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. The mayor
and city council at that time decided that if the town had
water towers, life would be much easier for people who
had to make numerous trips to the city's wells every day.
Instead of drawing water up, they could simply let it run
down.
Unfortunately, the towers' designer neglected to put a
spout of any sort on the towers and, even less fortu-
nately, this defect was not discovered until the newly ap-
pointed water tower replenishment crews had spent
several weeks filling the towers. At that point, the only
possible way to repair the deficiency was to chop a hole
in the tower bottoms, letting all that water drain out, and
then afterwards, to add the spouts. The prospect of see-
ing several weeks' work gush away to make up for some-
one else's goof so infuriated the water tower crews that
they threatened to resign.
This gross mismanagement pushed public opinion
about the project to such a low point that it was clear
that even if the spouts were added, no one would apply
for the certain-to-be-vacated spots on the water tower
replenishment crews. In what was perhaps the only
clear-sighted decision of the entire affair, the council de-
cided that empty towers with spouts were no more useful
than full towers without spouts, and voted to maintain
the status quo. Thus, for the last four years, the water
towers remained full but spoutless.
By the time the flumes arrived, well over a thousand
kender stood assembled under the largest of the three
water towers. Flames raced along the debris and threat-
ened to leap across to City Hall and the largely intact
portion of the city that remained on the other side
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