Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-04


tive narrow gauge locomotives, piles of
T rails. rock-cutting and moving machines
and raugn-boarded tar paper. roof repair
shops and storehouses hclged il in on all
sides. IL differed from the neiGhboring
structures only in that its sides were OF
blamed stuff and painted. In other
rsspccts i; was as Glapidated and
strictly unitarian in appearance as
any sh; k N the job. As guide
for those having business Whereabouts
there was "a black and white sgn
running the length of the peak of its shed
roof that bore the legend. ID. Mcdonald *
10" over one Of the two doors was an
v1her, which said simply Office. The IA
raie of each Of its two long sides was d.
yfIsI with mathematical eXactneSS INTO
seven equal parts by two windows and a
door. one Of these spaces was punctuTed
for a Smoke-p!pe, which. VITA an abrupt
turn. shot upward three or four feet and
ended In Il seTrated edge that suggested d
sudden separation of a TuSted length dn1lnS
a high wind.
The view from one side was marred by
tbs. intervening low, rambling buildlnSS OF
The boarding camp in the near foreground
with rows of bright-hued articles of wear
ing apparel strung on lines along the wall
10 dry. Up the right of way OF the canal
immensely tall steel derTicks lowered nigh
in the ar. ana the SpldtFWeD IRON Nol n "
p5ndarous rock conveyors stood in sharp
relief against the sky when the day was
clear. From the excavation the smoke
from hosting engines. and farther away,
from overvorked steam ShoVels. hung in &
cloud over the land. Now and then the dull
boom Of a blast was heard. and mass of
rock shot up into the air-another step was
made toward the completion of the con-
tract for section Il.
Men umerable-thousands of them
along the twenty-odd miles of the drainage
Canai-and $2,oppHg worth of machinery
worked hand in hand day and night. BY
night the immediate vicinity of the scene
of operations was bright with the glare of
electric lamps or powerful suffering kero-
s,ne torches.
I;v night too. the vicinity Of the boarding
shacks was made Iurid by the boisterous
carvings on of rough workers. On pay
nights that playful tendency overfowed,
HHi nights carousiug ended in broken
heads and bruised faces. Sometimes the in
born vjcioUSness of a few guided the ac
lions Of the many, and the plant and be-
lpuglnGS Of the contractors suffered.
The Mcdonald outfit at the time had on
their section nearly 30u men, as diSTepUta-
bic a lot II navvies as ever swung a shovel.
tf these there We're old hands To- the num-
beg Of perhaps forty or fifty, mostly skilled
workers. with few common laborers who
followed the company about the country
from one job 70 another Every land that
breeds men that can do hard days work
WAS represented. There were Italians,
! 'le~- i-AtNtdHtdHS anu o}hrT-ldHS from the
same SaTiiC-edting, benighIed district,
Scotch engineers and stone settlers, Scandi-
NaVlan TiggerS, handy with rope; Irish
drillerS and foTemen, CanuCks from down
Quebec way and negroes. y few had de-
pendent families in fdr-of homes and saved
their money: the majority threw ii up in
the air by the second night after pay night
al the farthest.
At the end of a wet, sloppy Monday in
September the day shift was congregated
IL and about the little office, while the
bpHkkecper- behind a wire screen, pursued
has welcome bi-weekly occupation of pass
ing out ihc yellow pay envelopes to the
men as they called off their numbers Out
side a continual drilling rain fell upon the
crowd and the moisture tTickied from their
clothing 10 the greasy mud pool on the
Ttpor in front Of the railing.
Standing back Of the boukkecper watch
ing the operation of paying off, was the
company : superintendent, David McKeon
a bulky. weather-tanned ScuIChman who
feared neither God nor man. His fist was
Ike Sledge hammer and his voice could
BE- heard half way across the section. A
younger man, not so heavy, but as tall
leaned against the desk His strong beard
less features also bore the tan of sun and
wind \ little felt crush hat covered his
mead, the brim drawn down into a spout
lf"n winch the water dripped unnoticed
down his front \ long. black rubber coat
lit orally splashed with mud. covered his
form and hung away in front, disclosing IL
good breadth of chest AMI a muscular
reached
almost TO the knee, the canal null cIipsing
ia quantity to their soIas
His name was Imrie--John L. Irrie-and
ne. IN the capacity of assistant sIperintend-
eEt. divided with NJ ke0n the responsibility
Tor the success Of the operations Oh sec
ton L.
Now. success. plainly speaking. is profit
profit for old Donald Mcdonald He
employs some sharp people in the home
office who are good at figures and who
know very soon when a job is running
snort, and ara not backward in writing
tH tho superintendent TO that effect And
lEuEt, plainly speaking, is the sweat of
IN" tE"W Of the man on the pay roll.
Therefore, il behpOves a good suDerin-
trud"ut 10 make the most Of mans ca
l@riJE Tor labor during every minute of
the ten hours Of working day IL he
would present a good report at the clean
up. Ana in pursuing this profit, and a
consequent good character from the mer-
c"utry nome office. it is the easiest thing
III the world for those in authority To get
themselves diSliked
Eut notwithstanding the easy possibility
or friction between superintendents and
employees, VI keOu and Imrie enjoyed so
lar as they knew, an immunity from anv
III feeling toward them. Nixon was blur
ana outSpokens and used bad words and
MS 5'St at the drop OF the hat, II IS true.
bui ne was fair and square and ALWAYS i'm
partial IN his dealings with the men. and
Ola ROT maggie too much over claims for
shortage in their pay. And he knew ,cba :
under the tutelage of the big Scotchrlan
feH into the right way from the beginning
OF his career on contract work and the
KID was called pretty capable man at
the business by the old hands So when a
rlimor n1aied about that he was going to
quit the Job. II created some little concern.
They were sayin' somethin' bout Won
C"ln 10 pull out, cap'n," said Kirby,
the boss rigger, splitting out his words
bruS4ueiy. as he counted his money
Yes. | leave the end of the week" re-
Piled imrte.
That right? Pretty sudden. amt IT?
4 YER did think you'd shake the old man:
always SppSed you was married to him,
sure You an he amt got 50 you can't hit
i or together, have yOu2'
on, the lads got some kind Of q fool
r"tlon that his health will not admit of his
rrinaining longer in these parts. said Me-
Neon. the old man Of the job
Aw. that's a bluff You amt 1oin- N
quit Mcbonald?' said Kirby.
No. said Inrie. I'm going horn.. for a
We X, and then down 10 that lcvce work
below Memphis"
short. stubby. fiorid person. Andy gu
sack BY name, rtgger by trade, spoke M.
You sure goin' down to that river iob
MI lmTieF he said rs that a fact?''
1t surely Is" replied Imrle. with a smile
Il heard somethin' like that talkin' rourd
on the job, you know" continued C,urack
but co'se | didn't think II was so. twas
Chaplin. as told me Who do Won ,SnoSs
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