Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 September 1894 — Better Than a Steam Foghorn. [ARTICLE]

Better Than a Steam Foghorn.

“ While traveling through southern California a few years ago,” said Matthew L. Gregory of Minneapolis, I carpe across an interesting curiosity known as the ‘ whistling well.’ It was on a farm and had been dug a number of years previous and abandoned, as no water had appeared. A short time after it had been dug it was noticed that a strong current of air kept rushing in and out of the well, and a flat stone with a hole in the center was placed over it. Into this hole a whistle was fastened, which changed its tune as the air was drawm in or blown out, and it was soon found to be a reliable weather barometer. In pleasant weather the whistle was silent, but if a storm was brewing its approach was heralded by the warning shrieks of the whistle, as the air rushed in and out of the well. When the storm passed the current of air changed and the faithful whistle told the story by its changed tune.”—[St. Louis GlobeDemocrat.