The Alaska citizen., 1911-02-20
George Randolph Chester In Saturday Evening Pos.
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for the news. When do you want to go?"
 oh, right away, guess. I'll telephone to Shepherd and have him order 2 rig"
 Whats the use?" demanded Bob by. My cars right within call. I'll have il up here"
 the c. F. X w, when they picked
 Shepherd the chief engineer of him up at the hotel, proved to be an entire hdman being with red whiskers and not a care in the world, and Bobby was in the midst of enjoying a lot of preliminary persiflage when Shepherd incident ally mentioned their destination.
 It is known as Westmarsh." he observai. "I suppose you know where it is?"
 Bobby. who had already started the machine and had placed his hand on the steering wheel, gave jerk so violent that he almost sent the machine diagonally across the street.
 "Wcstmarsh" he repeated. Why, I own that undrainable swamp"
 swamp" exclaimed Shepherd. It's as dry as bone. I locked it over last night and am going out today to study the possible ap- breaches to it."
 But you say it is dry" protested Bobby. unable to believe it.
 Dry as powder asserted Shep- herd. There has been an immense amount of water out there. but ii has been well taken care of by the splendid drainage system that has been put in
 It cost a lot of money to put in that drainage system" comment ed Bobby; but We found it i'm practicable to drain an entire river"
 II was Shepherds turn to be pug zled. a process in which he stop ped 10 laugh
 This is the first time ever heard an owner belittling his own property" he declared 'I suppose that next you'll only accept half the price we offer"
 Bobby kept up his part of the conversation but feebly as they whirled out to the site of the old Applerod Addition. He was lost in speculation upon what could possi- bly have happened to that unfor- tunate swamp area. When they arrived however, he was surprised to find that Shepherd had been cor rect. The ground. though sunken in places and black with the resi- due of one-timc stagnant water. was firm enough to walk upon. and af- ter many tests he even ran the ma chine across it. Moreover. grass and weeds. forcing their way here and there. were already beginning to hide and redeem the ugly earth n surface.
 Bobby surveyed the miracle in amazement It was the first time he had seen the place in year. Even in his trips to the waterworks site which was just north, beyond the intervening hill, he had chosen the longer and less solid river road rather than come past this spot of humiliating memories.
 Il cant understand it." he said again and again to the two men. Why. MT. Shepherd, l spent thou sands of dollars in filling this swamp and draining it, with the idea of making city subdivision here. Silas Trimmer, the man from whom l bought the place, imagined it to be fed by underground springs, but he let me spend a fortune to attract people out to see my new building lots so that he could, with out cost, sell his own. That is his addition up there on the hills, and I'm u1o fn bn h1s recently mortgaged it for all that it will carry"
 How about the springs?" asked Shepherd with a frown. Did you find them? You must have stopped them. Are they liable to break out again?"
 That's the worst of it." said Bobby, still gropng. Tt wasn't springs at all. It was peculiar geological formation, some disar- ranged strata leading beneath the 1 hill from the river and emptying into the bottom of this pond. All through the year it seeped in faster than our extensive trainings could carry it away, and in the spring and fall, when the river was high, it poured in. don't see what could have happened. Suppose we run over and see the engineer who worked on this with me. He is now in charge of the new waterworks.' , In five minutes they were over there. Jimmy Platt, out in his shirt-sleeves, under broad-brim- med straw hat greeted them most cordially, but when Bobby explain ed to him the miracle that had happened to the old Applerod Addi ton, Platt laughed until the tears came into his eyes; and even after he stopped laughing there were traces of them there.
 Come down here and I'll show you," said he.
 Leading down from the pumping station, diagonally down the steep bank to the river, had been built splendid road, flanked on both sides by very solid, substantial look ing retaining walls.
 You see that wall?" asked Jim my, pointing to the inside one. Tt runs twenty feet below low-water level, and is solidly cemented. You remember when I got permission to move this road from the north side to the south side of the pump ing station? I did that after an ex- animation of the sLbsoil. This will cuts off the natural siphon that fed the water to your Applerod Addi- tion. I have been going past there in huge joy twice day, watching that swamp dry up."
 "In other worlds" said Bobby, you have been doing little private