Saratoga and How to See It | Page 9

excellent character, possessing,
as the company claim every essential element to render it equal for
internal use to the best White Sulphur waters in this State, and far
superior to most of them. The company have erected a commodious
bath-house, containing fifty bath-rooms, with every convenience for
warm and cold baths, at a moderate price.
Frequent omnibuses convey passengers to and from these springs for
25 cents, passing the principal hotels.

THE EXCELSIOR SPRING
[Illustration]
Is found in a beautiful valley, and amid most romantic scenery, about a
mile east of the town hall. The principal entrance to this spring is on
Lake avenue, about half a mile east of Circular street. Another route is
via Spring avenue, by which we pass a majority of the other springs,
and also the Loughberry water-works which supply the village of
Saratoga Springs with water from the Excelsior Lake by the celebrated
Holly system. Just before us, as we reach a point where the avenue
turns towards the Excelsior, is the fine summer hotel known as the
Mansion House, and the pretty cottage residence of Mr. Henry
Lawrence.
[Illustration: BOTTLE MARK.]
[Illustration: TRADE MARK.]
History.
The Excelsior Spring has been appreciated for its valuable qualities by

some of the oldest visitors of Saratoga for more than half a century.
The water, however, was not generally known to the public until in
1859, when Mr. H.H. Lawrence, the former owner, and father of the
present proprietors, retubed the spring at a considerable expense,
having excavated it to a depth of fifty-six feet, eleven of which are in
the solid rock. By this improvement the water flows with all its
properties undeteriorated, retaining from source to outlet its original
purity and strength. Since then, the present proprietors, under the firm
of A.R. Lawrence & Co., by a new and improved method of bottling
and barreling the Excelsior water under its own hydrostatic pressure,
have given it an increased reputation and it is rapidly attaining a
wide-spread popularity.
Properties.
The water of this spring is a pleasant cathartic, and has also alterative
and tonic properties, and is moreover a very delightful beverage. Two
or three glasses in the morning is the dose as a cathartic. As an
alterative and diuretic, it should be taken in small quantities during the
day. We have seen stronger commendations of this water from the
highest medical authority than of any other.
Exportation of the Water.
After a refreshing draught from this sparkling and delicious fountain,
let us not fail to examine the proprietors' peculiar and very perfect
method of bottling and barreling the Excelsior water by its own
hydrostatic pressure. Since last season a handsome brick bottling-house
has replaced the ancient wooden structure. Entering this bottling-house
we find our way to a capacious and well-lighted cellar, in which we
discover a perpendicular opening some ten feet in diameter; this proves
to be a circular brick vault, in whose depths the process of filling is
performed. Twelve feet below the surface of the spring a block tin tube
conveys the water into reservoirs placed at the bottom of this vault.
These reservoirs are strong oak barrels, lined with pure block tin in
such a manner as to be perfectly gas-tight, and furnished with two tubes,
one quite short and the other extending from the top to the bottom of
the reservoir. Then, by filling the reservoirs through the long tube by

hydrostatic pressure, the air is excluded, while the gas is not allowed to
escape. When sold on draught, it is necessary simply to connect the
long tube with the draught tube, and the short tube with an air pump,
when the water can be forced out by the pressure of the air, and will
flow forth sparkling and delicious as at the spring, without being
re-charged with gas.
[Illustration: GEYSER SPRING THE SPOUTING SPRING]
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