Saratoga and How to See It Part 4

It was discovered in Sept. 1871, and is the most remarkable fountain in the world. It discharges from four to eight gallons per minute, spouting through a quarter inch nozzle to a height of fifty-two feet, or through a half inch nozzle forty feet, pouring forth a perfect suds of water and gas.

History.

In the spring of 1870, Mr. Jesse b.u.t.ton, having been employed to sink the Geyser well, was so successful that he was induced to bore for another spring on land owned by D. Gibbs, Esq., in this locality.

Mineral water was found at no great depth, but in no considerable quant.i.ty. The well was sunk 220 feet in the slate rock, reaching the magnesian limestone. At this point the mineral water could be made to spout for a few moments, occasionally, by agitating it with a sand-pump. The stream, however, was quite small, and as Mr. b.u.t.ton was called elsewhere, the project was temporarily abandoned. In Sept., 1871, boring was resumed. The diameter of the well which had been sank was four and three-fourths inches. It was made an inch larger, tapering toward the bottom, and the well was continued through the magnesian limestone to the Trenton limestone, making a total depth of 300 feet. Having reached this point the water spouted forth with great force. The well was at once carefully tubed.

Properties.

The water is very concentrated, and small doses are all that is required. It will bear dilution with fresh water much better then milk. It seems to have not only strong cathartic properties, but a special action upon the kidneys and liver. For medicinal purposes it promises to equal any in Saratoga.

As an object of curiosity and interest, the Glacier Spring is unequaled in Saratoga, and it will doubtless speedily become a popular resort.

HAMILTON SPRING.

On Spring street, corner of Putnam, in the rear of Congress Hall, and a short distance from Hathorn Spring. Its princ.i.p.al action is _diuretic_ and, in large doses, cathartic. The mineral ingredients are the same as those of the other springs, but, owing to the peculiar combination, the medicinal effects are widely different. It has been found of great service in kidney complaints. From one to three gla.s.ses during the day is the usual dose. It should be used under the prescription of a physician, and warm drinks should not be taken immediately after. Persons suffering from "a cold" should not drink this water. It is not bottled.

THE HATHORN SPRING

Is situated immediately north of Congress Hall, on Spring street. H.H.

Hathorn, proprietor.

History.

The spring was discovered in 1868 by workmen engaged in excavating for the foundations of a brick building for Congress Hall ball-room. At the time of discovery its waters contained more mineral substances than any other spring at Saratoga. During the past winter a defect in the tubing has led the proprietors to retube it very carefully and at great expense. At the recent retubing two streams were found and carefully tubed, one of which discharges sixty gallons per minute.

Properties.

It is a powerful _cathartic_. Since its discovery it has achieved a wonderful popularity and a high reputation in all sections of the country. In nearly all cases when a powerful cathartic is needed its effects are excellent, benefiting those on whom the milder waters produce little effect.

Persons whose alimentary organs are very sensitive, or in an inflammatory condition, should not imbibe large quant.i.ties.

There is an unusual amount of lithia in the water, which increases its medicinal value.

THE HIGH ROCK SPRING

Is located on Willow walk, between the Seltzer and the Star Springs.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HIGH ROCK SPRING.]

The High Rock is the oldest in point of discovery of the Saratoga springs. As early as 1767, Sir Wm. Johnson was brought to it on a litter by his Indian friends. It is noted for the most remarkable natural curiosity of the vicinity, certainly. The following interesting description of this rock is by Prof. Chandler: "The spring rises in a little mound of stone, three or four feet high, which appears like a miniature volcano, except that sparkling water instead of melted lava flows from its little crater. When Sir William Johnson visited the spring, and in fact until quite recently, the water did not overflow the mound, but came to within a few inches of the summit; some other hidden outlet permitting its escape. The Indians had a tradition, however, which was undoubtedly true, that the water formerly flowed over the rim of the opening. A few years ago (1866) the property changed hands, and the new owners, convinced that by stopping the lateral outlet they could cause the water to issue again from the mouth of the rock, employed a number of men to undermine the mound, and with a powerful hoisting derrick to lift it off and set it one side, that the spring might be explored.

