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1 ^ 



a fourth to half a mile distant, they need wells of water at or near their 

 houses. 



In other portions of the State, springs are but "few and far between," 

 and running waters often fail in a drought ; so that if wells cannot be dug 

 with success, both man and beast are doomed to suffer from thirst, and 

 the farm, however rich and productive may be the soil, or however near 

 to a market, becomes almost valueless. In all these cases, well-diffaino- 

 ;s of more importance than gold ; for of what avail is gold to a man per- 

 ishing with thirst ? If wells can be obtained, with tolerabe certainty, 

 many portions of our State would admit of more dense settlement, and 

 some portions, now of little value, would be greatly enhanced, both in 

 value and comfort of occupation. This subject, then, is of vital import- 

 ance to the atrricultural interests of the State. 



But the question is, who can tell where and how deep to dig for 

 water ? To say, to most people, that some men can tell — with a certain- 

 ty, too, which justifies belief in it — not only as a fact, but as a science, 

 is, with such, only to meet with a contemptuous sneer and incredulous 

 cant of the head. And such unbelievers are often condemned already 

 to do without good and handy water, or obtain it at great expense. 



The strong reason offered against this theory is, "We cannot under- 

 stand it, and we will not believe in a theory wc cannot understand." 

 Upon this mode of reasoning, you would believe nothing — not even your 

 own existence. "Facts are stubborn things," is an old adage, and a 

 true one ; and the sound sense and philosophy of a man who will deny 

 the truth of a thing because he cannot understand it, is a very question- 

 able matter. To deny one's own senses, is to be bordering upon insanity. 

 The fact here affirmed has been witnessed by thousands who, until they 

 saw it, were unbelievers in it, and the truth of it is being almost daily 

 tested and established. There are, at this time, probably one hundred 

 wells in Western Wisconsin, which were dug by the direction of what is 

 called the " divining rod," the " dowser," the " water witch," or "water 

 philosopher." 



This rod consists of a fork taken from the tip ends of the limbs of a 

 peach, hazel, or any fruit-bearing trees, the fruit of which has pits or 

 stones in them. The operator holds the fork in his hands, so that the 

 but-end is upward, and the tips one in each hand — the palms of which 

 being upward and on a level — and when brought over running water, 

 which is in a vein under ground, or over a crevice filled with mineral or 

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