Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1917-11-30

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 substantial dam
in the eastern hills. The project had
seemed simple enough in the beginning.
The stock was sold for cash and each
stakeholder would be n participating
user of the water. Williams, who had
been a United States reclamation man
before he came to the Tlmanyonl, had
made careful estimates, and the stock
subscription provided money enough
to 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 harass-
ment. Allen holders Of mining claims
In the reservoir area turned up aad
demanded damages. Some few home
steaders who had promised to sign
quitclalms changed their minds and
sued for relief, and after the work was
well under way 1t appeared that there
was a cloud on the title Of the dam site
Itself. All Of these clashlngs were car
ried Into court, and the rancher pro-
mOters found themselves confronting
invisible enemies and obstacle-raisers
at every turn.
"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. 1.-THE snow
is melting pretty rapidly on the range
now, and when we get the June rise
Wen stand to lose everything we have
II 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 It as
II It had mortnlly offended him.
Assessments on the stock, you
meanT he said. "Tm afraid our crowd
won't stand for that. A good part of II
is ready to lie down In the harness
right now"
"How about a bond issueT" asked
the engineer.
"What do we, or any Of us, know
about bond issues7 Why, we knew
barely enough about the business a
the start to chip in together and buy III
a charter and go to work on a plan
little bit bigger than the n~eighborhooC
ditch idea. You couldn't hOnt bonds II
TimanyOni Park, and we're none of III
foxy enough to go East and float EN-"
81 guess that's right. too" admitted
Williams. Besides. with the stool
gone of the way It has, It would tax,
n mighty fine-hHired financial sharp t
sell bonds"
whats that3' demanded the presl
! dent. "Who's been selling any stock ?
"Buck Gardner, for one; and tina
man Boiling, up at the head Of Llttl
, creek, for another. Maxwell, the rail
road superintendent. told me about II
and he says that the price offered. an,
accepted, was thlrty-nlne."
dad burn a cuss with a yellow
streak In him !" rasped the Missouri
/ colonel. 1--WE had a fair and squar
agreement among ourselves that If any
. body got scared he was to give the res
t Of us a chance to buy him out. VIII
bought from these welshers2"
Maxwell didn't know that. He sal
1t was done through Klnzle's bank
= From what I've heard on the outside
I'm inclined to suspect that Crawforr
. Stanton was the buyer"
stanton, the real-estate manT'
E "The same"
Again the president stared thought
z fully at the glowing end Of his cigar.
+ There's another Of the confounde
mysteries" he grOwled. "WhO is CraW
! ford Stanton, and what is he here for
4 l know what he adyertlses, but every
e body In Brewster knows that he hash.
: made a living dollar In real estat
since he came here last summe,. WI
= liams, do you know, I'm beginning I
suspect that there is a mighty bl
z niger In orr little wood pllef'
a you mean that all these stubbor
holdups have been bought and pal