Saratoga and How to See It by R. F. Dearborn
page 60 of 125 (48%)
page 60 of 125 (48%)
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This fountain was the first tubed in this mineral valley, being opened
by Gideon Putnam, in 1806. It was used for bathing purposes chiefly. Dr. Steel writes of it in 1828, that it is "found of eminent service when applied to old, ill-conditioned ulcers, and obstinate eruptions of the skin." A cluster of bushes formed a shelter for the external use of the water. In 1858 a shaft eleven feet square was sunk round the spring to a depth of thirty feet. The stream seemed to come from a lateral direction, and a tunnel was excavated for a distance of thirty feet. At this point the earth gave way, and the water and gas flowed in so suddenly that the workmen hardly escaped with their lives, leaving their tools behind them. In fifteen minutes 12,000 gallons of water, and double that quantity of gas, filled the excavation. Rotary pumps, worked by a steam engine, were insufficient to remove the water. Another shaft, near the end of the tunnel, was sunk to a depth of twenty-eight feet, when the water burst into this also, and it had to be abandoned. A third shaft, twenty feet in diameter, and held by a strong coffer dam, was sunk southeast of the former. When the rock was reached two streams were found issuing from a fissure; one of them was tubed, and water rose to the surface. This brief sketch will give a little idea of the difficulties and dangers incident to the tubing of some of these springs. Properties. This is a chalybeate or iron spring, having _tonic_ and diuretic properties. It is not a saline water, and the peculiar inky taste of |
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