The Ann Arbor Artesian Well

Tlie followiiig Is a statement o! the gcologlcal positiön and prospecta ol' the arteslan well In thls place. The geológica! formatlons underlylng Anti Arbor auü lts vicinity, are asfollows : I. Loose superficial malcriáis, consistlng of soll, gravel, band, boulders, and at the bottom, a heávy dcposlt of blulsh bonider clay. These materlals have a thickness In Washtemnv Couuty ranging probably froin 20 to 175 feet. There is no known exposure of the underlving strata in tho couuty. II. The Marshall Group, consistlng chiefly of butlish and graylsh sandstoue, as at Napoleón, Jackson County, and Jlarshall, Citlhoun County. Total thickness of Mie formation aljout 150 (tot. These rocks probably uuderlie the northern part of the county. III. Ihe tifiron Oroup. Thls conslsts chiefly of shalea. These are coMimonly but nproperly called "soapstone." The upper hales vary from bluish or whltish to dark olored, with layéis of huif ceiiiunted sand, nd ocoaslonal thin bands of hard rock. At the bottom is generally a bed of black hale from four to thlrty fect iu thickness. Greatcst kuown thickness of this group, 00 to TOO fcet. IV. Tlte Uamilton Group consista oflimctones and shalcs. In Ltttle Traverse Bay, s nearly as I have been able to ascertain, ie group consista of the followiug divisons : 1. Chert beds - vcry flinty. 2. Bufl". vesicular, magnesian limestones. 8. Dark bituminous simios and liinetones. 4. Palc-buff masslve limestones - a real oral reef. The tota1: thlckness Is about 1-40 feet. In the Thuader Bay regiou the Ilamllon üroup terminates downward In a niass f shales of considerable thickness. V. 2te Corniferous Group, chlefly llnictones, as at Kelley's Islaud, Grosse He, &c. reatest thickness in the State about 300 eet. VI. Tte Lotear HcUUrberg Group. A niass f broken, irregularly bedded, argillaceous raestone with good water-limcstono at the ottom, as at Brest, Mlch, Put In Bay sland, &c. Thickness about 100 feot. VII. iheSiilina Orovp. Limestone, shalc, andstone, brlnc, and at Alpcna, Mich., and oderich, Ontario, rock salt. Thickness i tlils State about 50 feét. Groups II., HL, IV., V., VI., aud VIL, e In a positiou dipping toward the center f the península. The margin of the Corulfous and Lower Helderberg Groups comes 0 tLe surface in Mouroe county. The place 1 outcrop of the Uamilton Group is beween Raisiu Rlver and Anu Arbor. Furll - r north the Huron Group comes up. The outhern border of the outcrop must naturlly be thiu. It must thickeu northward ntll we reach (probably a few miles north f Aun Arbor) the thln outcropping edge f the sandstoues of the Marshall Group, 'hese outcrops, however, are all covered y the superöcial materlals (No. I.). Let us non' see what actual boring has ïake knowu in referencc to the rocks uuerlyhig our place. From specimens and nformatlou imparted by Mr. G. Q. Watkins ha,ve drawu up the following table. The rtl column denotes the total distance froni ie surlace of the earth at wlnch the severL kinds of rock wcre tirst struck. The econd column denotes the thickuess of the overal rocks and cavities passed througU : TAÏU.K OF POHMATIONS. D "" g. gj UESCRirTIOXS. a S Ft. Ft. HrPF.HFK'IAI., 131 i Ri O 30 ffoil, gnivel, &c. 30 101 i l;iy, bluih und ulhosive, with ulternuting Beanu of quk'ksand. ri Bottom of shuft. 131 } Uuicksaud, rendcring necessar}". HCTOHOSODF, 19', FKKT. 131 H 28 i Slmlc-tirat vtxi in place. ïulwd to herc. ltiu 4 l'iirtially oemented sund. lruve two moro leii'Tis oí' i)it'. 1G4 51 Shuie, Iiiílit-1'liii.li, ZHDginr to daricgraj, not effcn'escing with acid, tine laminated, with lliiilutü ili.-)iimiu-it ücuics of white mica. Some portions [appar ently thin waras) buifiah, nithor huid, very uliphtly BPTTOwfalg with ucid. Drove 4 ft. more of pipe to thiü slialo. Wtiter from shftft was ahut otf. A littlu water continucd to uppear in the P'I. 215 H Crevico. Fresh water rose immcmatcly to wlthin 2ó or 30 foet of the surfacu. From thia crevicc is suppoH!