"If you will examine the cut which presents a vertical section of the spring, you will be able to follow me as I tell you what they found.

"Just below the mound were found four logs, two of which rested upon the other, two at right angles, forming a curb. Under the logs were bundles of twigs resting upon the dark-brown or black soil of a previous swamp. Evidently some ancient seekers after health had found the spring in the swamp, and to make it more convenient to secure the water had piled brush around it, and then laid down the logs as a curb. But you inquire, how came the rock, which weighed several tons, above the logs? The rock was formed by the water. It is composed of tufa, carbonate of lime, and was formed in the same manner as stalact.i.tes and stalagmites are formed. As the water flowed over the logs, the evaporation of a portion of the carbonic acid gas caused the separation of an equivalent quant.i.ty of insoluble carbonate of lime, which, layer by layer, built up the mound. A fragment of the rock which I possess contains leaves, twigs, hazel nuts, and snail sh.e.l.ls, which, falling from time to time upon it, were incrusted and finally imprisoned in the stony ma.s.s.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SECTION OF HIGH ROCK]

a.n.a.lysis of a Fragment of the Rock

Carbonate of lime 95.17 Carbonate of magnesia 2.49 Sesquioxide of iron 0.07 Alumina 0.22 Sand and clay 0.09 Organic matter 1.11 Moisture 0.39 Undetermined 0.46 ------ 100.00

"Below the rocks the workmen followed the spring through four feet of tufa and muck. Then they came to a layer of solid tufa two feet thick, then one foot of muck in which they found another log. Below this were three feet of tufa, and there seventeen feet below the apex of the mound they found the embers and charcoal of an ancient fire. By whom and when could the fire have been built? The Indian tradition went back only to the time when the water overflowed the rock. How many centuries may have elapsed since even the logs were placed in their position? A grave philosopher of the famous watering-place, remembering that botanists determine the age of trees by counting the rings on the section of the stems and noticing the layers in the tufa rock, polished a portion of the surface, and counted eighty-one layers to the inch. He forthwith made the following calculation:

High Rock, 4 feet 80 lines to the inch 3,840 years Muck and tufa, 7 feet low estimate 400 "

Tufa, 2 feet 25 lines to the inch 600 "

Muck, 1 foot 130 "

Tufa, 3 feet 900 "

----- Time since the fire was built 5,870 "

"As I have seen half an inch of tufa formed in two years on a brick which received the overflow from a spout of water containing only twenty grams of carbonate of lime in a gallon, I am inclined to think our antiquarian's estimates are not entirely reliable."[A]

[Ill.u.s.tration: PAVILION SPRING.]

The rock has been replaced over the spring, and the water now flows over it. A very beautiful and expensive colonnade has been built over the rock by the "High Rock Congress Spring Company." This company was formed in 1866, and was inaugurated under favorable auspices and with brilliant prospects of success. But though _founded on a rock_, it was not successful in withstanding the storms. Whether the rock was too slippery, or the Spring rains too severe, or what was the slip-up, or rather slip-down, we do not presume to say, but the company failed, and the spring was sold at auction during the present month for $16,000.

Those who invested their dollars in it sank them in a _well_, and unlike "bread cast upon the waters," they do not seem to return again.

A new company has been organized, and under their direction the spring is being retubed. With honest and careful management it ought to be profitable to the owners and conducive to the health of the public.

FOOTNOTE:

[A] A lecture on Water by C.H. Chandler, Ph.D., delivered at the American Inst.i.tute.

PAVILION SPRING.

A few steps from Broadway, in a somewhat secluded valley, though in the very centre of Saratoga and directly at the head of Spring avenue (now being completed), bubble up the clear and sparkling water of the Pavilion Spring.

The pleasure seeker strolling up Broadway is directed by a modest sign down Lake avenue to "Pavilion Spring and Park." A few steps, less than half a block, brings him to the handsome arched gateway of this very pretty park in which one can pa.s.s the time as pleasantly as could be wished. The colonnade over the spring is one of the most elegant of its cla.s.s. It was erected in 1869, at a cost of over $6,000, and is a fine ornament to the park. The United States Spring is under the same colonnade. Our cut is a very faithful likeness of the grounds.