There is a "Marmaduke Surfaceblow" story about a Taylor Hydraulic Compressor. It takes place in some mining town in Canada where there is nickel mining. In the story, the mine's electrically driven air compressor has suffered a major breakdown and the mining operation is stopped for want of compressed air. Marmaduke realizes the workings of an old mine and an un-used wood stave penstock from an old hydroelectric plant all happen to be in correct positions to each other to create a hydraulic air compressor. Marmaduke has the mine's mechanics run an air line some distance from the compressor building to a location where the underground mine was supposed to have had an exploratory core boring done. Marmaduke has the mechanics build a grid of fairly large diameter pipe sections, and has them position this on steel supports over the old mine shaft- the pipe section being vertical and projecting above the mine shaft opening for some distance. Marmaduke then knocks a hole in the wooden penstock (whose staves are conveniently somewhat rotted), and the outpouring of water goes down an unused shaft to the abandoned mine workings. The mine workings open to daylight in another location. As Marmaduke explains it, the water going down the shaft gulps in a lot of air via the array of vertical pipe sections, and that air is entrained in the water. The entrained air then comes out of the water and goes to the highest part of the old mine galleries. That trapped air then builds a head of pressure, which Marmaduke likes to popping the cork out of a champagne bottle. As Marmaduke is giving that explanation, there is a geyser of rock, earth and air suddenly shot into the air at the old core bore location. The core bore location conveniently was sunk in what became the gallery of the mine. Marmaduke then has the mechanics sink a pipe in that core bore and connect it with the mine's compressed air system. Steve Elonka, who wrote the story, referred to as "Free Air".
Apparently the hydraulic air compressor principal was not totally unknown. However, it was not the easiest thing to implement, requiring the right natural features to the terrain in the form of a stream with a continuous flow of water, a rock strata deep enough for the required chamber and drift to be excavated, and rock competent and solid enough to contain compressed air.