The Old Hand Pump on Ridgeway Farm

My grandfather kept a cast-iron hand pump behind his farmhouse in central Kentucky. Bolted to the well casing, it stood rusty and stubborn in the summer heat. But there was a secret to making it work. Sitting on a ledge beside it was a Mason jar filled with water and a handwritten note: "Pour this in first. Then pump. Fill the jar back for the next person."…