Page:Karel Čapek - The Absolute at Large (1927).djvu/58

 there strange about having twelve boilers? For a huge group of factories like this "

"Of course, of course," came from several quarters.

Dr. Hubka smiled ironically.

"And why the fifteen kilometres of railway line?"

"For the transport of coal and raw materials. We are reckoning on a daily consumption of eight truckloads of coal until we have things properly under way. I don't know what Dr. Hubka's objection to our getting coal in can be."

"I'll give you my objection," cried Dr. Hubka, leaping up. "It's that the whole business looks highly suspicious. Yes, gentlemen, extremely suspicious. Mr. Bondy has forced us to erect a factory for Karburators. The Karburator, he assured us, is the only power-supply of the future. The Karburator, as he expressly stated, can develop a thousand horse-power from a single bucket of coal. And now he is talking about twelve boiler furnaces and whole truckloads of coal for them. Gentlemen, I ask you, why then shouldn't a single bucket of coal give sufficient power for our whole factory? Why are we erecting boiler furnaces when we've got atomic motors? Gentlemen, if the Karburator is not an utter swindle, I don't see why our Chairman did not arrange for our own new factory to be equipped to be run by Karburator power. I don't