Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1917-04-13
CHAPTER XIV.
The Former and the Latter Rain,

. I ne = FornleF ana the Latter RaIn.
The work on the dam was progress
ing splendidly. Vandeventer, driving
his men hard, shared in all their furi-
Gus efforts. He was not only their
leader, but their inspiration. He had
surrounded himself with a body of
able assistants, and his teamsters and
worllmen had been culled until they
had become a small army of picked
men of which to be proud.
Among all these Meade stood very
high. In the four months he had been
with Vandeventer he had shown such
u grasp of things, such an ability to
handle men, in one or two instances
when, with intention to try him, the
resident engineer had given him
charge Of some special work, that
Vandeventer unconsciously looked to
him in any emergency. He actually
found himself consulting Meade on
occasion.
He had accompanied the younger
man on one of those rambles which he
had hitherto taken alone. He had not
broken down Meade's reserve, but he
had won his admiration and regard.
Vandeventer was not unknown in en-
gineering circles. In earthwork he
was by way of being an authority.
His experience had been varied and
extensive. Meade's reserve and reti-
cence rather hurt the older engineer.
He had invited confidence and had
even given his affection. He intimat-
ed delicately that if the other were
in a position to help him.
1t was fortunate for Meade's pur-
pose of cOncealment, for his incognito
that most of his engineering work had
been done abroad and that he had
been out of touch with American en-
gineering for practically the whole Of
his career. Vandeventer was a Har-
yard man, too, and that made it espe-
cially hard for Meade to keep from
| betraying himself. AS matter of
fact, the younger man actually longed
to make clean breast of it, but he
could not quite bring himself to do 1t
yet That might come later.
III &C " SSC IIlG
pletion of the dam and the long canal,
which was to carry the stored water
to the irrigation bitches below. Van
deventer was already making plans
for another big job. and he had de-
cided, in his own mind, that among the
subordinates whom he would take
with him the newcomer should have
the first chance. Vandeventer felt
proud and satisfied when he surveyed
the work that had been accomplished
in the six months of labor. To be sure
the delay in the completion Of the
spillway disQuieted him little.
The dam had reached the spillway
level fortnight before. and had now
passed 1t. Indeed, on the fifth Of Jan
uary the dam builders were within
FIVE feet of the top; that Is, the crest
of the dam was 100 feet above the
level of the valley. They had planned
to run the spillway around the east
ern end of the dam. The rock drills
and dynamite which had been ordered
had finally arrived in December, and
by putting as many as possible to
work on the spillway Vandeventer haC
succeeded in opening it for its entire
width to an average depth of abou
seven feet below the intended top o.
the dam; that is, it was now abou
two feet deeper than the actual cres
of the dam, but 1t still lacked five fee
of it's designed depth.
The rainy season, an inspection O
the records had shown, was not du,
: for a month and a half yet. Tha
would give him ample time to com
: plete the dam and the spillway. Thi
: year, however, there had been som
. very unusual rains during the fall ant
/ The water back Of the dam was now o
= eet deep, which made 1t % feet below
. ;he level to which the dam had risel
) and 20 feet below the spillway. Thi
} was much more water than anyon