April 20, 1908.



My Dear Dr. Holland;-

	Much to my surprise I received the following letter from Mr. Utterback this morning:



	"I have decided to give up the fossil business for all time, and shall send receipts and account of all expenses to date in a day or two. Should you send Mr. Peterson to work in this locality you can inform him that there is sufficient tools for four or five men in the two outfits. Shall be in Harrison until the 25th of this month. However, consider my salary as stopping on the 15th of the month.

		Sincerely yours,"



	Knowing how anxious you were concerning the work at Cook's ranch, this has worried me greatly. I at once went to town and had a consultation with Mr. Clapp, Mr. Mellor not having yet returned. I placed the correspondence before him, and neither of us can imagine what has caused Utterback to take this step and place us in this very embarrassing position. Clapp's advice was to start Peterson as soon as possible. This of course will leave me without any man to supervise the work in the laboratory, but it seems best to do so, and Peterson tells me that he can arrange matters so that Lou Coggeshall and Agostini will have sufficient work to keep them busy until your return, though of course they cannot go ahead with rhinoceros material