34 JOURNAL OF^ THE 



size unless the number of these wells is greatly multi- 

 tiplied, and their multiplication means their wider dis- 

 tribution throuo-h the settlement or community, and 

 thus a multiplication of the possible sources of disease 

 from the drinking- of contaminated waters. Neverthe- 

 less, the fact remains that, many of the towns of this 

 reg"ion, with a population of from a few hundred to sever- 

 al thousand, are still without any general supply of water 

 other than that from independant shallow wells. And 

 while the amount of disease in such cases generally in- 

 creases with the ag-e of the town, and the physicans, 

 at least, recognize the increasing contamination of the 

 water as the source of this increase in sickness, yet for 

 the lack of a better system this one continues in exis- 

 tence. 



Deep artesian well supplies are not to be depended 

 upon for the reason that the geolog-ic conditions in the 

 the Piedmont plateau region are not favorable. The 

 rocks of this region are crystalline schists, gneiss and 

 granites with the dips (schistocit}^ g'enerally steep and 

 varying on both sides of the vertical. A considerable 

 number of boring-s varying- from 100 to 1000 feet, 

 have been made into these crystalline rocks in the Pied- 

 mont reg'ion of the two Carolinas and Georgia during 

 the past few years, with the expectation of securing 

 either an "artesian" (overflow) suppl3% or a supply 

 that would come near enough to the surface to be reach- 

 ed b\^ pumps. But the results have been generally 

 unsatisfactory, the holes being "dry" or the supply of 

 water being- inadequate. A somewhat exceptionally 

 favorable result was experienced in Atlanta. Some 

 years ago (1881-82) a well was bored into the gneiss 

 rock in the heart of Atlanta to a depth of about 2200 

 feet, at a cost of about $20,000. 00. xVt a depth of 1,100 



