68 RESOURCES OF CALIFORXIA. 



too warm, or because it has not enough air in it. The deeper 

 the well, the warmer tlie water. 



Many of the wells have gone dry — "been drained by other 

 wells," as people say ; but yet how can one well " drain" an- 

 other, the mouths of both being on a level with each other ? 

 The wells whose mouths are at a lower level may take water 

 from those farther up the valley ; but the theory that the 

 water deserts one well, to flow out of another of equal or 

 higher elevation, is not sound. There is very little difference 

 of elevation, perhaps ten feet, between San Jose and Alviso ; 

 and the wells near the latter place throw their water about 

 five feet higher above the surfoce than do those of the former. 

 One cause of the failure of the wells may be the filling up of 

 tlie pipes. From many of them great quantities of sand, 

 gravel, and stones half a foot in diameter, have been thrown 

 up ; and if a large stone should happen to lodge crosswise in 

 the l^ipe, other smaller stones and gravel might soon stop it 

 up entirely, or break the force of the current so that the water 

 could not rise to the top. In many cases the pipe has not 

 been driven down to the foundation ; and the water, whirling 

 round at the bottom of the pipe, has torn away the earth and 

 made an excavation, thus preparing the way for a caving in 

 of tbe ground, and filling up of the well. 



It is tiie general opinion in Santa Clara valley that the arte- 

 sian wells have drained away the surface-water, and the soil is 

 much drier than it was before the wells were bored. In 1849, 

 Dr. Bascom found water west of Santa Clai-a by digging three 

 feet ; and since then he has been going deeper every year, un- 

 til now his surface-well is fifty feet deep. In Pellier's garden, 

 at San Jose, the surface-water was six feet below the surface 

 in 1849 ; now it is fourteen. Ten years ago, there was a con- 

 stant stream of water along the Alameda, between Santa Clara 

 and San Jose ; but that ditch has been entirely dry for several 

 years. A multitude of such observations are mentioned ; yet 

 there is no conclusive proof that the artesian wells have taken 

 avray the surface-water. It seems that the soil began to get 



