Cañon City record., 1898-01-06
THE PROMOTER. f:
BY G, B. Durham.
s~e~o~oe~As~As~,

Ne >kS ~
THE SCHEME of the California Con-
solidated Ditch company com
prised a dam across a mountain stream,
a storage reservoir, canal several
miles in length curving around the base
of granite butte, and farmers galore
upon the subjacent plain, The com
pany was capitalized at $1,000, 900. and
its sole assets consisted OF articles of in
corporation, Office furniture, and pro-
moter. This may seem high inventory
value for promoter, but good one is
worth it, and this man certainly had his
work cut out for him.
With an empty treasury, it became
necessary TO reverse the rule obtaining
in similar engineering operations of be-
ginning at the head of the works, and to
secure first the land, secondly the set
tiers. and lastly the water. The lands
included in this proposition were in
use as grain fields and sheep ranges, and
as such were valued at but few dol
lars per acre With water for irrigation,
they could be subdivided into ten-ucre
fruit farms and sold for 20-fold their
promoter was TO buy these lands with
out money, to sci. them without water,
and to get rich from a commission OF | 5
per cent. The company's probe m was
to build the irrigation works out of the
proceeds of land sales, and to pay for
the land later from money received for
water tolls. The promoters instruc-
tions were Biblical: what thou hast
to do, do quickly" But on long time.
sell for cash or good paper. The opera
ton was to be equivalent to kiting
checks on n grand scale. II they sue
ceeGed they were financiers; II they
fuiled. scamps.
"Fail?" qnoth The promoter. 1T isn't
on the cards. Within two years we shall
have every ten-acre tract sold and i'm
proved; in five years we shall be ship
ping fruit by the train load II is the
chance of a lifetime to secure. at nomi-
risil cost, n home in the citrus belt
4 In one OF the hot interior valleys Of
California, ou n still June morning. u
vast field of ripe barley spread out on a
rolling plain, at the base of the butte.
like great copper-colored blanket. 1t
was as though the towering mountain
had risen suddenly from sleep and flung
aside his covering. 4 harvesting ma
chine, itself well proportioned to the
largeDess of the task, moved slowly
along the margin of the grain field. UNI
raveling the blanket in strips 20 feet
wide. This modern evolution of the
sickle and the fail cut the grain. threshsd
1t, put it into sacks, and scattered the
straw. Forty mules. eight abreast,
tugged and sweHted at their task as they
dragged the machine upon the long
slope. \ cloud of protesting locusis in
front, dust ard chaff cloud following
these with the four men of the crew
were all the life and all the movement
within the prospect,
This is fine morning. don't
think" said the man at the water-butt.
putting his head into q bucketful. as
that breeze never a-coming? I've seen
the sand-augers down the valley for an
hour
Hand me up can OF that stuff and
don't get impatient" replied the driver.
'.It is only about ten o'clock. You'll
have a chance to slzz.e for an hour yet"
The machine groaned and numbered
along TO the next corner, where q bait
gave the kicker u chance TO resume:
Say, is this place actually hotter than
every other place?''
.'Oh, don't KNOW" WAS the re-
joinder; ''but ] know you viii think so
wherever you happen to be, in this
world or the next one"
''No wonder the old man has sold this
ranch for INST nbaut money enough 10
oil the machine one season."
"What do you mean? ! heard eight
dollars an acre"
''He told me himself That he got only
s1CO cash and gave two years time.
reckon he will get the land back. He
sold il twice before"
''If he does get the land again he'll be-
out two crops Of grain" persisted ths
kicker.
"Much you know about it," said the
driver. II tell you the old man is
weather sharp. lie figures on couple
of dry seasons after this big crop. He
will save his seed and rest up the land.
get n small payment or two from these
fellows, and in about three years
we will be cutting him the big
gest crop he ever raised. with the mules
a-sweating and you a-kicking at every
corner. Just like now"
whats the lay. anyhow2' asked the
oiler.
why. haven't You heard about III"
said tine drnrr; "the game is a Dig
ditch around the side Of that butte, anu
another garden OF Eden blossoming
ont ripbt here where we are standing!