The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-11-09
MYSTERY TO BUTTE PEOPLE
EXERCISED TO DISCOVER WHO
ARE PAVING CONTRACTORS.
Salt Lakers Doing Business Under
the Firm Name of F. Kinds &
Co., as Street Paving Contractors
at Butte, Mont.

The following article, clipped from
the Anaconda Standard, anent the
firm of Salt Lake contractors which is
doing the street paving in Butte, Mont,
will be read with interest. Some of the
names about which there appears to be
a mystery in the minds of some people
at Butte, are we'll enough known in
Salt Lake. Anyway, what difference
does it make who they are, II they pay
their debts, employees, ETC., as they
appear to be doing, and making a good
job of the paving?
The article referred to reads as fol-
lows:
The mystery of the mysterious firm
of F. Kinds & Co., deepens day by day
as the paving contract nears compile
ton. From the moment the work was
started until the present time no such
person as "F. Kinds" has been seen
around the paving or on the street
where the work is being done. The
work has gone on right along and there
have been no end of bosses and super
intendents, but the person who is sup
posedly the head of the firm and who
ought to be the chief superintendent,
has never shown up. The mysterious
head of the firm shrouds his first name
in inscrutable mystery. He leaves the
people free to guess whether his name
is Fred or Frank, or Francisco or Felix,
or what He is just plain IF. Kinds,
and what he looks like is a matter of
pure conjecture But if the ST. Kinds
part of the firm is shrouded in mystery
the GO" part of the firm is shrouded
in mystery still more subtle, still more
! inScruta BILE.
Who is the Company"
Many guesses could be made relative
to that point, but who is to decide
which guess is right? A good many
are of the opinion that 7. r. Kinds is
the company. 1t will be remembered
that the name of T. r. Kinds was
signed to the certified check which
made its bid. Mr.. Kinds has also
stood around and watched the paving
as diligently as any man on Main
street. He has been seen to shed beads
of sweat while watching Tom Cum
mings work.
Then there are some people who are
| inclined to think that e. o. Dugan is
the company" Mr.. Dugan has stood
| by and watched the paving quite as in
dustriously as has Mr.. Kinds. He has
given the men their checks each Satur-
day night, and he has bought weiner
Wursts and beer for the reporters and
aldermen who happen to come along
and criticise the paving too freely. This
is what lends color to the report that
he is the Company"
Some think J. Ryan is the "compa-
ny" Ryan is the heavy, thick-set man
| with the Mormon features, who stands
all day watching the progress of the
paving and never moves. Ryan is a
better buffer than Dugan and nearly
as good as Kinds, and if he was pour
ing hot molasses into the crevices OF
the paving he would make you believe
that it was the boiling tar and never
crack a smile. Ryan is also a fair av-
erage liar, although travelling in fast
company.
Then there are some who think Will
liam Harkins is the company" Har-
kins has been experimenting about
everything is town this summer thai
does not belong to ]. R. Wharton, an6
he even did Wharton's grading. He
has been pretty numerous around the
paving, and some think that he is il
on it.
Then there is big Tom Cummings
maybe he is the company" He is thu
only one of all those mentioned whC
does any of the real work. He is tn
big fellow with the kid glove on his lef
| hand and the paving fork in his right
and actually lays the stones. He lay
them with mathematical exactitGde
and at the same time with marvelou
celebrity. Many people wonder how h
can work so fast, and others wonder i
his back ever gets tired. Whoever F
Kinds may be and whoever the compa
ny, Tom Cummings will be Remembered
: in Butte as the man who actually lat
the pavement.
Before the city accepts the Mai
: street paving. now nearly done,
should insist that the mystery of TIL
firm of F. Kinds & Co. be solved. VIII
is "F. Hinds?" Who is the company?
Who can tell?