ARTIFICIAL WATER SUPPLY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1766, 14 February 1888, Page 3

ARTIFICIAL WATER SUPPLY

, While m this county we are as yet only partially turning to account the magnificent water-supply with which Nature has endowed us, and are Blowly making up our minds to incur the I expense necessary to bring every part of the Plains within rpach of its >eneficent and fruitful influence, our cousins m Queensland, under the spur of the disastrous effect* of the frequent droughts over large areas of naturally waterlesß country, have gon.lin for artesian well-boring With tho most remarkable and satisfactory results At Barcaldinc, n the very centre of one of tho most arid rcgi ms of that colony, a wel has just been sunk under the direction of Mr J. Longhead, an American engineer, which is said to be the biggest artesian well m the world, and the supply from which ib estimated at 400 gallons per minute, or 576,000 gallons of water per day . Thousands of stock perished last summer around this very spot for want of Water, and now the overflow has formed a large \ lagoon, m which cattle wade up to their middle, the water finding its way for mile^ and joining the Ullice river. " Barcaldine (says the Sydney " telegraph) ig e.tnated some 400 mi.es v?t_t of ilockhampton, on the Central Queensland tt ail way. It is the receiving railway station for the wool and stock of tho surrounding pastoral properties which cover an area of some hundreds of miles. It was badly off" for water, and the wool teams, of which there are a great number, suffered many hardships m consequence. The nearest waterhole is six miles from the town. Thousands of sheep and cattle m the district succumbed to the last drought. And as it is the land is as rich as any m Queensland. Ihe surface consists of rolling downs of rich black loam, and no alteration is seen if travelling over a vast area of country. It Is occasionally watered by a lagoon or wide cree«, but tbese occasion., have been so much liko angels' visits as to cause the designation, " The Dry Lagoon ." It w,.s here that the Government of Queensland, who had entered into a contract with Mr Loughead to bore 7500 feet for water, determined to put down the first hole. Tho stake for his guidance was placed on the summit of a small hill, the surface of which was of a sandy formation. There was nothing m the appearance of the place to lead anyone to think that an artesian well would be found there more than at any other, and the latest evolution m geological science provides no divining rod for unearthing water at great depths. Boring op. rations were begun on Nov. 18th. The bore was 12 inches m diameter. The sinking of the first 24 hoars measured 110 feet, and m four weeks water was struck at a depth of 645 feet from the surface No sign of water — brackish or otherwise — was poen all the way down, and tho first intimation of its presence was obtained on Friday evening, Dec. 16th, when tho drill suddenly dropped 7 feet. Within a few minutes the water ascended tho bore and the memorable deluge ol Barcaldine couimoncul. It rose severa feet into the air, and then fell away m the form of a large glass dome Teams. ers who had ca'np don ground lower than the mouth of tho stream were flooded out, and sfter innumerable water holes had been tilled tho Btream found its way to a ere k. The miraculous spectacle of a stream m a creek which had long been dry and had never been known to receive tho over-flow of other water-courses bewildered people who were not aware of what had « ccurred at ; barcaldine, into whose precincts peoplo , came to know what was really tho matter." . . . t imilarly successful art^siun wells have been sunk m I other parts of Queensland, though the largo-t bort. m any of thes.. has not exceeded eight inches m diameter, tho beßt ' f the w lis yielding 40,000 gallons per day, and it is now believed that far below the surface there is an inexhaustible supply of water -—a subterranean river — «hich can bo made to revive and fertiliso country that, for lack of water, has hitherto betn almost worthless. The value of the discovery, says the " Telegraph," is incalculable." In three widely-separated territories m the heart of Queensland, each of which was a little while back almost devastated by drought, md where the average rainfall renders stocking hazardous, the fact has been established that an abundant supply of fresh water exists beneath their arid plains. Water was their only great want, The capabilities of tho soil aro revealed this season, which has been a remarkably good one, for sheop are almost buried m the succulent grasses, Every gallon of water per day from a subterranean source represents an additional sheep, hence it is that by striking a supply of 40,000 gallons a day at Thurulgoona the owners have j been able to stock the run with 10,000 i more sheep than it previously carried. I Had these inestimable artesian wells ] been, struck m the midst of a protracted drought, the boon would nave been received with oven greater appreciation. It is now regarded by pastoralists ns tho greatest gift .Nature has given to their industry." Nor is tho cost of these artesian wells, deep as they are, by any means so largo as it might have been supposed would be tho case, for wo learn that the Barcaldine bore was put down fpr loss than i.700. No wonder, then, that the lesults obtained have given a great impetus to water-boring, or that the Federal Boring Association, for which Mr Loughead is manager, has received numerous applications from other parts of Queensland, as well as from JNew South Wales and South Australia,in all of which regions if similar operations be alikn successful the fulfil ment of the fcriptural prediction that tho " desert shall blossom as tho rose " , bide fair to be realised.