ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 39 



bored at the Western Hospital, at Morgfanton, N. C, 

 is only four g-allons per minute, while the eight wells, 

 with an average depth of about 39 feet, yield upon the 

 application of a pump 165 gallons per minute or 237,600 

 g-allons per day. 



The qualit}' of the water obtained from these wells 

 has been pronounced satisfactory in every case by the 

 health officials. Of course the continuation of this con- 

 dition of things will depend largeh' upon the continued 

 freedom from contaminating- influences of these water 

 basins, and one advantag-e of this S3'stem of water sup- 

 pl\^ is that the basins, being generally limited in area, 

 may be generally controlled by one or more indi- 

 viduals or a corporation, and ma}' be thus kept free 

 from sources of contamination. 



i^s might be expected, the search for the underground 

 supplies of water has not by an}' means been success- 

 ful in every case, but the limited experience leads one 

 to believe that they may be found in a majority of com- 

 munities, where search is extended over a sufficiently 

 large^area and is made w^ith sufficient care. It would 

 at present, however, be too much to claim that these 

 underground supplies of drinking water can be found 

 sufficient to meet all the demands of larger towns and 

 cities, though they would prove of material service in 

 this connection. But I anticipate that they will be 

 found of greatest importance in connection with water 

 supplies of smaller towns and of more or less isolated 

 manufacturing establishments, where there are usually 

 several hundred or several thousand operatives. 



In the following tabular statement will be found a 

 list of the more important places w^here these under- 

 ground water currents have been found and where the 

 gang well system has been introduced, the name of the 



