45 



does not pass tlirouj,'!! an impervious starta. In some parts of the State a 

 layer of clay or hard pan may lie so close to the surface that a driven well 

 not more than ten feet deep may in fact reach second water and so entitle 

 it to be classed as a deep \A'ell. In other parts of the State, especially 

 where sand and gi-avel deposits are deep, a well may be seventy-five or one 

 hundred feet in depth and still tap only surface water. Obviously, when we 

 do not know all the facts, our classification is subject to some inaccuracies. 



The difference in the quality of the deep and shallow well is strikingly 

 shown. If the actual facts were at hand, I have no doubt but what the 

 proportion of deep wells of satisfactory character would be greatly in- 

 creased. There is no real reason why every properly cased well which 

 l)asses through ;ni iiii]iervious sti'ata should not furnish pure water, save 

 in the isolated instances where sewage is poured through sink holes or 

 abandoned gas wells into the lower levels. Such conditions do- obtain in 

 the caverncus regions in the southern part of the State, and they are not 

 unknown in the so-called gas belt. 



Indianapolis, Indiana. 



