"The decision you arrived at was perfectly correct, and it is our opinion that if we had made the well 6 feet either way to the right or left of the spot you marked, we should have missed the water, which is now abundant. SMITH AND MARSHALL." This is by way of introduction to case 99 in Professor Barrett's Report. "No. 99. Mr. Charles Maggs, who is a Wiltshire county magistrate, and proprietor of the Melksham Dairy Company, required a large supply of pure water for his butter factory, and, after ineffectual attempts to obtain it, wrote to Mr. Tompkins to come over and try the divining rod. This was done, and subsequently Mr. Maggs writes to Mr. Tompkins as follows:-- "'MELKSHAM DAIRY COMPANY, _November_ 10, 1890. "'We found water at 30 feet, as stated by you at time of finding the spring--a very strong spring. Our hopes had almost gone, and faith was all but spent.... CHARLES MAGGS.'" Professor Barrett wrote to Mr. Maggs, and received the following interesting letter in reply:-- "BOWERHILL LODGE, MELKSHAM, _March_ 8, 1897. "Briefly the facts are:--I sunk a well to find water for my dairy and found none. Then I wrote to Mr. Tompkins, who came the following day. He cut a forked stick out of the hedge, and having placed it over the well, said, 'There is no water here,' but found a slight spring within 10 feet, too small to be of any service, he reported. He walked all over the field, and said he had not come across any spring at all. However, in the extreme corner of the field, a bunch of nettles was growing, and he entered this, and instantly exclaimed--'Here it is; and a good head of water, too! Not running away, but just ready for tapping, and as soon as you strike it, it will come surging up.' 'How deep?' 'Not over 25 feet.' He cut out a turf to indicate the spot, and we commenced sinking next day. The person employed was an old well-sinker, and he came to me two or three times whilst engaged in sinking, showing specimens of the soil or marl, assuring me there never was water where such existed, and it was worse than useless to go further. I told him to go on if he had to get to New Zealand--it was my money, and he need not regard me nor my pocket. When he had gone about 22 feet, his pickaxe tapped the spring and the water came up like a fountain, and at such a rate he feared he should be drowned before he could get pulled up--his mates being away! The water rose rapidly to within 12 or 15 inches of the surface. We put in pumps and kept the water down whilst he went a little deeper, but the rush of water was such that we had to desist going lower. Since then we have had a splendid supply....