WELLS OP MACON COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 727 



At Morrisonville the public water supply is obtained from large wells 

 excavated to a depth of 25 or 30 feet. During the drought of 1894 and 

 1895 only about 300 barrels a day could be obtained from this source, 

 where fully twice that amount was needed. Mr. H. N. Herdman, chairman 

 of the waterworks committee, estimates that private wells in the village 

 have an average jdeld of about 10 barrels a day in seasons of drought. 



At Palmer a coal shaft penetrates 60 feet of drift, as follows : 



Section of coal shaft at Palmer, Illinois. 



Feet. 



Loess and yellow till 16 



Hard gray till 22 



Soft brown clay 7 



Sand 10 



Gravel 1 



Pebbly clay 4 



Total drift - 60 



At' Miller Station rock is entered at about 60 feet, or at nearly the same 

 elevation above tide as at Pana. The drift is largely gray till. 



MACON COUNTY. 

 GENERAL STATEMENT. 



Macon County is situated in the central part of the State, with Decatur 

 as the county seat, and has an area of 780 square miles. The Sangamon 

 River traverses it nearly centrally from east to west, and there are no other 

 large streams within the limits of the county. The greater portion of the 

 county lies within the limits of the Wisconsin drift, the outer moraine 

 formed at the Wisconsin stage of glaciation having a southward course 

 through the western part of the county. The portion occupied by the 

 Wisconsin drift stands' about 100 feet above the plain on the west, but is 

 far less perfectly drained. Not only are drainage lines less perfect, but the 

 loess, which constitutes so important an absorbent for water in counties to 

 the west, is absent or is represented only by a thin coating, probably 

 drifted by the wind. 



The thickness of the drift is known at but a few points, and these, 

 together with sections of deep wells which do not reach rock, indicate that 

 the average thickness of the drift exceeds 100 feet. The Wisconsin drift 

 consists largely of a soft blue till, readily distinguished from the harder 



