Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/813

 ARTESIAN WELLS 777 done to the depth of 1,102 ft. The sinking was extended, of 3-inch bore, to 1,250 ft., the last strata being sandstones, sand, and marls, probably of the cretaceous formation. The dis- charge, 10 ft. above the surface, is about 1,200 gallons an hour. The water is saline, and dis- agreeable to the taste, but soft. Its tempera- ture is 87. In Onarga, Iroquois county, 111., 85 m. S. of Chicago, there are artesian wells that deserve especial notice, both because of their number (over 200 within a radius of 20 m.), and from the fact that they are all flowing wells, though the average depth does not ex- ceed 70 ft. They are sunk with an auger 6 in. in diameter, .and the water vein, a bed of white sand, is reached after boring through 5 ft. of surface soil, 10 to 20 ft. of common sand, 15 to 20 ft. of blue clay, and 20 to 30 ft. of hardpan, a mixture of clay and gravel. The flow, which rises several feet above the sur- face, varies in amount from 20 to 120 gallons per minute. It has been estimated that the daily yield from these wells is 53,400,000 gal- lons. It is a fact worthy of note that the district in which they are located is at a level of 92 ft. above that of Lake Michigan, and that the nearest probable fountain head is at least 200 m. distant. This dependence upon a distant source of supply is also demonstrated by the famous Chicago wells. One of these has a surface diameter of 5 in., which is re- duced to 4 on nearing the bottom, at a depth of 711 ft. The other is 5 in. in diameter from top to bottom ; the first 42 ft. are lined with an iron tube', which projects 22 ft. above the surface ; from this level the water flows at the rate of 432,000 gallons per day, and with a resisting power of from 600* to 800 Ibs. The site of both wells is 82 ft. above the level of the lake, and the general character of the sur- rounding country is flat ; whence it is conjec- tured that they may be fed from the region of the Eock river, 100 m. distant. Though the geological structure of Manhattan island is exceedingly unfavorable, yet several artesian wells were sunk in the city of New York years ago by Mr. Levi Disbrow. One of the oldest and deepest of these wells is at the United States hotel, known when the well was sunk as Holt's, on Pearl, Fulton, and Water streets. The boring for the first 126 ft. was in stratified sands and blue clay alternating with river mud. At this depth the surface of the rock was struck under a bed of coarse gravel ; and below this the shaft was continued in the gneiss rock 500 ft. further. The upper 200 ft. of the well was bored 3 in. in diameter ; the remainder was 2| in. The water for a time was tolerably good, but soon became impreg- nated with the salt river water, and at last unfit for use. At the corner of Bleecker street and Broadway a well was sunk 448 ft., of 7 in. bore the first 42 ft. through sands and gravel, and 400 ft. through the hard gneiss rock of the island. The water, as stated by Mr. Disbrow, rose within 30 ft. of the surface, to the amount of 120,000 gallons in 24 hours. At the dry dock, llth street, East river, the rock, met with at 130 ft., was penetrated 200 ft. further. Many other wells of this nature have been sunk in and near the city, but with no features of particular interest. In con- sidering the methods of boring artesian wells, and examining the implements now used, it is interesting to note the similarity between these and those employed by inhabitants of China centuries ago. The missionary Imbert stated in 1827 that in the province of Ou-Tong-Kiao, in a district 10 leagues long and 4 wide, these wells may be counted by "tens of thousands," sunk at very remote periods for the salt water and bituminous matters which they emit. These products are met with at the depth of nearly 1,800 ft., and some of the wells that had lost them have been carried down even to 3,000 ft. From this enormous depth currents of carburetted hydrogen come up in such quan- tity that it is used to furnish heat for evaporating the salt water. (The gas from the Pennsylva- nia oil wells is often burned under the steam boilers.) Instead of using rods to sink their wells, the Chinese suspend the cutting drill, which is attached to a heavy metal rod 6 ft. long and 4 in. in diameter, by a rope or chain, which passes over a wheel. Around the drill is a cylindrical chamber, which by means of sim- ple valves takes up and holds the broken frag- ments. As the rope is raised and dropped, it gives by its torsion a turn to the drill, causing it to vary its position at each stroke. When the cylinder requires to be discharged, it is easily wound out by a windlass or horse-whim. The rope is protected from wear by knobs of wood attached to it at intervals. This principle has been successfully applied in Germany to sinking holes for ventilating mines ; with large drills 18 in. in diameter a hole of this size has been carried down several hundred feet. The demand for improved methods of sinking these wells which the opening of the Pennsylvania oil region created, has resulted in the intro- duction of many ingenious labor-saving ap- pliances, though the attention of the oil men has been chiefly directed toward the devising of methods by which the boring tools may be safely and quickly removed in case of accident. A general description of the processes of bor- ing, tubing, and pumping, as practised in west- ern Pennsylvania, may best serve to illustrate the latest advances made in the methods of sinking artesian wells. Directly over the site of the proposed well a wooden derrick or open tower is erected, 14 to 16 ft. square at the base and 30 to 60 ft. high, the four corner posts converging so as to form a square at the top 2-J- ft. in diameter, upon which rests a heavy framework for the reception of the pul- ley over which the drill rope is'to play. Near the bottom of the derrick, and in range with the band wheel from which the power is derived, is a shaft of timber 6 or 8 ft. long, and about 8 in. in diameter, mounted on journals,