Water Finder

I had a look at a Mansfield water finder yesterday evening in my travels. Its supposed to be well over a hundred years old. I've never heard of such a thing. The instruction book gives detailed instructions how to find water so hopefully I will get to try it out one day. Picture of it here.

Be interesting to hear how it works. A lot fancier looking than the bent stick I see the dowsers using but that doesn't necessarily make it better.

AUTOMATIC WATER
FINDER.
The invention, patented by Messrs.
Mansfield & Co. of Liverpool, Eng
land, of an automatic water-finder,
will probably be of much service to
agriculturists and pastoralists in many
places, where, as in the interior of
Australia, the rainfall is uncertain or
insufficient, and water must be
obtained from underground sources.
This invention has been brought
under the notice of the Queensland
Government by Sir Arthur Morgan
and a cable message has been sent,
making fuller enquiries. Its im
portance to pastoralists and settlers
in the western districts, if it proves
effective, ean scarcely be overrated.
To discover the existence of sub
terranean springs where the artesian
bore could be sunk and a supply of
water reached, has often been difficult,
and sometimes, after considerable
labour and expense in making experi
ments, no satisfactory results have
been gained.
The man with the divining rod,
doubtless, has frequently been success
ful, and probably his sensations, and
the movements of the hazel twig,
have been but a manifestation of
certain occult forces affecting his
peculiar mental or physical organism,
which science has now tahulated and
seized upon and made to play their
part in an automatic manner. Most
of the water-diviners have a large
number of successes to record. They
have been conscious of a subtle
influence from the soil where water
has been stored, which has affected
tbem powerfully, frequently bending
their arms downwards as they held
their rod, and making them tremble
with excitement, and become charged
with a kind of electric energy, which
those who have touched them have
felt.
In these remarkable statements ,
made respecting water-diviners-some 1
that it required a measure of credulity
to believe-tlieie was ei ough to sug
gest research, and the possibility of
discovering the principles and laws
by which these effects were produced.
This invention, caHtd " 1 he Auto*
matic Spring Finder," has been made
as the result of many experiments
with vertical air currents, as they
were affected by underground water
courses and metallic deposits. It
was found that these having consider
able conductivity, gave a certain
direction to them. A large number
of various instruments were tried,
by which these currents could be
recorded, and at last it w as discovered
that a coil made of metals curiously
combined, and left unconnected with
any battery or electrical current,
would make a certain record. 1 he
apparatus consists mainly of a wooden
case in which is the coil, and over it
is placed a dial marked with degrees,
and fitted with a long feebly magne
tised needle. To use it, the tripod
upon which the instrument is to be
placed is to be fixed with the white
line on the top pointing to the
magnetic earth, and if there is water
beneath it, or certain metalliferous
deposits, the needle will become agit
ated, and, according to the amount of
water or metal, oscillate more or less
violently. It has been tried, it is
stated, with much success in England
and on the Continent, and in some
parte of West Africa, and it doubt
less will be a boon, in many arid
countries. It will be worth a trial in
Austral#.


Yea, that's how it's supposed to work.

Beagle

I use to carry the marker sticks for a dowser.Some thought he was a fake. But most of the time he found water. Would not take pay if he failed. I can still hear him. Boy over here. He was a rough ole man but he was good.

Bring it to our place to try out. You'll find water everywhere.....GUARANTEED! *lol*

That's an interesting curiosity and probably worth some money to a collector of such things. Just don't expect it to "find water", whatever that means.

Hey Rusty -- I bet if You was to wash Your best (go to church) vehicle and set that thing on top over night its bound to work--LOL

(quoted from post at 12:35:57 06/24/20) AUTOMATIC WATER
FINDER.
The invention, patented by Messrs.
Mansfield & Co. of Liverpool, Eng
land, of an automatic water-finder,
will probably be of much service to
agriculturists

Beagle

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Very interesting. And that is more information than I was able to find on it. To me it sounds like some of those gadgets you might find for sale at the carnival or exhibition. Although this does look like a fairly expensive piece of equipment. Has the fine needle mentioned, also the dial on top of a box. Water witchers were common around here years ago and claimed to find water sources using willow sticks or wiress. They never reacted for me. Guess I don't have "the power".

Beagle, don't hit enter.

I have experienced this up close and personal. My father was the best I ever heard of. Unfortunately, it doesn't work for me.

That's neat. Went to look one up on Ebay & didn't find anything. Did find some nice pics of Jayne Mansfield. Huh, I wonder if they're related? Lol!

Mike

He tried to teach me. I just didn't have the gift as he put it.

> Beagle, don't hit enter.

I think he just copied and pasted. But yes, all those extra linefeeds sure make it hard to read. Of course, it's a fair amount of aggravation to delete them all.

My Dad would occasionally walk along beside a nonbeliever and place his hands on their wrists. When that stick went down it scared a lot of them.

Fine here

I have taken two pieces of brass brazing rod, bent at 6 inch right angle on one end. l Held them in front of me each in my closed hand, straight out walking for a short distance, and they turn the opposite direction. I have no idea why. Stan

> I have taken two pieces of brass brazing rod, bent at 6 inch right angle on one end. l Held them in front of me each in my closed hand, straight out walking for a short distance, and they turn the opposite direction. I have no idea why. Stan

Stan, it's because of gravity. Unless you can hold the rods perfectly vertical, they're going to swing one way or another. In other words, they're always under the dowser's control. Which might explain why dowsers have no problem locating things whose location they already know, but invariably fail to find things if whose location they don't know.

