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<br />$500.000.00. The Company became vary active in farm- <br />ing operations and buying lands, until at one time it con- <br />trolled or owned about 20,000 acres with the water rights <br />thereon; every acre of which land, hO\vever, "vas sub- <br />ject to a first mortgage of 510.00 to 512.50 per acre. As <br />the funds became exhausted and the interest feU due <br />the Company became financially erJlbarrassed, judg- <br />ments were secured under a writ of attachment for about <br />S25,000.00 and the canal was sold by the Sheriff to <br />satisfy these claims. The purchasers were the Bent <br />County Bank and Messrs Colt. Reinhart and Buke and <br />George Closson, plaintiffs in the attachment suits. The <br />claims under which the writ of attachment \:vas issued <br />were unpaid accounts for construction work on tile ca- <br />naL The writ was issued July 15:-. 1890. and the sale <br />was some months subsequent to that date. <br /> <br />At the time of the sale the Canal Company r.ad in force <br />and effect outstanding water contracts and deeds for <br />the delivery of water to ~he amount of 980 cubic feet per <br />second; sufficient for the irngator of 54.400 acres on <br />the basis of the apportionment agreed upon. At the same <br />time the canal capacity did not exceed 761 .8 cubic feet <br />per second, or about 218 second-feet less than the <br />amount sold without taking into accoum the losses in <br />deliver!ng. To allow for ioss by seepage and evapora- <br />tion, \vhich amounted to at least one-third of the volume <br />taken in at the headgate. the capacity required to de- <br />liver the amount sold wouid have been over 1300 sec- <br />ond-feet, or more than 170% of the actual capacity. It is <br />evident, therefore, that the canal had been very greatly <br />oversold beyond its capacity. The water right contracts <br />provided that when the capacity of the Company's ca- <br /> <br />13 <br />