On Wells and Water

There were two wells on the Peterson farmstead — one near the house (actually on one of the two back porches) that supplied water to the house. The other was on the edge of the barnyard and was considerable deeper so it never ran dry. The lower pump which supplied water to the stock tank was as indicated much deeper than the pump near the house. The latter was 40 feet deep whereas the lower well was considerably more than 100 feet.

During dry spells or when heavily used the house well would occasionally run dry — then a wait would be required for the water level at the bottom of the well to restore itself. The lower well never ran dry in my memory. Because it was much deeper a much greater effort was needed to operated the lower pump manually. Usually the lower pump was operated by an electric motor and a pump jack, but I have a dim recollection during the coldest winter spells that I had to pump by hand. This effort which taxed my physical ability added to the difficulty of keep space for water in the stock tank (which by spring was almost a solid chunk of ice).

Uncle Carl, when working in the summer time, always drank water from the lower well. Sometime or other he had convinced himself that this was better for him. Actually the water from the lower well had sort of a bitter taste (it was high in dissolved salts and actually contained considerable iron, judging from the deposits of iron oxide in the stock tank). When we were working in the field, water for drinking was carried along in a stoneware gallon jug. The jug was wrapper with gunnysack material which was wet when the jug was filled before going out in the field.

Uncle Carl typically never drank coffee or milk though he would drink fruit ades such as lemonade. Mostly he just drank water. One of the few occasions when he didn’t was once during threshing season. One evening before going to bed he drank a glass of buttermilk. It must have been spoiled because during the night he had a severe stomach ache upset with vomiting and diarrhea. Typically he did not call of the threshing but kept the rig going. That day all he drank was water from the lower well which he brought along in a jug. As I recall he ate nothing.