An Elm Fork

1895

It Cuts Queer Capers When Over a Stream of Water.

"I am almost ashamed to tell it, and people would laugh at me if my name were given," remarked one of the best known architects in the city of Louisville.

"It is a fact, though," he continued, "and is something I will not undertake to explain. At one time I was engaged to make out the plans for a large brickyard. All went well until I reached the subject of water supply. It was supposed that water could be found in abundance, as it had to be for brickyard purposes. Every scientific method known was exhausted in locating a water vein. Too much money had been expended on the enterprise to change the site of the plant.

"In absolute despair I was walking over the grounds one day when the old story of the water twig occurred to me. At first I laughed at the idea, but it took hold on me, and I could not get rid of it. I looked all around to be sure that no one was watching and then hunted for a twig. A peach tree fork is the kind mentioned, but an elm tree fork was all I could find. I cut it so that each fork was about 10 inches long, and the butt piece, which was no larger than my finger, about 3 inches long. I caught hold of the ends of the forked stick, one fork in either hand, as one would in picking up a hayfork by the tines, and held them so that the butt end assumed nearly, but not quite, a vertical position. After looking once more to be certain that no one could see me and tell what might have affected my reputation as an architect, besides being a good joke, I began to walk and circle about where the water was supposed to be.

"The twig did not vibrate any more than would naturally follow the jarring motion from walking, and I began to walk about aimlessly, not watching the twig, for I was thinking deeply and seriously of some reasonable plan, when suddenly my hands jerked as if they had come in contact with an electric battery, and the butt of the elm fork had curved over and downward about as far as it could without breaking the prongs. I never was so surprised in my life. I would not believe it at first. As long as I remained at that spot the twig bent and could not be made to stand erect, but when I moved away a short distance it would straighten up as before. Time and again I walked away and back again before putting faith in the experiment. It convinced me, however, and I marked the place. Sure enough, we found a fine supply of water, but I never told how the water vein was discovered.

"It developed that this water vein followed a ledge of rock, and afterward I followed up the vein with a forked stick and firmly believe that I can follow up that lodge of rock and water vein from Louisville to West Point." — Louisville Courier-Journal.

Dry Weather Boosts Demand For Water Witch's Service

1936

Old Columbus Tetherow Is Kept Busy with His Divining Rod

[INTERNATIONAL NEWS SERVICE]

MONMOUTH, Ore., Nov. 18.— The continued dry weather in this section has worked to the advantage of at least one person — the water witch.

With wells going dry almost daily, causing a serious problem for livestock owners and housewives alike, the magic wand of Columbus Tetherow, the "Water Witch," has grown constantly in demand.

Livestock owners are beseeching Tetherow to use his "divining rod" to locate wells from which their cattle can drink. Housewives want water with which to do the dishes and other household chores.

The aged Tetherow — he's 77 — is fully qualified for his water-witching duties. He has been at it since shortly after his tenth birthday and claims to be the son of a son of a famous water-witcher of old.

Tetherow's first witching took place when he ridiculed his grandfather's ability. Greatly incensed, the grandfather insisted Columbus do a bit of witching on his own hook — and much to his own surprise the boy found himself unable to prevent the divining rod from pointing out water, he said.

"You can walk miles following a water vein's course," Tetherow explained, "and the stick won't turn. But if you angle across the course of a vein the prong at once turns down. That is where to locate a well, particularly if you have been able to trace two veins to a confluence."

Tetherow does his witching with any sort of wand — even putting a riding whip into successful use on one occasion when no other wand was available, he declared.

He admits the principle of water-witching sounds silly but his record bears proof that it works. The aged diviner has located hundreds of wells along the Willamette valley and has been called to make trips of more than 100 miles in order to witch a prospective well site.

The depth of a prospective well is measured by the distance from the point where his wand first starts to turn to the point where it extends straight down. On one occasion, Tetherow related, he located a well for a friend in total darkness just by the turning of the divining rod. He also told his friend to go down 40 feet, and a later check revealed he missed the exact distance by less than six inches.

—The Hammond Times, Hammond, IN, Nov. 18, 1936, p. 12.