till it split the weaker side
Of the rod. The persons who were
" til me told me that years ago a
age amount Of lead ore had been
"a en- there
'At the same time in another part OF
the city. farther south, | was 'dOusing'
~ no0p'e b0gan u come to see me
'douse. | found another strong pull
NJ ao quite number OF persons nad
-Ome. | asked any one who wanted to
NO
who could make it go. A man working
a little ways off came and said: 'Rlght
there where Won are 10000 pounds OF
lead ore was taken out The sub
stance OF es are held III solution the
same as plant food is for vegetable
products.
"The holy scriptures tell us that
many shall run to and fro and knOWl-
edge Shall increase. I think that time
is here now. Was there ever time
when so many were running TO and fro
o. time when there was so much
knowledge?
Some we'll drillers mad their drill
fast in we'll they were drilling anu
could not set it out. | was there one
dav with a number Of others. | got
rod and began to douse. soon
found a place where | got pull
Those present were skeptical about
it. l marked the spot on the ground
with my heel. l told them to blind
fo,d me; then | told them to turn me
round as many times as they wanted
and to lead me off in any direction
they chose; then to face me to the
mark and one of them directed me to
the mark by saying TO the right or
left
81 got a pull and stopped They
lifted the blind and there | was al
most on the mark, only few inches
off it, Does that prove that 'dousing
is reality?"- State Journal.
D,atteville with a nOnmlati0n OF