Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1926-06-24
CHAPTER Iv-COntinued


s.
present that at the gate to the
watchman," he said. HE will get you
In touch with Hlnckley. The car is
yours for the day"
He waved aside all thanks but he
left Caleb bordering why he. with no
other medium than Bakers intrOduc-
ton and the fact that he had been In
the same war with Jack Cox. and was
a civil engineer with a professed lean
Ing toward water development. should
be rendered so many courtesies by this
man Of affairs Western hospitality
could not suffice for this. He sur
missed that Cox might be In special
need of engineers but such premise
was only barely probable. He found
Cox surveying him with shrewd eyes
In which a CLINT of something, that
might be either kindness or humor,
shone.
Anything you'd like to ask met" he
queried. II shan't sign anything until
come back after lunch, Harry" he
said, in dismissal OF the secretary.
Caleb took the question as a clever
method of examination. His inquiries
would be apt to show his caliber In
short order.
Il gathered. from what your son told
me-" he said. land from what I heard
of the talk at the table last night, that
Golden faced, or was about to face.
water shortage that you considered
prejudicial to the progress Of the city.
Is that so7"
Cox nodded, took a box OF cigars
from his desk drawer, handed 1t to
Caleb, chose one himself, passed the
matches and smoked for few puts
before he answered.
sThere Is no mystery about II. Il Is
an unpleasant fact You are going to
see the works tomorrow. need not
tell you that water is the iife-blood OF
a city. It runs in its mains. In its
flushing system. as It does through the
arteries and veins of q body. Over
build, without water, and you have
atrophy, as you cannot expect the
blood that is sufficient for child to
sustain the body of full-grown man.
We know today exactly how many gal
Ions per capita we must fgure on for
a modern city with domestic, civic and
manufacturing supply. The number OF
gallons In our reservoirs, divided by |
mat ratio, marks the present limits Of |
(solden's population, Of its progress
And that limit is almost reached.
ave cannot get more watershed. To
dig more wells-there are many arte-
sian wells In the city-would only d.
minlsh present flows. Distillation is
not practical. Already the lower
peninsula is badly of for water. We
need q Moses to strike the rocks for
as. Perhaps he may come out of the
East" he ended. the CLINT In his eyes
plainly a twinkle now. Anyway, Mr..
Warner, there is the situation. There
Is a fortune for the man who can find
a solution for the present shortage.
we have some schemes in view but
the cost prohibits them. The water
supply must be pure as well as plenti-
fsll. Filtration alone is serious
problem.
~As to yourself7 should be only
too glad to say we could use you In
such development Of Golden's water
but none Is forward. Would you care
to connect yourself with power com
panyf One is now on paper-blue
prints and stock, with the latter al
most subscribed. II Will take you up
In the mountains. The berth win be
open within a few weeks / can ar
range II for you"
"YOu know nothing Of my Qualidca-
lions. said Caleb. Cox smiled
I'm take chance on my own judg-
ment. he said dryly. You won't last
long IL you are Incompetent And you
don't appear that The place Is at
Beaver Lake, In stanislaus county.
You'n be roughing Il for aecommoda-
lions. Of course. But itIi be good
prwctice in western methods. fancy
you'u nnd them different from east
srn- Different type Of labor. for one
hing"
Caleb did not Immediately an the
pause. He had made up bis mind 70
study the Golden proposition II did
not seen possible that he should dis
rover something that Cox and his ex-
Derfn had overlooked on their own
ground but mat nsbulous thought was
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