106 Timehri. 



diameter hole, which is absolutely necessary in order to use the new 

 contrivance for effectively screening the well, special drilling tools and 

 collateral parts have had to be designed and made in the colony. So far 

 the work is proceeding most satisfactorily. 



I would like to say a few words about the original well at Nabaclis 

 and its failure. The casing used in this well was of mild steel of English 

 manufacture but of only moderate thickness, having inserted joints. 

 However the casing was here and the only material of its kind in the 

 colony, and had it not been for the strong action of the intermediate 

 saline waters passed through in drilling the well, I have no doubt but 

 that the casing would have lasted for many years. English made casing 

 however is not nearly so suitable for artesian wells where there is any 

 likelihood of saline waters being able to reach it, as American casing. The 

 American casing is the best for all classes of work, because it is rolled 

 and welded at a much greater heat than the English casing with the result 

 that it has a very hard and thick scale on the outside surfaces, which 

 resists both the formation of rust and the action of saline or even acid 

 waters. Since drilling the Diamond well in 1915, no English casing has 

 been imported or used in the wells. Where the American casing has 

 been used no signs of corrosion are yet visible, as an inspection of the 

 well casing at Lichfield, put down in 1915, testifies. 



A scheme for drilling artesian wells of veiy large diameter will be 

 shortly laid before His Excellency the Governor, who referred to this in 

 his opening speech at the last opening of the Combined Court. 



In my opinion, after the necessary funds have been provided, half 

 the battle before the Government in the matter of the economical and 

 effective colonization of the country, will lie in a supply of pure water to 

 the estates, villages, and last but not least to the towns of Georgetown 

 and New Amsterdam. 



Early in March, 1915, a scheme was prepared for an artesian supply 

 of water to both the foregoing towns. 



In regard to the Georgetown scheme, it was proposed to drill twenty 

 wells, these being connected to a main collecting pipe placed 12 feet 

 below the surface, the pipe being led to the pump at the waterworks, 

 from which it would be lifted by the pumps and forced into the town 

 mains for general consumption. 



The scheme was placed before the Pure Water Committee which 

 consisted of the Director of Agriculture, the Surgeon General and the 

 writer. The Committee reported inter alia : " The Committee is satisfied 

 that the water mains of Georgetown are not polluted so as to require 

 taking up, cleaning and relaying. To do this would inevitably result in 

 the destruction of very many lengths of pipes. Recent enquiries have 

 shown that the interior surfaces of the water pipes are usually fclean 

 with their surface of bituminous varnish intact ; the deposit in them 



