1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CUTULRE. 



577 



amount of salts of lime contained in the Medina 

 waters. Sometimes we have thought it was 

 hardly fit to water plants with — that is, if the 

 water dried up on the leaves. 



Well, after 1 arrived home from Thompson, 

 Ernest commenced again on a theory that he 

 had held for ?ome time; namely, that we could 

 get water like that at the gristmill if we would 

 drill one more well on the soiitJi side of Cham- 

 pion Brook, on our own premises. The princi- 

 pal cause of his fresh enthusiasm in regard to 

 the matter was tiiat the town had just sunk a 

 well near the gristmill, for public waterworks, 

 and they had struck the very soft water we so 

 much coveted. I finally consented, although I 

 rather preferred sinking the well close to our 

 buildings. The pf ople of our town, however, 

 had a sort of theory that one would have to go 

 south of Champion Brook to get the soft water. 

 I became acquainted with the well-drillers, 

 and greatly enjoyed watching and assisting 

 them in their work. They cleared off the sur- 

 face of the rock down on the creek bottom, and 

 drilled a hole large enough to take a .5%'- inch 

 well-casing, down to the depth of about 40 feet. 

 The casing was driven down, and with a sand- 

 pump they removed all the water so I could 

 look down with a looking-glass and see that 

 the well was empty of water. They had cut off 

 all the waters that came out of the rock above 

 that point for about 40 feet. The apparatus is 

 managed by father and son. Their names are 

 Hollenbeck & Son. West Farmington. Trum- 

 bull Co.. O. When they were ready to drill 

 again, the old gentleman remarked: 



"Mr. Root, I wanted you to see for yourself 

 that all the upper hard water was actually 

 shut off. We are now going to drill again: and 

 when we strike the next water it will be softy 



I hardly need tell you that I had been asking 

 that the great Father above would reward our 

 labors. It was not more than an hour or two 

 after that time when my old friend said: 



" Mr. Root, here is your soft water." 



The pump was put down, and for half a day 

 a stream nearly the size of my arm was turned 

 into Champion Brook — bright, sparkling, pure 

 soft water— or, at least, soft enough to drink, to 

 wash with, or for any thing else. Of course, 

 there was rejoicing all over our premises, and 

 the next step was to provide proper machinery 

 for pulling the water up from its depth of 40 

 feet, and sending it up still 20 feet higher, and 

 uphill to the factory. Said I: 

 n"See here, boys; it wiL cost us more to rig up 

 machinery to get this water to the factory than 

 it will to sink another well right up hy the 

 factory; and I have faith enough to believe 

 that this same vein of soft water may be found 

 anywhere in this vicinity by shutting off the 

 upper veins of limestone waters, just as our 

 friends have been doing here." 



The old gentleman and son both Indorsed my 

 reasoning, and begged to be allowed to try their 

 hand at getting the same kind of water close by 

 our engines and boilers. Dear friends, it has 

 been done. They made their calculations, and 

 drove their tubingdown into the rock to a depth 

 of G3 feet. Then they drilled about 7 feet fur- 

 ther and struck a hard light-colored rock that 

 hardly yielded to the blows of the drill, even 

 though the latter weighed something like a 

 ton. Pretty soon we heard the joyful news 

 once more, "Here is your soft water!" The 

 pump was put down, and the muddy water was 

 run Into the sewer until it became clear, then 

 we turned it into our big cistern. To test the 

 volume, a common wooden pail was held under 

 the end of the spout of the pump. In justfe?i 

 seconds by my Waterbury watch the pail was 

 running over. The next ten seconds it was full 



again, and so on. Crowds gathered around to 

 taste the delicious sparkling beverage. Noth- 

 ing could be clearer; nothing could be purer. 

 Washbowlfuls of snowy soapsuds, made right 

 from our new cold well water, attested its soft- 

 ness. Some of the incredulous would go to the 

 other wells and get a bowlful just to try the 

 difference. Since that time, about a week ago, 

 I often wake up in the night and thank God as 

 I think of that beautiful stream. Three hun- 

 dred barrels a d?,y for use in our boilers, to cook 

 with, to drink, or to dispose of as we choose! 

 Do you not agree with me that it is one 

 of God's most precious gifts? As the stream 

 will be running whenever our engines move, 

 there is no need of anybody drinking warm or 

 stale water. It is cold enough so nobody cares 

 for ice, and it is so near at hand that pails 

 from the different apartments can be filled "in 

 a minute" 1 was going to say; but, bless your 

 heart, it does not taJie a minute — only ten sec- 

 onds, and you can keep getting a pailful every 

 ten seconds every hour in the day if you want 

 it.* 



What has all of this to do with you at yowr 

 home? Why. my dear friend, it seems to me 

 quite likely that, when we learn the secret of 

 cutting off the unpalatable waters from above, 

 we may, by artesian wells, in many localities, 

 have just the kind of water we want. The 

 whole secret. It seems to me, consists in cutting 

 off and keeping, away the water we do not want, 

 until we reach the point where we find that 

 which we do want. 



Our text has something to say about "no 

 money." You may say these deep wells cost a 

 great lot of money. Yes, they do cost some- 

 thing; but when the whole town unites in pay- 

 ing the expense of getting good water for the 

 town, the burden falls but lightly on each per- 

 son. Our town is planning to do this very 

 thing; and when we come to compare the ex- 

 pense of pure water compared with the cost, 

 first and last, of beer and other intoxicating 

 drinks, well may the prophet say, " And he 

 that hath no money, come." Once more: Do 

 not modern developments teach us that God's 

 gifts lie all along our pathway? This wonderful 

 new agent, electricity, has been just as near 

 our homes ever since the world began as it is 

 now; but we have not had the faith and courage 

 until even the last few years to reach forth and 

 take it. So with spiritual blessings. Bunyan, 

 in his wonderful book, the Pilgrim's Progress, 

 tells of a man who spent his life in raking up 

 straws and trash with a muck-rake; yet all the 

 time a shining angel held above his head a 

 golden crown; but he would not drop the muck- 

 rake even to reach up and take the crown as a 

 free gift. Was that simply an allegory ? Per- 

 haps so; but I believe it teaches us a truth. 

 Oh may God not only help us to avail ourselves 

 of the pure water that may have been waiting 

 for ages for us to tap the stream and draw for 

 the health of these physical bodies, but may he 

 help us in a like manner to tube off or cut off 

 the evils that «ome of themselves, that we may 

 enjov to the full the purifying influences of 

 communion with the Holy Spirit ! My good 

 friend the Rev. A. T. Reed, of whom I snoke im 

 my last, has recently paid me a visit. He went 

 through our crops of potatoes that I have told 

 you about. Said I: 



" Dear brother Reed, it has not been an ex- 



* This seems all the more wonderful when we con- 

 sider that, within 40 feet of this very well, there is 

 an old one that g-oes down into the rock at least 30 

 feet deeper, and yet this has always given us hard 

 water. The e-vplanation must be that it is made 

 hard by allowing impure upper waters to go down 

 and mix with it. 