(l to liavo como a fragment of black bituruinous limcstone, which, however, is a littlc worn on ita angleu. The fragment is ! in all rcspccU identical with bome of the Iiamilton limestones. 215i 104i Rhalc: iu above the crevice. 320 6 A ravity from which insued inüammable K';is and u little black oil. 326 4 Black shalc, not etfervescing with acid. HAM1LTUN üuour, 330 62 Hard rock called "sandetone." It is a dun, carthy, apparently magnctsiun, porous rock, iu:tivuly efferyeacing with ari.l and leaving a little silicioua grit. ThiB rock contaiiis brine. At a depth of 3 feet in it a sample stands at 50 Salometer. 366 Same xock contiuuing, but a little more 6ílkíous. 3Ü2 35 Fine, buiïish ealciferouH or magnowian ; sandnok, about one-fourth dissolving j in KUlphuric acid. Bnnc hen) 64 tóal umeter. 427 13 iShale, compact, bluish, argillaceous. 430 Brine stands at W BuomotaT. 440 Süioioos shale, bluúh gruy, slightly calCareous. Qál escjiped, raising the water over thu surfaco for 5 Ui 10 minutos. .SoniL' givs still cseapiiig. 453 Same continuing. Il l am rlght in wy iüterpretatiou of the trata, the following coucluslons resnlt; 1. The superficial raaterlals attain an exraordinary thickncss forthe lower penlnula. l'ürhaps thc underlyiujf rocks have luft'ered an extraordiuary excavatlon iu hls place. 2. The Hurón shales present about ouc.hlrd thelr average thickness in the south:ru part of the State. It nilght bo lnferrcd 'rom this that the belt of outcrop extcnds iwice as far to the north as it does to the ïouth of us. Thc black shale has the same thickness as iu Kalamazoo and Allegan jountles. 3. In the Hamllton Group, thc chert beds of the uorth eem to be wanting. The rock struck at 330 feet gcems to be the "buff magneslan beds" seen near Pine Hiver In Llttle Traverse Bay and elsewherc. Slrony brine in the Ilamilton Group is, however, a new phenoraenon. That all our forraations are somewhat salifcrous, I long ago assert ed [Amcr. Jour. Science and Arts, Mov 1862] ; but none of our salt wells are sup plied from the Ilamilton Group. 4. The brine brought up seems to b comparatlvely pure and possessos strengt] equal to some briues used in thc mauufac tureofgftlt; and it becomes a question worthy of serious consldcration whethe the manufacture mlght not be advantagc ously establlshed here either by mcans o solar evaporatlon or by the use of Mlchigai coal. It is probable, moreover, that th strength of thc brine at the bottom of th well is somewhat greatur thau that of th samples brought to the surface In the san pump. The strength of the bottom brin ought to be ascertaincd, as also thesupply 5. The Onondaga briues range from 63 to 68 Salometer. Kot unfrequently it strength runs down, at Liverpool, to 60 55 and even 63 ; while at Salina an öyracuse it sometimos runs up to 70. Th Kanawha brincs have a strength of 40 t 50. The Saginaw brines possess a strengt of 80 to 00", but the impuvitiescontribut several degrees of the nominal strength ïlon. Lucius Lyon manufacturad Baltman years ago at Grand Raplds, from brin which must have stood at aboul 22"? Salo meter. James Scribner in 1859 used brin standing at 20. The brine at Gran Kapids ranges from 20 to 30u, and tli manufacture lias lun siuce becu abaudou:t d. The Salina formatlou lies below the prescut bottom of the wcll. Any calcula tion of the depth, In thls part of the State, wonld be somewhat conjectural aud precarious. I should expect, Uowever, -10 fect inore of the Hamlltou Qroup, and then at least 150 fect of the Cornlfcrous and Lowcr lelderberg Gronps beforc the Salina üroup s reachcd. This would make a total depth of about G50 feet. Fifty fect bored in the Salina üroup would made 700 feet at least, o the bottom of the lowcst salt group bf hu State. I ought to add thnt there are lrregularl ios In the geology of the southern part of he State, discloscd by notes In my popsesion which I have uot time now to Investíate. A. WiNCnEix. Tbc Proposed l'liurtct.A&ienánicnts. A bilí Is pending iu tho House- having assed the Seuate on the - amending ie charter of thls city. The principal mcudments it propeses or makes ure : lst. To make the Marshal au ppolutlve nstead of an elective oflice, upon the prlnple, we presume, that a Marshal not detendent upon the votes of the people - disrderly as well as orderly - for bis positlou Í vill be a more efficiënt olllcer. 