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.81%20%20mixed%20feelings%20TXT/mixed%20feelings.txt (38 of 80)05/05/2010 14:41:37file:///E|/My%20Library/books/ROMANCE/kerry%20allyne/1981%20%20mixed%20feelings%20TXT/mixed%20feelings.txtbecomes no different from using a telephone.'`I think I'll just take your word for that, all the same,' she chuckled.At last the hills gave way to the plains again and Kylie could see the city spread out before them, itscentre neatly bisected by the workings of the various mines, for it had literally grown up around the lineof lode.It was a large, sprawling city-understandably, perhaps, considering there were no naturalbarriers to its expansion-ringed by green reserves of eucalypts and other native species, its streets wide,like most country towns, and tree-lined.Nevertheless, by the time they had completed a comprehensive drive around the town it struck Kylie thatthere was something missing among those wide streets, although it wasn't until they had parked besidethe modernistic Civic Centre with its distinctive sculptured steel monument outside, and were actuallywalking across the road, that it finally came to her just what had been niggling at her subconscious.`You know, I don't think I've seen one drain in all the streets we've passed!' she exclaimed.The stormdrains were very noticeable where she came from.`Don't they have them?"'It was decided it wasn't worth the expense,' Race half smiled.`How do you mean?"'Well, we only get an average of twenty-three centimetres of rain a year-if we're lucky-but we have athree-metre evaporation rate.So, as you might imagine, what rain does fall isn't around long enough towarrant a drainage system.'`Now I understand,' she acknowledged, laughing wryly, then almost immediately followed it by theserious probing, `Such a low rainfall must create enormous problems in keeping a city of this sizesupplied with water, though, mustn't it?"'Not now, fortunately, since they've dammed the Darling River,' he explained.`They pipe it in now fromthe Menindee Lakes system some hundred-odd kilometres south-east of here.In the old days it was adifferent story, however,' he continued sombrely.`Then, water was so precious it was bought by thegallon for exorbitant prices.Even later, when Stephens Creek reservoir was created, there still wasn't anadequate supply, and every summer as the waters sank lower and lower another epidemic of typhoidwould break out and the accompanying deaths would start all over again.'`Poor devils! It's not much of a recommendation for the "good old days", is it?' Kylie grimaced.'Mmm, I doubt anyone in this town would ever want to see them again.'`Although they did like to remind themselves of its reason for coming into being, I gather,' she smiled,moving to a lighter topic, and indicating the street name on a nearby signpost.`No, they didn't mind doing that,' he concurred with a reciprocating grin.`All the early streets werecalled after the wealth they'd won from the ground.Argent is the main street, of course, and this as yousaw is Chloride.There's also Sulphide and Oxide, Crystal, Cobalt, Beryl, Mercury, Graphite, Wolfram,Mica, and so on.The list is almost endless.'`At least it's different,' she conceded lightly as they entered the building.`But didn't they find gold roundhere too?"'Further north,' he enlightened her.Crossing the foyer, they began mounting the stairs which led to theupper gallery.`At Depot Glen on Mount Poole Station, to be exact, and although that only proved to bea single patch, it wasn't long afterwards before they'd discovered it in larger quantities at Mount Browne,Warratta, and Tibooburra.'Kylie moved her head incredulously.`The whole area must have been a prospector's dream.'`As long as you were prepared to accept the privations that went with such an arid, sunbaked locality infile:///E|/My%20Library/books/ROMANCE/kerry%20allyn.81%20%20mixed%20feelings%20TXT/mixed%20feelings [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]