The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1942-08-06

ing MIN to the doctor, certain IN
definable Difference in Montaya's at
titude toward the Dutchman, con-
vinced Curt that whatever the
dumpy, bearded man had, he'd sold
Montaya on it pretty solidly.
At last, as final courtesies were
being said, the worthy doctor let
down the bars. He asked with what
could best be described as a cum
ming look, "You blay gribbage, JAZZ"
"Cribbage?" Curt laughed. "Sure,
I know the game"
"Goot We blay sometime, jar"
Certainly"
Montaya explained as they left
the laboratory.
"Dr. Toenjes' one regret here is
that he has no good opponent at
his favorite game" He smiled po-
itely. HE is very good at it. I
hope, Mr.. Curtis, you will be able
to stand up to him."
Curt chuckled. eff can't, I'll sic
my wife onto him. She can play
the game backwards and forwards"
He added, with another chuckle, eff
he'll comb out his beard first"
Their final stop was the engineer
ing office, one-story structure,
square like the laboratory. 1t occu-
pied the corner between the general
offices and the clubhouse, thus COM
pleting the layout of principal COM
pany buildings about the square and
balancing the community center.
Here Curt was introduced to his
own staff. 1t was now midmorning.
Three craftsmen were at work, two
at detail drawings, the third on
maps. One room was reserved for
the field men when they came to
San Alejo to submit their progress
reports. There was a darkroom,
and a big vault containing records
and master charts. From photo
static machine down to electric
erasers the equipment throughout
was ultra-modern.
Curtis own office was airy, light,
cool, with both desk and big table
on which to spread out his papers,
a swivel chair between, handy
upright rack for rolls of blueprints.
But the one thing which instantly
took his attention was the huge aeri-
al Photographic map of the c. A. T.
tract permanently framed against
the wall. Here was something!
Montaya led the way across the
room, to tap proudly with his finger
tips. ''Pd never have gotten my
planting under way without this"
This map showed a rough triangle
of about 10000 hectares, or $4,000
acres. The Quebrado Mountains
formed the western boundary. Along
the south and east flowed the Masica
River, joining the turbulent, unruly
Rio Negro, the northern boundary,
just below the rise of land where
stood Tempujo.
No buildings and no engineering
work showed on the map. 1t had
been made before any preliminary
work had been done. But it gave
Curt an instant picture of the en-
tire project; of the drainage neces-
sary to clear the huge swamp, dot
ted with stands of jungle; of the
leveeS necessary to hold back the
rivers; of the best terrain for spur
tracks to feed the farms.
'The Negro is a wild stream that
requires tanning" said Montaya.
eve work on that now. Along here"
he indicated with a pointer taker
from rack beside the map, "wc
make a twenty-three-foot levee,
Your most important job, Mr.. Cur,
tbs, is to see that it is completed
within the next five months. On
that gamble 5000 acres of plant
ing!
''The Masica will hardly worry
us this year. In fact, since the-ah,
unfortunate happening to Mr.. Mitch
ell, I have halted work on the Masl-
ca levee and put those machines
on the Negro levee. Flooding Of
the Masica will not endanger pres
ent planting.
"Along this line," he indicated
with the pointer, SIS our main canal.
Already it has drained several thou
sand acres. Here will be secondary
bitches. But we have so much to
do, yes, so many laterals to dig.
The canals in the upper half of the
tract must also be completed be-
fore the rains come.
Nov, we have four draglines and
a three-yard shovel and 5000 la
borers at work on the engineering
projects -
This wasn't even the beginning.
More and more Curt realized he'd
stepped into man-size job. And
with people who knew where they
were going-what they wanted and
how to go about getting it.
''Who made this map?"
"Mr. Ryden and Mr.. Lannestock,"
was the answer. 'In a plane I
chartered especial for the purpose,
a year before I was ready to start
work. 1t takes long to secure
concession, to plan. It is good work,
no? They are competent young men.
That is why I am so happy now to
have them under contract.
"Bueno. Here are progress re-
ports on the Negro levee, the main
drainage system, and the railroad.
You will wish to look them over,
but you will be brief about it, no?
Directly after lunch we shall start
on an inspection tour of the val
ley. For this we shall take the
rest of today and tomorrow, so you
will bring what personal articles
you need for overnight. In the
meantime, I have much to do my
Curt hardly noticed Montaya's de-
parture. He even forgot the wor-
ries in the back of his mind. What
a job! The best equipment to work