Chat. XIII-

IIORIXG, ETC.

1061

which draws up the earth the chisel has separated ; the earth entering at the bottom fillsthe cavity of the auger, and, as it cannot escape, it is discharged at top, and finally drawnup as occasion requires. When it is required to work the auger deeper, an iron rod isattached, by screwing it on at the upper end, and using the chisel alternately with itas before, the operation is continued : as the hole descends, additional rods are put on, andthese require to be well jointed, so that they work truly. To elevate a great length ofrod, it is necessary to have three poles over the wheel, secured at the top, and a pair ofpulley blocks : the rods are about 7 feet in length, and as this is the usual length of haul,it must determine the position of the pulleys: a claw is used to gripe the rods to be drawnup, attached to a chain, and a wrench to unscrew the rods as they rise; sometimes achisel inches wide will descend 100 feet, and an auger of a little less diameter willclear the way ; a chisel 4 inches in width requires an auger of 3^ inches.

There are varieties of instruments, all of which have a screw at the upper end, tappedto one thread, and therefore easily fit into the various rods. A hollow conical instrument,with a spiral worm around it, is useful in sandy soils ; a cylindrical auger with a valvein it in mud; as this is turned round, the fluid matter passes above the valve, and is se-cured ; another form is that of the bucket, which, when dropped into the hole, acts like apump in extracting any soft or watery matter : each of these are under the control ofguide pieces and stops : when a rod becomes broken in the hole, which often occurs inrocky soils, it is drawn out by a pair of tongs which has at the lower end a cylindricaltube, above which is a chisel-edged tongue, pressed down by a spring ; when this is lowered,the end of the broken rod passes into the cylinder, and pressing back the tongue, it isheld fast, and thus drawn out. Punches are also required to peck into hard stones, by re-peated strokes, or to break them ; these are of various forms, generally angular, with out-side cutting edges : when the hole is formed it is usual to line it with a metal casingabout inch less in diameter than the bore ; this tubing is either of tin or copper, in con-venient lengths, and when sunk others are attached and soldered to it, to descend in theirturn ; these are driven by means of a block of wood, with an iron rod attached, which ismade to traverse through a hole above; this is mounted like a pile-driver, and beats downthe tubes ; sometimes this is effected by fastening at the end of one of the boring rods aniron like an acorn, which enters the tube, and, by means of its projecting rim, presses itdownwards. It is, however, necessary, previously to inserting the pipe or tube, to passdown the hole bored a diamond chisel, funnel-mouthed, with a triangular bit in its centreto smooth the sides and form it into a true cylinder, by keeping the chisel turned as itdescends.

Well at Messrs. Truman , Hanbury , Buxton, §* Co.’s Brewery in London -The well was

commenced in the middle of another 16 feet in diameter, and the work as performed by the7niser instead of the usual methods adopted : after the land-spring in the old well hadbeen drained, another, 11 feet in diameter, was commenced, and carried down with bricksteening, the clear internal diameter being 8 feet 6 inches; after a depth of 115 feet 3 incheshad been by this means arrived at, a cast-iron cylinder was lowered, and others successivelywere added; at a depth of 135 feet the yellow clay was reached: here the water over-powered the excavations, and the miser was again made use of; an oyster bed was thenpierced 163 feet below ; to drive the jumper or heavy chisel through the hard rocky crust ofthis oyster bed occupied the workmen seven days; when this was done the iron cylindersuddenly sank 5 feet 6 inches; the miser was again used, until the depth of 190 feet wasarrived at, and the cylinders became completely fixed: soon after this, pumping wasresorted to, and then a blow of sand from the bottom filled the well for a depth of 28 feet :the miser cleansed this, and the pumping again commenced, and soon after the iron cylindersseparated at a joint about 73 feet from the top ; a portion of the cylinder was then cutaway, and, after removing the yellow clay, a dome was constructed with brick and cemententirely around the exterior of the cylinder. An internal cylinder, 2 feet in diameter,was lowered within the original cylinder, and this was continued until driven 4 feet intothe chalk; the space between the large and small cylinder was filled in with granitepaving-stones to a depth of 5 feet, then with broken stones, brick, and hydraulic cement foranother 25 feet, to prevent any future blow of sand from the bottom of the well. The wellwas then drained, and 400 holes about ^ inch in diameter were drilled in the cylinderimmediately below the level of the oyster bed : the bore was then resorted to, and continuedfor a depth of 200 feet more, making the whole depth 400 feet, and then a supply of waterwas obtained equal to 33 gallons per minute : after the work was complete, and the jointsof the cylindets picked out to admit the water, then, with all these sources combined, it wasfound to yield 81 gallons per minute, or 135 barrels in an hour, viz. 55 from the chalk, and80 from the sand spring. The total cost of sinking this well was 44441., and the 12-horsesteam engine and pumps in addition 1351J.

The tools vary in their form according to the material to be pierced, or in soft groundthe hole may be first opened with a chisel, and then a cylindrical auger, in whichthe earth or broken stone passing through an aperture at the bottom, fills the cylinder, and

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