138 



strongly iiiiiircu'iialL'd willi iiiiiKfa! matter. Init was nevi'rlh(.'less unlit for 

 ilomestic use. The Nasliville well. '>(») feet (leep. Hows aliout 2!»,(XXJ gal- 

 lons per (lay. and the water is .strongly impregnated witli sulphur. The 

 Wliite Sulphur well, in Crawford County. Hows about l.").UUO gallous per 

 day. There are many other wells of this type in tlie region, but even if 

 their How were iucrea.sed by iiuiiijiiiig. none of them have a capacity 

 sullicieut to be of any coiise(]niMi(e. jiiid. morecner, thi'y are all too strongly 

 impregnated with niincr.il matter to be of use for domestic or numicipai 

 l)urposes. They vary in depth from a few luindred feet to 1,(XJ0 feet or 

 more. 



Attempts have also been made to obtain water from shallow wells in 

 the limestone. There are three levels at which w.-iter may l>e expected 

 in small quantities in llu' Mississipiiian limestones; namely. ;it the top of 

 the Oolitic, at the top of the Ilarrodsburg limestone, and at the top of the 

 Knobstone formation. The latter horizon is the most important. The 

 writer is fjimiliar with the liistoi'y of a considcr.ilile number of sudi wells 

 ill the \ icinity of Itloomiiigtoii. and these are tyiiical of tlie entire lime- 

 stone region. Tlie I'liiversity has drilled, at one time and another, three 

 wells on the campus in the hoi)e of obtaining water for boiler-water. These 

 well.s vary in depth from .50 to more tluin ICK) feet, and reach the top of 

 the Knobstone formation. The city of I'.loomington also drilk'd a well in 

 the dry .seasou of lOOS, starting at the top of the OfHitic limestone an<l 

 reaching to the top of the Knobstone. I'riv.-ite individuals in and nbiml 

 liioomington h.-ive (h'illed a number of wells of a similar sort. None of 

 these wells have produced a supply of w.ater sullicieut for even a small 

 town, and some of them have been total failures. The reason for these 

 failures is not far to seek. First of all the Knobstone formation. :in im- 

 pervious rock, underlies the.se limestones at a comp.iratively slight depth, 

 constituting a level beneath which no water can be obtained, e.xcept small 

 quantities of nuueral water, .-is described above. Second, in the eastern 

 part of the area, the extent .and thickness of outcrop of the limestone above 

 the Knol)st(»ne, are not sullicieut to fui'uish gathering grounds for water 

 in (piautity. and the limesluues are. in ;i(l(litii)U. very thoroughly drained 

 out by the dtH'p ravines that trench the e;istern edge of the region. Third. 

 In the central ptirt of the area, where the limestones are thicker anil more 

 extensive, they arc also so cavernous that shallow wells are ;i failure, 

 e.xcept whei-e they strike (he underground sire.ims. ;ii'd dei'iier wells ju'O- 



