WELLS OF PERRY COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 771 



PERRY COUNTY. 

 GENERAL STATEMENT. 



Perry County is situated south of Washington and east of Randolph 

 County, with Pinckneyville as the county seat, and has an area of 440 

 square miles. The greater portion of the county is tributary to the Big- 

 Muddy River through Beaucoup Creek, which traverses the central part of 

 the county in a north-to- south course. The Little Muddy forms the east 

 border of the county south from the Jefferson County line. A few square 

 miles in the west part of the county drain southwestward through Marys 

 River to the Mississippi. The uplands are coated with compact white clay, 

 but the valleys have a more porous deposit, forming a rich black soil. 



The features of this county are very similar to those of Washington, 

 the preglacial ridges being but partially concealed by the drift and having 

 a coating only 10 to 20 feet thick on the highest portion, while the valleys 

 are filled more deeply so that wells seldom enter the rock. Water is usually 

 obtained at less than 40 feet, either from the drift or rock. 



INDIVIDl'iL WELLS. 



The public water supply at Pinckneyville is obtained from an artesian 

 well around the mouth of which a large well is excavated which receives 

 the water. The well is reported by the Manual of American Waterworks 

 to have a depth of 2,000 feet, and to be used principally for fire protection 

 and street sprinkling. Private wells in that vicinity are obtained at about 

 30 feet. Rock is occasionally entered at less than 20 feet. 



In the northwest part of the county, near Swanwick, wells usually 

 obtain water at slight depth in the rock, the drift being often not more than 

 10 or 12 feet in depth. 



In the southwest part of the county wells in several instances have 

 encountered a blue mud carrying a large amount of wood. This appar- 

 ently underlies the pebbly clays of the drift, but whether it in turn is under- 

 laid by a till sheet is not ascertained. 



In the vicinity of Duquoin wells range in depth from 15 to 40 feet, 

 the usual depth being about 25 feet, They very seldom reach the rock. 

 Coal shafts in that vicinity usually penetrate 30 to 45 feet of drift. The 

 Manual of American Waterworks (1897) reports that waterworks are under 

 construction. 