(quoted from post at 13:13:41 06/25/20) > I have taken two pieces of brass brazing rod, bent at 6 inch right angle on one end. l Held them in front of me each in my closed hand, straight out walking for a short distance, and they turn the opposite direction. I have no idea why. Stan

Stan, it's because of gravity. Unless you can hold the rods perfectly vertical, they're going to swing one way or another. In other words, they're always under the dowser's control. Which might explain why dowsers have no problem locating things whose location they already know, but invariably fail to find things if whose location they don't know.

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MarkB, I think that I would have worded what you said a little differently. I have know two guys who were renowned for dowsing.
Dowsing is one of those things that will probably never be either proven or disproven scientifically.

All I can say is be careful
Little joe witches gold

Some people can’t believe or refuse to believe in things that
science can’t prove or that they can’t see

When I purchased my five acres in the hills, the well driller had a guy who worked for the Edison company come out and "water witch" my place. He told them exactly where to drill and how deep the water was. If I remember right, he used some kind of metal rod. I was there when he did it and the driller found the water right where he said it was.

I've been using that well for over 40 years now and it's always had plenty of good water.

> Dowsing is one of those things that will probably never be either proven or disproven scientifically.

Isn't that another way of saying "it's superstitious nonsense"?

For over a decade, James Randi had a standing offer of one million dollars to anyone who could prove paranormal ability; dowsing was one of the activities covered under the "paranormal" umbrella. Nobody claimed the prize, including the numerous dowsers who tried.
James Randi Challenge

> Some people can’t believe or refuse to believe in things that science can’t prove or that they can’t see

I have a billion dollars in my bank account and I'm secretly married to Scarlett Johansen. But you'll have to take my word on that. Believe me?

> When I purchased my five acres in the hills, the well driller had a guy who worked for the Edison company come out and "water witch" my place. He told them exactly where to drill and how deep the water was. If I remember right, he used some kind of metal rod. I was there when he did it and the driller found the water right where he said it was.
> I've been using that well for over 40 years now and it's always had plenty of good water.

If you said you drilled a second well 50 feet away and it came up dry, then your story might be a bit more convincing. And I'm not sure why it's relevant that your dowser worked for Edison, unless dowsing was a part of his job. Which seems highly unlikely.

(quoted from post at 03:14:25 06/26/20) > When I purchased my five acres in the hills, the well driller had a guy who worked for the Edison company come out and "water witch" my place. He told them exactly where to drill and how deep the water was. If I remember right, he used some kind of metal rod. I was there when he did it and the driller found the water right where he said it was.
> I've been using that well for over 40 years now and it's always had plenty of good water.

If you said you drilled a second well 50 feet away and it came up dry, then your story might be a bit more convincing. And I'm not sure why it's relevant that your dowser worked for Edison, unless dowsing was a part of his job. Which seems highly unlikely.

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A lot of people knew about this guy and knew he wasn't some homeless guy off the street. He had quite a reputation finding water for wells. I guess not a lot of people remembered his name so it was like, "oh, you mean that guy who works for Edison company"?

I really don't give a crap if you believe in it or not, the water was right where he said to drill. So, I'm still reaping the benefits.

Mark you have posted this before . I find it very interesting !

> I guess not a lot of people remembered
his name so it was like, "oh, you mean
that guy who works for Edison company"?

Hmm. So he had a full-time job with the
power company but was always available
anytime somebody wanted to drill a well?

How much did your Edisonian expert charge
you? I'll point at a random spot on the
ground for twenty bucks, plus expenses.

(quoted from post at 09:25:04 06/26/20) > I guess not a lot of people remembered
his name so it was like, "oh, you mean
that guy who works for Edison company"?

Hmm. So he had a full-time job with the
power company but was always available
anytime somebody wanted to drill a well?

How much did your Edisonian expert charge
you? I'll point at a random spot on the
ground for twenty bucks, plus expenses.

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I'm done with you. I don't think I like you.

(quoted from post at 11:24:58 06/26/20)

(quoted from post at 09:25:04 06/26/20) > I guess not a lot of people remembered
his name so it was like, "oh, you mean
that guy who works for Edison company"?

Hmm. So he had a full-time job with the
power company but was always available
anytime somebody wanted to drill a well?

How much did your Edisonian expert charge
you? I'll point at a random spot on the
ground for twenty bucks, plus expenses.

Click to expand...

I'm done with you. I don't think I like you.

Click to expand...

I'm with you Cary!! Mark is trying VERY hard to be disliked!

> I'm with you Cary!! Mark is trying VERY hard to be disliked!

Well, I should know better than to discuss religion here, particularly with True Believers.

I’d be more impressed if you could find water in the middle of nowhere . Don’t care who you are married to or how much money you have I’d rather have water

I think he just wants to stir the pot kinda like a guy I know who
posts Barney fife pictures to wind up the you know who

That's how my uncle and I found old utility lines at a church camp we were putting new sewer and water lines in, just used a couple pieces of smooth fence wire.
So many gas and water lines had been dug by hand and later abandoned, it was a real pain to get much done.