PIKE COUNTY. 641 



subsoil, at least as impervious to water as the shaly beds from which in 

 large measure this subsoil is derived ; consequently the rain is refused 

 entrance, and springs, wells, and living streams are alike impossible. 

 There are weeks, or even months, during almost every summer in which 

 all surface water disappears from these extensive areas, and stock of all 

 descriptions must be driven daily from one to four miles for water. For 

 domestic use cisterns are every where constructed, and the clay is so tena- 

 cious that it holds water quite well without cement, a dry wall being 

 generally laid to guard the excavation. What are called wells in these 

 areas are generally pits in this impervious clay, and the entire supply is 

 derived from surface water. The wells then differ from the cisterns 

 principally in this respect, viz., the latter are supplied from the roofs, 

 while the former receive their supply from the foul and neglected surface 

 adjacent to house or barn. Water from such sources must always be 

 looked upon with grave suspicion. There is no question but that it is 

 very often the medium for spreading disease and death. It is obvious 

 that all the roofs of these regions should be taxed for water-supply., 



4. The conglomerate of the eastern side of the county furnishes at its 

 base occasional springs upon ' v ich some dependence is placed. The 

 seams of shale, however, distrib ted even through the conglomerate, in- 

 terfere with its service as an efficient water-bearer. 



5. The Drift deposits of the county furnish the usual line of facts in 

 this connection. The Scioto bottoms are full of water throughout their 

 whole extent, but it is generally necessary to go to the level of the river 

 before reaching it. For the third and fourth bottoms, which have been 

 already mentioned as the most desirable locations for residence, the dis- 

 tance is so great as to render this source practically inaccessible. 



It will be seen, therefore, that almost all of the county is, to a greater or 

 less degree, defective in natural water-supply. Springs, wells, and water- 

 courses are quite inadequate to meet the demands in large areas of the 

 county. The people of such districts can not move too soon in securing 

 the artificial reservoirs that must take the place of the natural supplies. 

 Economy, comfort, and health alike demand more careful provision for 

 this indispensable element, in properly constructed and properly guarded, 

 cisterns. 



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