2d. The Couucil is given power to, raise y tax, without the interpositlon of taxayers' meetings, for the general fund $6,000 nstead of p.OOO, the limit of the present liauer. This sura - if tinas and pcnaltics ould be iuflleted upon the Couucil for exoiding t and running the city in debt, - s, perhaps, not excessive. The people are ure to vote it ií asked to, so that really no estrictlou is laid upon the C'ouncil by the estriction. We hope, however, that the ext Ooanell will put iu foot down at lts ery flrst meeting, aud resolve to keep vitliin in limit, and, also, uot to ask the Kiople for more. Sd. The Couucil Is given power to lnreaso the salury of the Recorder to a gum ot exceeding 300 ; a reasouable provisión o our uotion. No other amendments of any importance owoccur to us as belng made by the bilí. - We regret Unit the bilí liad not taken old of sume of the ereaccr evlls wliile ïaking these less important amendments. 'he three street commissioners should ïavc been summarily knocked iuto one, and ven - f the excessive and expenslve luxry Is to be retained - the good sense of the Council, for lt is from that body the mending bilí comes, should have led lt o provlde agaius't the election of any more ldermanic street commissioners. It Is a ractice not warranted by the present hartcr, and should be stopped at onceê Again, the thrce collectors should have een abollshed and thelr duties devolved pon a single treasurer, saving both the ime and money of the tax-payers. The tecorder, too, should not be a meraber of he Council, but only lts clerk. Bul lt I U'Cless to enumérate changes that nobody would initiatc, and we suppose ïhat we can tand tho iucoiiveniences, incongrulties, nd costly features to which we are ob eiting as well as our neighbors. So, hcre we rest. Itj tho Circuit Courtthe jury was dieharged on Tuesday, siucc which Judge IigbyIiss been hearing motlous, cliaucery ases, etc. Tlie caseof Hauuy C. Johnson, r., tlie medical student charged witii shoot:ig Kean, at Ilangsterfer's last winter, was dispo.sed of on Tuesday, to the satisfaction f all parties, we supposc, the defeudaut lealing guilty on the couut fur assault nd battery. Jounson was llued $10 and oets. Amouut jiaid to complaiuatit n t lade public, öciiaüueule, thu Dextcr jutcher, convicted of assault and batttry upou O'Iíeili., has not yet been seiitcncud' At the Dcxter charter election, on londay, the whole Democratie ticket was ected, except ouc candidate. Axbx. OULIEB Is tlie President elcct. The Saline charter election was held n Tuesday. Sheriff Wbbb was clected 'resident, wlth a substantial corps of offiers to back lilin. Th firstnumber of Tilton's ncw paper, T'm Ooiden Age, comes to us wlth thls margiual note : "If you like thls paper, lease say so ; or if you dou't like it, say o." Well, it is neatly prtnted, proralses a 'reat deal of Independeuco.and liberal deal ng wlth all opinions and issues ; and tliat is bout all, as the nomber ltself is rather pointless. A paper with no speclul alm or oo catholic will bc a queer concern, and Tilton will tlevelop liis own leanlngs in uture nunibcrs, we presume. Unless lie ïas linprovcd on the last of his Independent career they will not meet our views. That'g vhat we think of tha uumber aud the venture. The last numbcr of the Chicago Umi cay Review contains the valedlctory of Stanley O. Fowleh, one of its founders, who gocs to Colorado in search of hcalth. Kr. D. C. JJuooks is now solc publiaher, and in bis hands the lieview wlll malutaiu lts en viable rcputation as a rallroad journal, and be always ne.vsy aud rellable.