The Lamar register., 1919-01-15
Illustrations
oLr~iizznyers
By
'francisEynde
Copyright %
chas. 3cribners Sons

sorry about your producing II. But un-
less you are what they call In this
country crooked crook, you are
standing in your own light. You have
such "a staving good head for figures
and finances that II seems II pity for
you to be wasting 1t here on an under
graduates job in cost-cutiing. Any
young fellow just out of technical
school could do what you're doing In
the way Of pairing down expenses.
The cost-cutter's smile was mildly
lncredulous.
"Nobody seemed to be doing 1t be-
fore / came" he offered.
"No." williams allowed. that's the
fact. To tell the plain truth, we've had
bigger things to wrestle with; and we
have them yet, for that matter-enough
of them to 90 all around the job twice
and tie in bowknot"
"Financesf" queried Smith, feeling
some of the back-nunber instincts stir
ring within him.
The chief engineer nodded; then he
looked up with a twinkle in his closely
set gray eyes. IF you'll tell me why
you tried to kill Burdell the other day,
maybe III open up the record-our
record-for you
This time the cost-cutter's smile was
good d-naturedly derisive, and II ignored
the reference to Burdell.
.You don't have to open up your
record-for me; it's the talk Of the
camp. You people are undercapital-
ized-to boil II down into one word.
Isn't that about the way 1t sizes up?"
THAT is the way IL has turned out
though we had capital enough 10 begin
with. We've been bled TO death by
damage suits"
Smith shook his head. why haven't
you hired II frst-class attorney, Mr..
williamsf'
We've had the best we could find
but the other fellows have beaten us
to IL, every time. But the legal end of
II hasn't been the whole thing or the
biggest part OF II. What We are need
ing most Is II man who knows IA little
something about corporation lights and
high finance" And at this the engi
meet forgot the Smith disabilities. real
or inferentlal and went on 20 explain
in detail the peculiar helplessness Of
the TimanyOni company as the antag-
onist OF the as yet unnamed land and
irrigation trust.
Smith heard him through. nodding
understandingly when the tale was
told.
ats the old story Of the big fish
swallowing the little one; 50 old that
there Is no longer any saving Touch OF
novelty In It," he commented. I've
been wondering II there wasn't some
ching Of that kind In your background.
And you say you haven't any Belmonts
or Morgans or Rockefellers In your
company?r
"We have bunch Of rather badly
<cared-up ranch owners aud local
people. with Colonel Baldwin in COM
mand. and that's all. The colonel is
a fighting man, all right. and he can
shoot as straight as anybody. when
you have shown him what to shoot at.
But he Is outclassed. like all the rest
NJ us. when II comes to n game OF finan-
cial freeze-out. And that is what we
are up against. I'm afraid
There mt the slightest doubt In
the world about that" said the one
who had been called in as an expert.
"What / cant understand is why some
of you didn't size the situation up
long ago-before 1t got into its pres
INT desperate shape. You are at the
beginning of the end now. They've
caught you with an empty treasury,
and these stock sales you speak of
prove that they have already begun
to swallow you by Titles. Timanyoni
common-I suppose you haven't any
preferred-at thlrty-nine is an excel
lent gamble for any group of men who
can see their way clear to buying the
control. With an eager market for the
water-and they can sell the water to
YOU people, even IL they don't put
their own Escalante project through
the stock can be pushed to par and
beyond, as IL will be after you folks
are all safely frozen out. More than
that, they can charge you enough, for
he water you've got to have. to finance
he Escalante scheme and pay all the
bills: and their Investment ut the
present market, will be only thirty
line cents In the dollar. It's neat
little play"
Williams was by this time far past
remembering that his adviser was a
nan with possible alias and presum-