ANCIENT AND MODERN WELLS AND PUMPING MACHINERY

ANCIENT AND MODERN WELLS AND PUMPING MACHINERY

没有明确的记录，即何时首先要从井中获得水，也没有做出的原因，他努力从地面下方固定水。毫无疑问，起初，水是直接从溪流中使用的，当时的溪流肯定是纯净的。但是人类家庭增加了。通过乘法和解剖，它传播到了土地的各个角落，然后在圣经中一次又一次地谈论井。“And Isaac’s servants digged in the valley and found there a well of springing water." (Gen. 26:19). This seems to be the first mention of a flowing well. History and Romance are singularly interwoven and associated with the description of wells. In Isaac’s and Rebecca’s romance a well is mentioned. The well called Jacob’s well is replete with ancient history. Numerous other instances are probably remembered by most of you. No doubt the first wells were crude excavations, mere holes in the ground of very shallow depth and built wholly in soft materials; but, with the discovery of metal, wells were dug into the solid rock; not only shallow wells, but wells of prodigious depth for such times, and of no mean size, accurately fashioned and designed with a view toward permanency. The well called Jacob's well located on the road to Jerusalem was used for 3,500 years by his descendants. The exact date of its construction is unknown. It is not known whether Jacob built this well himself. Sunkin the solid rock, this ancient hole drops to a depth of 105 feet and 0 feet in diameter. Here is shown one of the most remarkable en gineering works of the ancients—Joseph’s well at Cairo (Fig. 1). This extraordinary well is nearly 300 feet in depth. For a depth of 165 feet through the solid rock it is 18x24 feet in section. At this depth is a relay chamber to receive water from the lower level of the well. The lower shaft extends 130 feet below through the rock into a bed of water-bearing gravel The lower shaft of the well is 9x15 feet in section, the water from the bottom being raised to the 105-foot level by machinery consisting of an endless chain of pots and toothed wheels; the motive power being horses or oxen. Making their countless rounds in this subterranean chamber, these beasts of burden raised the water from the very bottom to their own level; from there the water was again elevated the remaining 160 feet to the surface of the earth by similar beasts of burden. Access from the surface of the ground to the lower chamber was obtained by a winding passage way following around the large shaft. This passage way is between 6 and 7 feet wide, and a little over 7 feet in height. Dropping with a very easy grade it winds around the well with a wall with little over 6-inch thickness between it and the well shaft itself. Built in the solid rock with such extraordinary care and accuracy, this wall is truly remarkable, and it would be especially interesting to know more of the methods and tools used to build this great engineering work. The building of this well is commonly credited to Joseph, a patriarch of Egypt. Some scientists attribute this well to the same people who built the pyramids. Others believing that Cairo is situated upon the location of the ancient city of Babylon hold it to be part of the remains of this historic city.

Water from Wells.— Water from the first wells was undoubtedly drawn by hand by the simple method of dipping (Fig. 2). With waters of a lower depth the device of using an incline to the surface of the water was probably a later thought. This, however, could only be used for moderate depths, and in many cases led to making the wells themeslves larger and placing stairs or stops in the well itself. The great majority of wells of olden times, however, did not have steps, and from these wells no doubt the water was obtained by a vessel lowered by means of a cord (Fig. 3). The first machine invented for raising water was undoubtedly the simple pulley and rope. The date that pullies were first used is not recorded, but they were known to the ancient Egyptians. Fig. 4 shows the first step toward mechanical raising of water. This pulley method was operated either by hand or by beasts of burden. The advantage of this method can readily be realized when we consider the depth of some of the wells of the east, which were 300 to 400 feet in depth. Raising the water by a straight lift was an extremely arduous task. Following the simple pulley a most important invention followed, the rope and pulley with two buckets (Fig. 5). Its significance can be perceived when one realizes that it was a nucleus of the chain of pots, such as was used in Joseph’s well. The chain of pots was usually an endless rope ladder to which earthen pots were attached at intervals, this chain being hung over a wheel at the surface and operated by means of cog wheels by man or beast (Fig. 6). The Romans made these chains of iron and pots of brass. The chain of pots seems to have been the universally used machine for raising water from great depths, as ancient history does not give any account of a pump or machine capable of forcing the water above the machine itself.