CHAPTER VIII. 
PROSPECTING AND BORING FOR MINERAL WATERS. 
BY W. R. CRANE. 
PROSPECTING. 
Prospecting for water strata resembles more closely the search 
for horizontal bedded mineral deposits and oil and gas hori- 
zons than for irregular and highly inclined bedded and veined 
deposits and mineralizations. 
As arule, a water-bearing horizon, such as a sandstone stra- 
tum, when once reached and pierced by a bore hole, draws to 
and feeds such an outlet until the supply has been exhausted, 
or, if the supply is inexhaustible and the hydraulic pressure is 
sufficient to hold and maintain a certain head in the pipe, it 
may, as in the case of an artesian well, even eject water to a 
considerable distance above the surface end of the outlet or 
pipe. 
A water well, artesian or otherwise, then, has about the same 
earmarks as an oil well, when considered from the standpoint 
of prospecting and boring, although, as water is much more 
abundant than oil, we should reasonably expect to experience 
much less difficulty in prospecting for the former. Then, too, 
in the subsequent operations of control and distribution a water 
well presents less serious and more readily solved problems. 
The intimate relation existing between gas and oil, as well as 
the comparative scarcity and therefore greater value of the 
same, is the main cause of the difference. 
It is common practice to seek low ground for the site of a 
well. For shallow wells, those which pass into or just through 
superficial deposits and accumulations, the reason is evident. 
Any other location would sacrifice the quantity of water ob- 
tained to convenience. 
When the deep-seated waters are sought, the location simply 
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