Friday, August 9, 2013

Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Friday, October 17, 1862

Everybody is now busy in the routine duties of camp life. The Government is having some deep wells drilled here in our camp; one of them is now completed and we are enjoying plenty of good water, although it is quite a job to draw it. We draw the water by means of a bucket attached to the end of a rope which runs upon a pulley fastened upon a tall pine tree standing near the well. The bucket is about four feet long and has a valve in the bottom. There are always some of the men at the well waiting for their turn to draw water.

Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 77

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