The New Well
A well and windmill furnished a limited supply of water, but it was known from the outset that the system could never supply the needs of a sanitarium. Palmer described the water situation: “The twenty-acre tract of land on which the building stands was as dry as the hills of Gilboa, with only a remote prospect for water underground.”—DF 2a, E. R. Palmer, “The Paradise Valley Sanitarium.”5BIO 365.2
Palmer and his fellow workers knew from their contacts with Ellen White that it was in the providence of God that the institution had been bought. They were confident that God would find a way to meet their needs. Still, through the summer of 1904 they suffered severely from the drought—a drought that had lasted eight or nine years (W. L. Johns and R. U. Utt, eds., The Vision Bold, p. 147). They watched the trees wither and die, and Ellen White wrote: “The poor, drying up, dying trees are beseeching us by their appearance for refreshing streams of water.”—Manuscript 147, 1904. Palmer refers to their source of confidence in these words: “The Lord had spoken concerning these points, and His servants responded by purchasing the estate.”—DF 2a, E. R. Palmer, “The Paradise Valley Sanitarium.”5BIO 365.3
Ellen White recommended that Palmer obtain the services of a good Adventist well digger of her acquaintance, Salem Hamilton, who was then living in Nebraska. Accordingly, he was called west to dig the well. As Palmer related:5BIO 365.4
With what anxiety we surveyed the ground and tried the wizard water stick and discussed the possibilities....5BIO 366.1
Finally we chose a place and began digging down through the dry earth where the dust flew more than twenty feet below the surface.—Ibid.5BIO 366.2
The site selected was in a hollow just below the institution. Deeper and deeper Mr. Hamilton and his helpers continued to dig.5BIO 366.3
Ellen White, who was eager to be close to the Sanitarium activities, was able to pull herself away from Elmshaven and travel south, arriving at the Potts property on Monday, November 7. Hamilton had reached a depth of eighty feet on the well. From day to day she listened with interest to reports of progress, and frequently talked with Hamilton. One day she asked, “‘What are you going to do, Brother Hamilton?’5BIO 366.4
“‘I have a question to ask you,’ he answered. ‘If you will answer that, I will give you my answer. Did the Lord tell you to buy this property?’5BIO 366.5
“‘Yes! Yes!’ Ellen White replied. ‘Three times I was shown that we should secure this particular property.’5BIO 366.6
“‘All right,’ Mr. Hamilton said, ‘I have my answer. The Lord would not give us an elephant without providing water for it to drink.’”—Johns and Utt, eds., op. cit., p. 146. He declared that he would go on digging.5BIO 366.7
By now he was well past the eighty-foot level and there still was no sign of moisture. But one day Hamilton thought he heard the sound of a stream of water in the gravel at the bottom of the well. When Palmer visited the site and looked down the well, Brother Hamilton called up, “‘Mr. Palmer, would you be afraid to come down? I think there is water not far away.’” Palmer did go down, and he heard it distinctly, “‘like the tinkle of a bell or the sound of a small waterfall in the depths of a forest’” (Ibid., 146, 147).5BIO 366.8
Hamilton had tunneled in one direction, but to no avail. He now tunneled in another direction and with a vigorous blow his pick broke through the clay into a fine stream of water as large as a man's arm. The well quickly began to fill. There wasn't even time to get all the tools out. That night the water rose fifteen feet in the well (Ibid.).5BIO 366.9
Excitedly E. R. Palmer and W. C. White hastened to Ellen White's room to announce the good news. Writing of it the next day to her grandchildren, she said:5BIO 366.10
“Yesterday morning Brother Palmer came to my room in company with your father ... and told us there was fifteen feet of water in the well. This morning there is twenty feet of water and their tools at the bottom of the well. I cannot express to you how glad we all are made. Plenty of water for all purposes! This cannot be estimated by gold or by silver. Water means life.... The Lord has answered all our expectations, and we shall have reason for thanksgiving.... I want to praise the Lord with heart and soul and will.”— Ibid., 147.5BIO 367.1
Ellen White wrote in her diary:5BIO 367.2
The water is now a certainty. The trees shall have their refreshing portion. Brother Palmer was so pleased. He expressed his gratitude to God for this great blessing, that labor and money invested for machinery for the water plant had brought returns.—Manuscript 147, 1904.