^*Governor Laxalt neglected to mention those parts of the conversation which underscored Hughes’s erratic behavior and eccentricities, in particular his germ phobia. One of the subjects Hughes discussed with Laxalt was a proposed water-treatment project he feared would provide the resort community with little more than treated effluent. Laxalt humored Hughes; he said he was aqually concerned about water quality and would see what action could be taken to halt the project. After the telephone call, the governor forgot Hughes’s apprehensions. But Hughes did not. On January 17, he wrote Maheu: “When I spoke to Governor Laxalt, I told him I was truly and urgently alarmed at the way the authorities were rushing ahead into the so-called ‘Southern Nevada Water Project.’ I told him I felt the entire plan simply was not palatable. That the water might be treated with sufficient chlorine so that it would meet the minimum test requirements and be technically drinkable—just as they boast that you can drink the effluent of the Los Angeles sewage disposal plant. But that is not the point. We are in competition with other resorts and if it becomes known that our new water system is nothing but a closed circuit loop, leading in and then out of a cesspool, our competitive resorts will find this out and they will start a word of mouth and publicity campaign that will murder us. The governor said he was aware of this situation and ‘sick about it.’ I urged him to see what could be done to hold it up temporarily while he and I try to find some solution. I have not heard a word in reply.”