Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-05-23

met without coming sooner or later
to threshing out of the situation.
The difficulties were those which
are apt to confront small and local
enterprise when 1t is so unfortunate
as to get in the way of larger under
takings. Colonel Baldwin and a group
of his neighbors on the north side of
the river, were reformed cattlemen
and horse breeders. Instead of drift
ing farther west in advance of the
incoming tide of population follow
ing the coming of the railroad, they
had availed themselves of their
homestead rights and had taken up
much of the grass land in the favor
able valleys, irrigating it at first with
water taken out of the river in pri-
vate or neighborhood bitches.
Later on came the sheep-feeding
period. and after that the utilization
of larger crop-raising areas. The
small bitches proving inadequate for
these, Colonel Baldwin had formed a
stock company among his neighbors
in the grass lands and his friends in
Brewster for the building of a sub
stantial dam in the eastern hills. The
project had seemed simple enough
in the, beginning. The stock was sold
for cash and each stockholder would
be participating user of the water.
Williams, who had been a United
States reclamation man before he
came to the Timanyoni, had made
careful estimates and the stock sub
scription provided money enough to
cover the cost of the dam and the
main ditch.
After some little bargaining. the
dam site and the overflow land for
the reservoir lake had been secured,
and the work was begun. Out of a
clear sky, however, came trouble and
harassment. Alien holders of mining
claims in the reservoir area turned
up and demanded damages. Some
few homesteaders who had promised
to sign quitclaims changed their
minds and sued for relief, and after
the work was we'll under way it ap-
peared that there was a cloud on the
title of the dam site itself. All of
these clashings were carried into
court, and the rancher promoters
found themselves confronting invis-
ible enemies and obstacle-raisers at
every turn.
The legal fight, as they soon found
out, cost much money in every phase
of it: and now, when the dam was
scarcely more than half completed,
practically empty treasury was star
ing them in the face. There was no
Disgusting the fact that a crisis was
approaching, a financial crisis which
no one among the amateur promo
ters was big enough to cope with.
We've got to go in deeper, colonel,
there is nothing else to do" was the
engineers summing up of the matter
at the close of the conference. THE
en- 9 melting PC YAiI1tr ~,
range now, and when we get the
June rise we'll stand to lose every
thing we have if we can't keep every
wheel turning to get ready for the
high water"
Baldwin was holding his cigar be-
tween his fingers and scowling at 1t
as if it had mortally offended him.
Assessments on the stock, you
mean?" he said. I'm afraid our
part of it is ready to lie down in the
harness right now"
How about a bond issue?" asked
the engineer.
What do we, or any of us, know
about bond issues? Why, we knew
barely enough about the business at
the start to chip in together and buy
us charter and go to work on
plan little bit bigger than the
neighborhood ditch idea. You
couldn't float bonds in Timanyoni
Park, and we're none of us foxy
enough to go East and float EN-"
Il guess that's right, too," admit
ted Williams. Besides, with the
stock gone off the way it has, it
would take a mighty fine-haired
financial sharp to sell bonds"
What's that?" demanded the
president. Who's been selling any
stock?"
ITO Be Continued)