]

Having concluded our investigation, and tarried to notice the
MINNEHAHA, UNION, and other springs which bubble up in this
immediate vicinity, we have now the choice of continuing along the
banks of a winding stream to the Eureka and White Sulphur Springs, or
of returning by the way of Lake avenue. But should we prefer the
healthful exercise of walking, we may dismiss our carriage and stroll
into those magnificent woods that border the hill and valley for half
a mile between Excelsior Spring and the village. Through them there is
a wide and shady path, well known to visitors who love the
picturesque, and along its winding way is found the shortest walk to
the center of the village.

The beauty of this region would seem to indicate it as the proper site
for the future Central Park of Saratoga.

THE GEYSER SPOUTING SPRING

Is about a mile and a half below the village, on the Ballston road,
and near the railroad. Business address, "Geyser Spring."

History.

This wonderful mineral fountain was discovered in February. 1870.
There had been indications of mineral water in this neighborhood,
which had been noticed for a long time. The building which is now used
as a bottling-house, and beneath which the spring was found, was used
as a bolt factory. The proprietors, Messrs. Vail and Seavy, determined
to bore for a spring. They were successful, and when they had reached
a point 140 feet below the surface rock, they struck the mineral vein.
The water immediately burst forth with vehemence, and the marvelous
phenomenon of a spouting spring was established.

The orifice bored in the rock is five and a half inches in diameter
and 140 feet deep. The tubing is a block tin pipe, encased with iron,
eighty-five feet in length and two inches in diameter. The diameter of
the orifice of the tube is three-eighths of an inch. The tube is
firmly secured at the bottom, and "seed bags" are filled in around it,
so that all the water and gas is compelled to enter the tube, thereby
preventing the possibility of adulteration. The fact that the spring
is located 140 feet beneath the solid rock renders it free from all
impurities of surface waters.

Peculiarities.

The water is thrown up by the action of its own carbonic acid gas,
with great force, producing a fountain jet very attractive in
appearance. The height of the fountain is twenty-five feet. A portion
of the stream is allowed to flow through a hollow globe of glass,