Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1917-06-27
CHAPTER Iv-continued.

III O1IdIu nave 10 iOOSen up
on his record little before we could
bring him in here. Badly as we're
needing a money man, we can hardly
afford to put John Smith into the
saddle-at least not without knowing
what his other name used to be-"
NO; of course not. l guess, after
all. he's only lame duck like a good
many of the rest of them. Day before
yesterday, Burdell, the deputy sheriff,
was out at the camp looking the gangs
over for the fellow who broke into
Lannigan's place last Saturday night.
When he came into the Office Smith
was busy with an estimate, and Bur-
dell went up and touched him on the
shoulder, just to let him know that II
was time to wake up. Suffering cats
1t took three of us to keep him from
breaking Burdell in two and throwing
him out of the Window
''That looks rather bad" was the
presidents comment. Col. Dexter Bald
win had been the first regularly elect
ed sheriff of Timanyoni county in the
early days and he knew the symptoms.
''Was Burdell wearing his star where
1t could be SEEM"
The engineer nodded.
what explanation did Smith maker"
"Oh, he apologized like a gentleman,
and said he was subject to little nerv-
Gus attacks like that when anybody
touched him unexpectedly. He took
Burdell over TO Pete Simm's shack sa-
loon and bought hiT drink. Perkins,
the timekeeper, says he's going 10 get
megaphone so he can give due notice
in advance when he wants to call
Smiths attention.
The colonel pulled out a drawer in
the desk. found his box of diplomatic
cigars and passed it to the engineer,
saying: Light up a sure-enough good
one, and tell me what you think Smith
has been doing back yonder in the
other country"
Williams took the cigar but he SHE'D
at the conundrum.
"Ask me something easy" he said,
'T've stacked up a few guesses. He's
from the middle WeSt-as the Bible
says his speech betrayeth' him-and
he's had good job of some kind; the
kind that required him TO keep abreast
of things. If there's anything in looks,
you'd say he wasn't thief or an en-
bezzler and yet it's pretty apparent
that he's been used to handling money
in chunks and making II work for its
living. I've put 1t up that there's a
woman in It. Perhaps the other fell
low got in his way. or came up behind
him and touched him Unexpectedly, or
something of that sort. Anyway, I'm
not going to believe he's z crooked
crook until have to-"
Colonel Baldwin helped himself TO
one of his own cigars, and the talk
went back to business In the irri-
CATION project, Williams was a stock
holder as well as chief of construction,
and Baldwin had more than once
found him safe adviser. There was
need for counsel. The Timanyoni
Ditch company was in rather hazard
GUS condition financially, and the presi-
dent and Williams rarely met without
coming sooner or later to a threshing
out of the situation.
The difficulties were those which are
ant TO confront small and local enter
prise when 1t Is so unfortunate as to
get in the way of larger undertakings.
Colonel Baldwin and a group of his
neighbors on the north side of the
river. were reformed cattlemen and
horse breeders. Instead of drifting
farther west in advance of the inc0m-
ing tide of population following the
coming of the railroad. they had
availed themselves of their homestead
rights and had taken up much of the
grass land in the favorable valleys. ir-
l+gating it at first with water taken
out of the river in private or neighb0r-
hood 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
tor the building of a substantial dam
in rhe eastern hills. The project had
seemed simple enough in the beginning.
me stock was sold for cash and each
stakeholder would he q 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
subscription provided money enough
20 cover tine 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 q clear
sky, however, came trouble and harass-
nent. Alien holders Of mining claims
IN the reservoir area turned up and
demanded damages. Some few home
steaders who had promised TO sign
ouitclaims changed their minds and
sued for relief. and after the work was
we'll under way il appeared that there
was cloud on the title Of the dam site
itself. All Of these clashings were car
ric5 into court, and the rancher pro