VoL. LX. No. 2699. 
WORKING THE WIND DOWN HILL 
HARD JOB AT RIFTING WATER. 
Is an Engine Necessary? 
We have the following question from a reader in 
Pennsylvania: 
A large spring is located near the foot of a steep hill. 
Wind is not available near the spring, but is at the top 
of the hill. From the spring to a point where the wind¬ 
mill would stand is 200 feet of about 100 feet rise. The 
hillside is nearly straight, ascending at an angle of 
about 45 degrees. Is it feasible to locate a windmill at 
the top of this hill, and pump the water to a soil re.ser- 
voir near it? If so, what form of pump should be used, 
how large a pipe, and what gearing .should be used on 
the mill? 
OsciHaiing Rods on Pump. 
It is entirely feasible to locate a windmill on top 
of a hill, and by appropriate attachments operate a 
pump at the spring at the base of the hill 200 or more 
feet away. Probably the best means of transmittiiig 
the power from the windmill to the pump will be tne 
device generally known as the oscillating rods, see 
Fig. 318. The actuating rod of the pump is connected 
with the horizontal arm of a T, to the two ends of 
which wires are attached. These wires extend from 
the tower to near the pump, where they are connected 
to similar arms on another T, the horizontal arm of 
which is connected with the pump. Thus the motion 
of the actuating rods on the mill is communicated 
to the piston of the pump; the wires pulling alter¬ 
nately on the upper and lower arms on the Ts. A 
pump to be suitable for forcing water to a height of 
100 feet must be strong and well-made. It would seem 
wise to submit a statement of the work to he done to 
the makers of the windmill that it is expected to use, 
and they will be able to recommend the style and 
size of pump, the size of pipe, and the connecting ap¬ 
paratus that will be best suited to accomplish the 
work required. The writer of this has frequently 
seen power transmitted to longer distances than that 
mentioned by our correspondent, but he has not ob¬ 
served a case where the water was raised to the same 
height and is therefore not prepared to state upon 
his own experience and observation just the style of 
pump best suited for this work. j. r. stone. 
An Engine at the Spring. 
The only way to accomplish this is to force the 
water from the spring into the reservoir on the top 
of the hill by some mechanical arrangement that will 
be easy, simple, effective, and always ready for work. 
As a matter of economy the source of the force must 
be near the work, so that waste of power is avoided. 
The force, too, must be always under control. The 
windmill suggested would evidently not fill the re¬ 
quirements, for the power must drive, it cannot under 
the circumstances draw the water, taking advantage 
of the air pressure, and it would make it necessary 
to convey the power by some means from the hill to 
the spring, and then make it work there. Now it will 
be evident that there will be a loss of power and an 
increase of expense in thus doubling the work. It 
follows then that the force must be applied where it 
will do the most good, and this is at the spring. The 
question then is, what will be the best means of get¬ 
ting this force? I think there will nothing better be 
found for this work than a smali gasoline engine, 
set up in a sufficient shed at the spring and a force 
pump attached, with whatever pipes may be required 
to carry the water where it is wanted. As the ele¬ 
vated ground will be a good place for the cistern it 
should be placed there, and the water may then be 
distributed by gravity wherever it is needed. The re¬ 
quired engine I find is described in the business col¬ 
umns, to which reference may be made. It might be 
suggested that as the capacity of the spring is not 
mentioned, if it is not sufficient to keep the supply 
NEW YORK, OCTOBER ly, 1901. 
for the pump up to the requirements of tne pipe, 
which should not be less than one inch in diameter— 
and ly^ would be better on account of less resistance 
to the flow by friction—it might be desirable to have 
a cistern at the spring to collect the water during the 
intervals of pumping, and thus economize the use of 
the engine. h. s. 
He Finds Another Spring. 
Some weeks after the first question was asked we 
received the following letter from the farmer who 
KNIPHOFIA (TRITOMA) PFITZERII. Fig. ;n7. 
