Weekly journal-miner., 1920-11-10
MULE VALUES DISCUSSED
 IN TRIAL
From Sundays Daly)

Dany and the state of Arizona to the exclusion Of almost everything else. l The condition of servitude of mum Der of work animals included in the sale was gone into exhaustively enough to provake one of counsel for 1 the state to remark that ii tlS plain- ! tiff cared to rchcarsc the entire his tory Of thc mules, the state was will i ing to go $ or 50 years back into time.
 Frank testimony was given byI Frank R. Goodman, formerly diyi-I sion engineer under E. M. Atwood, who related details about the receipt of the consignment by the state en- ginccring Crpartmout from the com pany. in the course Of his testimony, two letters written by him were iu- Jrcduccd in Cyideuce by the state, purpcrtug to show Goodman's opin- ion cf .nc stock in 1915 when it was being rented and in 1918 about the time the sale was being arranged. Mir. Goodman said that the Aubrey mules were received barclooted, but that they had later been shod and the bill sent to tie vendors. They needed feeding, he said, having just been brought out of pasture,
 Testimony as to the value of the stock was also given by J. D. Lee, a ! 2rading foreman and by Barney Hall Lee, also a grading foreman. They agreed with other witnesses that the mules value averaged S+CO span.
 There was some testimony concern i ing a road roller valued in the invoice | at $2lS6, and said to have been left | for the state al Continental in Pima i county where it last saw service on a road contract.
 ]. A. Trenbcrth, president of the Aubrey Investment cOmpany also ! testified as to the contract. said the | mules were worth about $400 span | and admitted that during the period | from May 1918 to January 1919, when | the American and French govern ments were bidding the price of mules way tip, this particular cavvy was | on pasture at the company's ranch | near Yampai.
 Following are copies of two of the ! letters introduced in evidence as touching upon tine qualifications Of the mules:
 Camp No. l,
 Holbrook, Ariz., November 2, 1915. Aubrey Investment company,
 Mr. J. A. Trenberth.
 Prescott, Arizona.
 Gentlemen: From your conversa- ton on the train, night of the 10th inst. ! understand that our contract |, with your company for rental of teams and equipment is not proving satisfactory to you.
 The working of this outfit has i' been very unsatisfactory to our de pertinent and source of great worry i, to me, SO please be advised that we will take advantage of the fifteen day clause of said contract to be ef- fectiyc from this date.
 Yours very truly, |,
 F. K. GOODMAN,
 Division Engineer. CC-to Lamar Cobb
 Dewey, Dec. F, IS. Mir. B. NJ. Atwood, State Engineer,
 Phoenix.
 Dear Sir
 Replying to MT. Nichols letter of the l0th beg to advise that we have just shipped out 20 head Of stock from this project, and will not be able to use any more than we now have until spring. This is the wrong season of the year to have q large l number Of rented stock on this job, t for men are very scarce, and too winter will soon be upon Us, and great many idle days are to be eX- Dected. It has been only a short time since the last snow storm, and . with a light fall last night, and T clouds still hanging on, the pros poets for a good one seem very favorable. I would like to recommend that all work in this district be done by S contract, or force account with a guaranteed maximum cost. It has been very forcibly demonstrated to ( me during the last six months that s it is just about impossible to get economical results, working under , with which we have /. lad to contend. By doing the work by contract the greater amount ot he expensive inefiiciency could be sliminated. as the Contractor would snow when he started his piece Of work how much he would get, the length of time he would have to complete it etc. and could do the work in ths quickest and most econ 7mical way possible
 I have been informed that the i, Commission of State Institutions has o purchased the equipment stock etc, < 1eloncing to the Aubrey Investment. l; If this is true. would like to know $ [ we could get 20 head of their best C mules for this project. It will save he rental on that number during {, dlc days. We do not want the old, t worn out mules. Only the best s young ones, if there are any young ! ones. f, Kindly advise at once. as I under stand they are planning to ship the d whole outfit away in a week or ten W lays. F
 Yours very truly. r
 F. R. GOODMAN.
 Division Engineer. d