WATER SUPPLY 41 



:: mount of water it may contain. There is no use of 

 going to the expense of running an adit until the hidden 

 water supply is fairly well approximated. All mountains 

 do not contain water, and this fact is very essential in 

 undertaking such an enterprise as described. 



Water Witchery. Ever since the writer can 

 remember he has been conversant with the methods <<f 

 certain men who claim to possess the occult power of 

 locating a stratum or underflow of water by means of a 

 forked stick, held in such a way that it is expected to 

 dip at a point over the underlying waters as the operator 

 passes along on the surface. This is called "water witch- 

 ery," and is at best a very problematical practice, scarcely 

 worth the time that one might devote to it, and certainly 

 not always worth the fees that may be charged. The 

 way to put a water locator of this sort to a practical test 

 is to place stakes at the points where his forked willow 

 may show the downward tendency, indicative, as he will 

 sav, of the water underneath. Let several stakes be 

 driven at different points. Then blindfold the water 

 prospector, lead him around in a circle several times, and 

 if his magic wand will repeat the dipping actions as 

 before, and the two sets of stakes agree, some dependence 

 may then be placed in the operation, but the test will be 

 more apt to fail and the deception will at once be apparent. 



