A Man Holds The Long Thin Stick Suspended At The Other Extremity To
Which The Bucket Is Attached, And Pulls
It down hand over hand until the
utensil is immersed in the water; when full, it is so nearly
counterbalanced
By the weight at the end of the lever that a very slight
exertion raises it to the desired level, where it is emptied into a
receiver. Many years ago, when at Gondokoro, I arranged a double shadoof
of parallel levers and two galvanised iron buckets of four gallons each,
worked by two men. I timed the labour of this simple machine, and proved
that the two men delivered 3600 gallons within an hour. The men exerted
themselves to a degree that could not have been continued throughout the
day, and the buckets, of English make, were far more capacious than the
simple leather stretched upon a hoop of sticks that is used in Egypt;
but there is no reason for such inferior adjuncts. It may be safely
assumed that with proper appliances the double shadoof, worked by two
men, will deliver 2000 gallons an hour for a working day of six active
hours, or a total of 12,000 gallons. In Cyprus the wages of a labourer
are one shilling a day, therefore the cost of raising 12,000 gallons
would be only two shillings, provided the water is only five feet from
the surface. There are many portions of the Messaria plain where the
water is even nearer, but the shadoof could work profitably at six, and
even at eight feet, and it possesses the advantage of such extreme
cheapness of original cost that the outlay is insignificant.
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