See Rurallsms, Page 710. 
asked it. This shows that it pays to investigate our 
home resources: 
“I think that an arrangement could be worked by 
wires as is sometimes done, though it might cause 
some annoyance. Still another method would be to 
run the water farther down into the valley, whe:-e 
wind could be had and force it from there to the 
hilltop. However, I think I found a better solution 
than either, after sending the problem to you. There 
is another spring back in the center of the farm, but 
I was afraid it would not furnish water enough, it 
$1 PER YEAR 
apparently being much smaller than the one referred 
to. Last year was an unprecedented drought in that 
region, so that it was a good time to examine it. 
There was only a little water running from it, and it 
is so conveniently located that it cannot well be 
spared where it is, for we can use almost any field 
for pasture, and still give the stock access to this 
spring. I took a shovel and pick and a pail one day 
and went up there. I took out the stone which had 
been laid around it, and dug out some of the mud 
and gravel which had accumulated in it. I then 
dipped it out and went on cleaning it out still more 
with the shovel. In about 10 minutes I dipped out 30 
gallons more. I waited about five minutes and dipped 
out about 20 gallons, and in five minutes more I 
dipped out another 20 gallons. Of course there was 
nothing accurate about the amount, but it was near 
enough for practical purposes, and I concluded that 
even in that very dry time the spring would furnish 
more than 5,000 gallons a day. A fine stream ran in, 
but in the condition it was in most of it leached 
away below the surface. I knew that this spring was 
high enough to run to the buildings, but I was as¬ 
tonished when I came to test it with a level to find 
that it is at just about the same height that a reser¬ 
voir would be on top of the hill, where I had thought 
of pumping the other spring. I never would have 
believed it without the level. The water is not so 
cold as that in the other spring, but is clear, pure and 
soft. It will only take about 800 feet more of piping 
than the other spring, and the ditching, rod for rod, 
will be much less expensive, with no need of a wind¬ 
mill or pump. There is considerable interest in pros¬ 
pecting for ou in that immediate vicinity now; much 
of the land is leased and several wells have been put 
down about four miles away, but I believe that I was 
as much delighted to find that spring in the condition 
that I did as I should have been to find an oil well 
on the premises. A lack of water has always been 
one of the great drawbacks of the place, but a little 
outlay will give all the advantages afforded by city 
water, and from a much better source than city water 
usually comes from. The worst trouble is to find 
money enough to do all these things that are needed.” 
A GOOD WORD FOR WINDMILLS. 
Your correspondent, W. W. Stevens, page 675, ad¬ 
vises farmers to use gasoline engines for power in 
grinding feed, cutting corn fodder, etc. The gasoline 
engine is a good and cheap power all right, but I 
have a windmill that is cheaper than gasoline, and 
quite as efficient in a good breeze. Mine is a 12-foot, 
galvanized steel mill, mounted on my barn. It is 
capable of grinding feed and cutting stalks at the 
same time. It is found that by taking advantage of 
the wind, when it is “on tap” that it will do all the 
work required by simply letting the mill swing into 
the wind. I should hesitate to put a gasoline engine 
in my barn or advise my neighbors to do so. The gaso¬ 
line is too much like gunpowder; tolerably safe in 
careful hands, but dangerous to the careless. “A good 
servant, but a hard master.” 
I use a gasoline engine to supplement a windmill 
for pumping water from the Niagara River, for use 
at the barn and general purposes. This engine and 
mill are located near the river. The engine is used 
only occasionally, when the wind is weak or “con¬ 
trary,” and the reservoir is exhausted.. I am not ad¬ 
vertising windmills of any kind or description, but 
when I have a good, willing servant, economical and 
safe, I think it well to say a good word for it. It is 
not necessary to mount the mill on the barn, it might 
preferably be on a steel tower contiguous to the barn, 
where the power is wanted. This power is not port¬ 
able, of course, but my neighbors avail themselves of 
it for grinding grain. w. h. w. 
Youngstown, N. Y. 
R. N.-Y.—We know of gasoline engines which have 
been run in the barn with perfect cafety. 
