270 



Boring the Earth for Water. 



Vol. III. 



lengthening piece D. A great number of 

 these lengthening rods are kept in readiness, 

 wiiich can be screwed one into the other, so 

 as to descend to the depth of several hundred 

 feet. E is a forked iron, used to lay across 

 tiie hole to support the rods at the joints, while 

 the pieces are being screwed and unscrewed; 

 r a spanner, used to screw on and unscrew 

 the various tools and lengths of rods ; G a 

 clearing chisel, with a probe or piercer at- 

 tached to guide it ; H a spring bar, used to 

 produce a vibrating up-and-down motion, to 

 the chisel, when used to peck away hard or 

 rocky ground ; I iron chain to connect the 

 cross handle of the tools to the spring bar ; J 

 two men at work, boring with the chisel ; K 

 the lower pulley of a pair of blocks, suspended 

 to a pair of shears or a triangle above ; L the 

 shears or compasses; M winch or crane, to 

 work the blocks when great weights are to 

 be raised; O three lengths of rods, and the 

 chisel in the act of boring,— perforation about 

 42 feet. As a preparatory measure, a large 

 hole is usualhj dug to the depth of seven or 

 eight feet ; at the bottom of which a floor is 

 formed, by means of some planks, for the men 

 to stand on and pace round whilst using the in- 

 struments. If the earth is very sofl, the only 

 tool requisite is the auger C of three or four 

 inches diameter, which is screwed into the 

 cross handle A, and the perforation is easily 

 effected by the mere turning of it round by two 

 men, as shown in the drawing. When the 

 auger has penetrated to nearly the depth of 

 the tube, it is withdrawn, and cleared of its 

 contents. It is then let down again, and the 

 perforation is in this manner continued to the 

 whole length of the instrument. To proceed 

 to a greater depth, the lengthening rods,^ be- 

 fore described, are put in requisition. The 

 auger is detached from the handle by un- 

 screwing it; a piece of rod D is screwed in its 

 place, and the auger screwed on to the rod. 

 V/ith the instrument thus lengthened seven 

 or eight feet, the boring is renewed by means 

 of the auger, as long as the earth is found to 

 be sufficiently soft and yielding. Whenever 

 it proves otherwise, or hard and rocky, the 

 auger is detached from the rod, and the chisel 

 B,'\vhich i.s from three to four inches in diam- 

 eter at its edges, is screwed on in its place. 

 If the ground is not very hard, the boring may 

 be continued by the chisel, by the workmen 

 pressing upon it as they turn it round ; but 

 when the earth is too hard to be operated upon 

 by a chisel in this way, recourse is had to 

 j)eckinii; which is done by lifting up the in- 

 strument, and striking it against the opposing 

 substance till it is chipped away, or reduced 

 to powder to a certain depth. The rod and 

 chisel are then again drawn up, and the auger 

 substituted for the chisel, for the purpose of 

 extracting the pul /erized stony matter con- 



tained in the hole. The chisel and auger are 

 thus employed alternately, where the ground 

 is hard and stony, the one for chipping away 

 or pulverizing, and the other for clearmgout. 

 As the perforation deepens, the process of 

 pecking becomes very laborious ; recourse is 

 therefore had to the spring bar H, which is a 

 strong pole placed horizontally over the well, 

 at the height of three or four feet from the 

 ground, with one end inserted into a post or 

 other stronghold. The chain I is attached to 

 this bar, and the borer is suspended by the han- 

 dle to the hook of the chain which supports its 

 weight; a slight vertical motion is then given 

 to the bar by the workmen, which causes the 

 chisel to peck away with great rapidity. As 

 the weight of the implements becomes too 

 great to be drawn up by the hand, when the 

 boring has proceeded to a great depth, the 

 mechanical aid of a pair of pulley blocks K is 

 used for the purpose, which are usually sus- 

 pended from a triangle or a pair of shears 

 fixed over the hole. The higher these shears 

 are the better, so as to enable the workmpn 

 to raise a great length of rod, without un- 

 screwing at each joint of the rod. In the 

 manner described the boring proceeds, chang- 

 ing the tools from time time for such as may 

 be best suited to cut through the various strata, 

 whether of a soft, indurated, or stony texture, 

 until the main spring is arrived at, when the 

 water flows up the newly-formed tube to the 

 height of the di-stant spring from which it is 

 derived. If that be at a greater altitude than 

 the surface of the earth bored, the water rises 

 above the ground, producing a perpetual foun- 

 tain ; on the contrary, if it be below the sur- 

 face, a well must be sunk of some capacity, 

 down lower than the level of the spring ; into 

 this well the water flows and forms a res- 

 ervoir, and may be raised to the surface by 

 means of a pump. The earth is sometimes 

 bored by the before-mentioned simple appara- 

 tus to the depth of two, three, or four hundred 

 feet, either for the purpose of obtaining water, 

 or to ascertain the presence of mineral-s. To 

 carry on the operation at these great depths, 

 a corresponding increase of power is required, 

 which is obtained in a variety of ways. When 

 the hole is bored, a pipe of cast iron or other 

 metal is forced down it, to prevent its bemg 

 filled up again by the falling in of the sur- 

 rounding e°arth, and likewise to keep out the 

 impure land springs which might taint the 

 water. Although the process conducted aa 

 above described is extremely simple, it is very 

 tedious and laborious, owing to its being ne- 

 cessary to withdraw and unscrew the whole 

 of the rods each time the earth requires to be 

 removed from the boring tool, and to screw 

 them together again upon returning the borer. 

 To obviate these inconveniences the editor has 

 su<rgested a method by which tlie operation 



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