THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



205 



locust, 12 ft. square, a story and a half high, with 

 a tongued and grooved floor over the first story, 

 shingle roof, and heart pine weather-boarding. — 

 Upon the upper floor we have a frame to one side 

 to put a roller in, to fasten the upper end of the 

 wire to, and to tighten and loosen the wire with, 

 according to the temperature of the weather, and 

 placed at a suitable elevation upon the floor to per- 

 mit the bucket when emptied to be under the roof. 

 Behind this roller we have a wheel three feet in 

 diameter, with a rim deep enough to hold all the 

 cord when wound round it, (a roller or pulley being 

 fixed just in front of the wheel to direct the cord 

 to the rim,) with an iron axletree and crank run- 

 ning in brass boxes, (the crank should be 18^. 

 long to prevent hard turning), with a rag wheel 

 and catch, such as are used to weavers' looms, to 

 fasten it when not in use. Through the floor we 

 have a wooden or plank funnel let, a sufficient 

 height above the floor to tilt the bucket, to which 

 is attached a wooden spout, which conveys the 

 water through the wall upon the front side, and 

 pours it into the water vessel which is placed upon 

 a bench made for that purpose of thick, strong, 

 oak timbers and locust posts. 



Next, the spring house : in it we have a trough 

 the length of the inside, 18 in. wide, and 15 in. 

 deep, let into the dirt floor, over which, at the end 

 on the front side of the house, we have a strong 

 iron bound rum hhd. placed upon a frame put upon 

 the sills of the house, which we have cased up, 

 and made a refrigerator of, by filling with charcoal 

 between the casing and hhd. This hhd. we draw 

 full of water morning and evening, by putting a 

 plug in the end of the spout, and having a tin 

 pipe to fit an inch and a half auger hole, with two 

 elbows to it, one let in on the top of the spout and 

 the other into the head of the hhd. We use a 

 fosset to let the water into the trough, through a 

 tin tube made to the fosset, with two elbows pass- 

 ing down near the bottom of the trough upon the 

 side. The water is passed off through a large spile 

 near the top of the trough, to the outside of the 

 house, by a three quarter auger hole through it; 

 giving a supply of water to the fowls and for other 

 purposes : in the trough we have shelves to accom- 

 modate our various milk vessels. We have been 

 using this spring house for two or three years, and 

 our milk and butter keep just as good as when we 

 used the one at the spring. 



Putting up the wire: we have locust posts set 

 in a straight line 27 feet apart (I think 18 ft. pre- 

 ferable) with an arm let into each at right angles 

 with a large auger, at suitable height, about 18 in. 

 long: upon the end of these arms an iron elbow 

 made flat, splayed a little to pass the bucket, and 

 fastened to the arms with wood screws : the end 

 pointing up is made 8| in. long and forked to place 

 the wire in to clamp it. The clamps should be filed 

 thin and smooth, or they will produce too much 

 jolt to the bucket. I had some difficulty in getting 

 my wire put together strongly; but finally had it 

 flatted and brazed together at every joint or lap ; 

 and it now stands well, and promises to stand until 

 it wears out. The w've is fastened through the 

 timber above named at each end, placed in the iron 

 elbows, which are braded and filed smooth, and 

 strained tight by boring an auger hole through the 

 roller next the wall, having a long pin or lever put 

 in it. 



The car I feel at a loss to describe : it is a nar- 

 row frame 2 ft. long, one inch wide inside where 

 the rollers run, framed down on the opposite side 



of the wire from the posts 20£ inches, in the cen- 

 tre of which the bucket is hung. My rollers in 

 the car are 3 in. in diameter and nearly an inch 

 thick. They are put at each end, 18 inches apart, 

 from the pin holes. The cord, (which is a sash 

 cord,) is fastened to the wheel in the rim at one 

 end, and to the front end of the car at the other, 

 8 or 10 in. from that end. Less descent or fall is 

 required at the spring house or tower than is near 

 the spring; because, the farther the bucket runs, 

 the more descent is necessary to give it the control 

 of the cord. The cord runs upon those wooden 

 arms. 



Now, sir, I feel I've given a very imperfect de- 

 scription of this valuable Water Telegraph, but 

 hope what I have said may induce some one to 

 accommodate his family with a similar or better 

 one. It seems to me passing strange that so many 

 persons have seen and approved of mine, and yet 

 none will build one. In the days of old our Sa- 

 viour said, " light has come into the world, but 

 men choose darkness rather than light." Now, sir, 

 when benefits and labor saving are amongst us, 

 men choose rather to put the labor upon their 

 negroes than to part with a few dollars, even when 

 their interest demands it. When I started my Te- 

 legraph, three ago next May, (since which time 

 when the bucket has been let oft', it has been just 

 as certain for three gallons of water in one minute 

 as a nine-pence was, in old times, for a Tickler^) the 

 crown of the head of one of my servant boys was 

 as naked from toating water, as is the palm of my 

 hand. And had he had all the water to toat which 

 the family used, he would have had no hair upon 

 his head, if he could have applied the pail to all 

 parts of it. My bucket holds three gallons, and a 

 chap eight or nine years old can now supply the 

 demands of the family with water, even upon wash- 

 ing days. We can draw 180 gal. in an hour, with 

 no extra effort. The whole fixture cost me $85. 

 The cost to get the water, abstractly, was $20. It 

 costs me fifty cents a year for cord, and a trifle for 

 sweet oil to keep it greased; and five hundred dol- 

 lars would be no temptation to my wife to be de- 

 prived of its use through future life. I am ac- 

 quainted with the operation of hydraulic rams and 

 all kinds of pump wells, except the chain pump, 

 and I would not be willing to exchange it for any. 

 It is a comfortable and pleasing thought, sir, to 

 think we can get pure water so comfortably in bad 

 weather, and with so little labor. The bucket 

 (which is tin with a leaden sinker upon the top 

 edge on the dipping side,) runs to the spring itself, 

 fills in an instant, is drawn back by turning the 

 crank to the wheel, and two-thirds of the distance 

 it turns very little harder than does a cotton wheel 

 when twisting yarn with a heavy broach upon the 

 spindle; empties itself, by turning the crank, into 

 the wooden funnel named above, and if permitted, 

 returns immediately back to the spring. 



If any one doubts any thing I've said, such an 

 one is very respectfully invited to pay me a visit 

 a#d see for himself, and if his doubts are not re- 

 moved I shall be much disappointed. There is no 

 patent right upon this cut, or invention, it having 

 been published by Willson Newman of South Onon- 

 daga in 1812. I omitted to say, the rollers should 

 be metal; wood will not do: mine are brass, but I 

 think cast iron preferable, being harder. I am 

 much disposed to recommend a plank track as pre- 

 ferable to wire, in being cheaper and having no 

 contraction or expansion from cold and heat. If 

 the wire is too tight in very cold weather it will 



