THE LARGEST ARTESIAN WELL IN THE WORLD.

New Zealand Times, Volume LI, Issue 8520, 29 October 1888, Page 3

THE LARGEST ARTESIAN WELL IN THE WORLD.

An account of the opening of an artesian well at Barcaldine, in the interior of Queensland, is given. The locality where the well baa been sunk is far removed from any watercourse, and has frequently suffered severely from drought. The boring operations were commenced some time ago by Mr J. Longhead, managing director of the Federal Boring Association, and no sign of water was met with till the 16th of December last, when the drill suddenly dropped 7ft. Within a few minutes the water ascended the bore, rose several feet into the air, and then fell away into the form of a large glass dome. Its temperature then was 120 deg. Fah., but soon after receded to 120 deg., and Mr Longhead anticipates that it will go down to about 90 deg. Before the rods were removed the bore was continued to a total depth of G9lft. 9in., so as to form a; receptacle for any sediment, and prevent its interference with the course of supply. The rods were'.then lifted, and some additional easing was pat in to preserve the sides of the bore where any weakness had been revealed. A pipe 17ft long was inserted into the bore, and carried up to the top of the derrick, which had been used in connection with the boring plant, and over the top of this the stream of water, 12in. in diameter, hae seemingly been allowed to run to waste. The pressure indicated that, had the piping been carried a much greater distance into the air, the stream would not have reached its natural level. It is supposed that the water is issuing at the rate of 490 gallons per minute, or 576,000 gallons per day. Mr Longhead is of opinion that the supply is inexhaustible, and that its soft nature clearly indicates that it originally came from some snowy ranges.