Los Angeles herald., 1906-03-11
EATON TO STAY
WITH PROJECT
WILL NOT ABANDON OWENS
RIVER SCHEME
Declares That In Spite Of the Unfair
Criticism Heaped Upon Him He
vii! Carry on the
Work

The statement made In a morning
paper yesterday to the eff that Fred
Eaton disguised by the unfair critic
isms of All evening penny sheet, would
wash his lands of the owens river EN-
terprise and leave the city In the
lurch, just as his ambitions of twenty
years were about to be allied, was
Indignantly denied by Mr.. -aton yes
terday afternoon.
DO you think 1 am that kind of a
MANI" he demanded when questioned
in regard to the matter. There's moth
ing to it. / have expressed my opinion
of the unjust criticism [ have received
in no uncertain manner, but never at
any time have l said I would leave the
city to fight its own battles. | prob
ably am more familiar with the propo-
sition than any other man and my
knowledge is valuable to the city. /
am as ready now as at any time to give
the city the benefit of that knowl-
edge"
Says He Paid for Cattle
Eaton has been accused of paying too
much for the Hickey ranch, one of the
largest holdings of the city in the
owens valley, and it has been stated
that the $45O,000 which was paid for
this ranch included 5000 head of cattle
which the city turned over to Eaton
for his services. Eaton characterizeS
this as untrue, and in thi assertion he
is supported by every member of the
city council.
Il paid the city for those cattle" said
Mr.. Eaton. 81 already have spent $685.
900 on that herd and most of the money
I, int ttn AL Ny fro n far
as paying too much for the Hickey
ranch is concerned, it is well known
that had Hickey known what we
wanted his ranch for we could not
have secured it under $10O0000 We
were not buying d cattle ranch; we
We're after water, and we tot it. Be
sides the Owens river, which the Hickey
ranch controls for many, many miles,
we got the Black Rock and Fish
springs, together with several creeks.
This ranch is the key to the whole
situation. 1t contains the big natural
reservoir site in Long valley, which is
worth more than the entire price of the
ranch"
Councilman Smith, who probably is
in closer touch with the Owens river
project than any other member of the
council, had a long consultation with
Mr. Eaton yesterday.
Will Give Public All the Facts
"There are a few things we cannot
explain to the public just now but which
probably will be made clear after the
board of public works makes it's visit
to the Owens river valley said Mr..
Smith. 1.-THE reason we are reluctant
to explain some features that may
appear vague is that enemies of
the city might take advantage of them.
There are some things for the board to
do in the valley, and when these are
done everything will be made perfectly
clear. The people can rest assured that
the scheme is all right and that every
thing was carefully looked into before
the city took hold.
II should not be surprised If Eaton
did become Disguised with the unjust
criticism he is receiving and leave the
city to shift for itself. We would be in
a bad way if he did that, for he knows
more about thte proposition than any
other man, but l believe he is too broad
to permit any of this roasting to have
any effect on him.