ENGINEERING. 



259 



In this connection may be noticed the ship- 

 ment from the Krupp gun-foundry at Essen in 

 Westphalia, to Antwerp, of an enormous gun 

 destined for the Italian navy. In this case the 

 inflexibility of the article to be transported 

 simplified the problem, as weight alone had 

 to be considered. This one item, .however, 

 was formidable enough. The gun is 45 feet 

 long, 16 inches caliber, and weighs 118 tons. 

 The special truck constructed for the trip 

 weighed 98 tons. It was 75 feet long, and rested 

 on 32 wheels. The trucks were adjusted so 

 that at six different points deflections could take 

 place for passing curves, without disturbing 

 the adjustment-level of the main platform. The 

 transit was effected without accident and the 

 gun transferred to shipboard at Antwerp. It 

 has since reached its destination at Spezzia. 

 It is worth mentioning that this gun has been 

 two years in making, and two others still larger 

 are at present in the works at Essen. 



Wells, Artesian. The great artesian belt, as it 

 is called, in Kern and Tulare counties, Califor- 

 nia, contains hundreds of flowing wells, and the 

 importance of economizing the water for pur- 

 poses of irrigation has led to the adoption of 

 various devices, of which storage reservoirs are 

 the simplest and, when all the circumstances 

 favor, are perhaps cheapest and best. Some 

 of the wells deliver 2,500,000 gallons of water 

 every day, and, taking the whole artesian belt, 

 it is probable that 100,000,000 gallons of water 

 run daily to waste. If it found its way 

 promptly into natural water-courses this would 

 not be particularly objectionable, but the con- 

 formation of the country is such that it often 

 stays where it is not wanted and rarely goes of 

 its own accord where it is wanted. There is a 

 State law requiring such wells to be capped 

 when not in actual use, but it has heretofore 

 been a dead letter. The nuisance of waste 

 water threatens now to become so serious that 

 the best systems of capping are of prime im- 

 portance. The illustration shows the cap 

 that controls a large well recently sunk for 

 the Miramonte Colony in Kern County. A is 

 an 8-inch elbow of cast-iron; B is a water-cap 

 or gate of the same diameter ; C is the gate- 

 flange; D is a 10-inch casing; E is the small 

 connection and pipe ; F is the anchor of con- 

 crete ; G, the cast-iron flange ; H, the 8-inch 

 casing, and I, the sand and cement between the 

 casings. In beginning the work, the 10-inch 

 water-tight casing of galvanized iron was put 

 down forty feet. To the outside of the casing, 

 nine feet below the surface of the ground, was 

 riveted a cast-iron collar and flange, on top of 

 which cement was poured, forming a roughly- 

 circular block, four feet in diameter and a foot 

 thick. When this " set," the earth was filled 

 in above it, and it formed a very secure bar 

 against upward movement. At the upper end 

 of the 10-inch casing is a flange and collar 

 with a water-valve gate, and above it a cast- 

 iron elbow to divert the water. Everything 

 being in place, the well proper was started in- 



side the 10-inch casing, well- pieces, 8 inches 

 in diameter, being sunk in the usual manner, 

 and the space between the 8-inch and 10-inch 



CAP FOR ARTESIAN WELL. 



casings filled with sand and cement. The small 

 opening in the side of the casings is intended 

 to connect with a 3-inch pipe to lead the water 

 to houses, barns, etc. When the cap is closed 

 there is, of course, a heavy pressure in the 

 well and all its connections, but it has thus far 

 shown no signs of weakness. The multiplica- 

 tion of artesian wells renders their successful 

 management a matter of considerable moment. 

 Another remarkable well of this character is 

 that recently bored for the new Ponce de Leon 

 Hotel at St. Augustine, Fla. It is 12 inches 

 in diameter, 1,400 feet deep, and flows with a 

 constant volume estimated at 10,000,000 gal- 

 lons of excellent water daily. It issues from 

 the pipe with sufficient force to rise about 20 

 feet perpendicularly. The mouth of the well 

 is ten feet above tide-water. The geologi- 

 cal formations pierced were sand, small shells, 

 and blue-clay rock, while at a depth of 450 feet 

 a good supply of water was struck. At a depth 

 of 520 feet a large accession of water occurred, 

 and again after, at a depth of 1,1 00 feet, passing 

 through coral and limestone. The drilling was 

 continued through sandstone and limestone to 

 1,400 feet, but no advantage was gained thereby. 

 The temperature steadily rose as the depth in- 

 creased, and reached 86 at the bottom of the 

 boring. Only two months were occupied in 

 the work, the strata being generally easy to 

 penetrate. American engineers have been very 

 successful in sinking artesian wells, but^much 

 time and money are annually wasted in ill- 

 advised attempts to sink wells where there is no 

 reason for suspecting the existence of a water 



