Year: 1876

At a meeting of the Civil Engin-
eers' Club of the Northwest, in Chi
cago, last week, Mr.. Charles Latti-
mer read a paper on the subject OF
"Water Wltching," or the discovery
o: water by means of the divining
rod. He commenced by giving a
brief sketch of the history of the
divining rod as used by the an
clients, and quoted from the Old
Testament to show that its use was
fully understood, and that it was
frequently applied by the children
of Israel. The power of using the
rod was looked upon by the people
as something bordering on the su-
pernatural, and the persons who
claimed this power were regarded
as sorcerers or witches.


In later days the scientific world
had rejected the claims of the di-
viners, and had classed them with
the myths and hobgoblins of the
dark ages.


1t was almost impossible to make
men listen to anything that could
be said in favor of the workings of
the divlning rod, because no scien-
tific cause could be assigned for its
mysterious acton. The attention
of Mr. Lattimer was first called to
the subject about thirty years ago,
by a passage in an old book, to the
effect that such power did exist,
however difficult it was to give a
satisfactory explanation of it. Mr..
Lattimer then commenced making
experiments, and found that a twig
in his own hands became a true di-
vining rod, and that he could indi-
cate the places where water was to
be found.


In looking for a cause he natu-
rally thought of electricity, that
wonderful agent, of which yet so
little is known and to which every
thing mysterious is now referred.
His numerous experiments led him
to adopt this explanation and to
work out a theory to account for
the action of the rod. He found
that witch hazel was not absolutely
necessary but that almost any kind
of a twig, and even an old barrel
hoop, as well as a piece of wire or
whalebone, would answer the same
purpose.


Different individuals are differ
entity charged with electricity, as is
shown by simple experiment.
Some people by simply walking
quickly across a carpet become so
highly charged that they can easily
light a gas jet with a spark from
the finger, while others seem to be
deficient in this respect, and con-
siderable amount of friction is re-
quired before an effect is produced.
1t is on this ground that the fact
that the divining rod will not work
in the hands of every one is &C
counted for.


Mr.. Lattimer gave a long list of
instances in which the divining rod
had been used by him with marked
success under the most varied and
trying circumstances, leaving no
possible doubt of the existence of
the power. His experiments had
been so successful that he could
now indicate not only the spot at
which the water is to be found but
also the depth below the surface.
He had observed that the twig or
rod began to turn down when the
operator reached a point where a
line at an angle of 45 degrees from
the water would strike the surface,
and consequently the distance from
this point to the point at which the
rod turned directly down would
give the distance of the water below
the surface.


He gave number of cases in
which the correctness of this the
ory had been practically demon
strated, both by himself and others.


He had also found that the diyin-
inc rod would locate the locality OF
iron or other metals with the same
certainty as in the case Of water,
and narrated a number of expert
msnts which he had made to prove
this fact. He had also found that
when the operator was insulated
from the ground, either by rubber
shoes or by glass, the rod would not
work, proving to his mind that the
movement of the rod was due to
the action of electricity.


The instances narrated by the
gentleman in which his theory had
been borne out by the facts were nu


merous and extremely interesting
In one case he had discovered 6
subteranean lake only few feet be


low the bottom of a well, which had
been dug for the use of the railroad
company, at Highland, on the Van


dalia line The well was 30 fee


deep and 10 feet wide, but at thai


depth a rock had been struck, ant