The true northerner., 1900-04-25

serious Illness In his old home and
would not be back until Saturday. Mr..
Hardy felt disappoir 4 more
keen than the occasion sceA.cG 10 war
rant. He was conscious that the time
was very brief. Ilc had fully made up
his mind tina; SO far aa IN him lay he
would redeem his selfish past and
make week such as few men ever
made. He was just beginning TO real
lie that circumstances are not always
In our control We are obliged TO wait
for time 10 do some things. We cannct
redeem seven years of selfishness with
seven days of self denial. The death
of Scoville revealed to Mr.. Hardy his
powerlessness i'm the face of certain
possibilities. He now feared that the
superintendent would fail to return In
time to let him confess to him his just
sorrow for his lack of service in the
school. He sat down to his desk and
under that impulse wrote letter that
expressed in part how he felt. Then
he jotted down the following items to
be referred to the proper authorities Of
the road:
Item /. The dust in the blacksmith
shop and in the brass polishing rooms
is largely unnecessary. The new En-
glefield revolving rolling fans and ele-
vator ought to be introduced in both
departments. The cost will be but an
item to the road and would prolong the
life and add To the comfort of the en-
ployees. Very important.
Item 3 Organized and intelligent eff
fort should be made by all railroad cor
porations to lessen Sunday work in
shops and on the road. All perishable
freight should be so handled as to call
for the services of as few men on Sun
day rs possible, and excursion aud pas
senger trains should be discontinued
except in cases of unavoidable neces-
sity.
Item 3. The inspection Of boilers, re-
torts, castings, machinery of all kinds,
should be made by thoroughly compe-
tent and responsible men. who shall an
swer for all unnecessary accidents by
swift and severe punishment in case Of
loss of life or limb.
Item 1. In case of injury or death to
employees, If incurred through the neg
lect of the company TO provide safety,
it should provide financial relief for the
families thus injured or stricken by
death and so far as possible arrange
for their future.
Item 5. Any well organized railroad
could, with profit TO its employees,
have upon its staff of salaried men n
g. 10
business is would be TO look after the
religious interests of the employees.
Under this last item Mr.. Hardy wrote
in a footnote, discuss feasibility Of
this with Mr.. B., influential director"
1t was now o'clock. The short win
ter day was fast drawing TO n close.
The hum Of the great engine in the ma
chine shop was growing very weari-
some TO the manager. He felt sick Of
its throbbing tremor and longed to es-
cape from ii. Ordinarily lie would
have gone TO the clubroom and had
game of chess with a member. or else
he would have gone down and idled
away an hour or two before supper at
the Art museum, where he was q con-
slant visitor-that was when he had
plenty of time and the business Of the
Office was not pressing. Young Well
man. however. had succeeded to the
clerical details Of the shops. and Mr.
Hardy's time was generally free after
4 o'clock.
He had been oppressed with the
thought Of the other injured men. He
must go and see them. He could not
rest till he had personally visited them.
He went out and easily aScertained
where the men lived. Never before did
the contrast between the dull, uninter-
esting row Of shop tenements and his
own elegant home rise up so sharply
before him. In fact. he had never
given il much thought before. Now,
as he looked forward TO the end Of the
week. he knew that at its close he
would be no richer. no better able to
enjoy luxures than the dead man lying
In No. 7G0. He wondered vaguely but
passionately how he could make use Of
what he had heaped together to make
the daily lives OF some of these poor
men happier.
lie found the man who had lost both
eyes sitting UP In bed and feeling in a
pathetic manner of Il few blocks of
wood which one of the children in the
room had brought 10 him. lie was a
big, powerful man like his brother, the
large boned Dane. and it seemed very
pitiful thing that he should be lying
there like baby when his muscles
were as powerful as ever. The brother
was in the room with the injured man,
and he said TO him:
Olaf, Mr.. Hardy come to see you"
Hardy? Hardy?" queried the man
in a peevish tone. what do | know
him to be-"
'"Ihe manager. The one who donate
so really much moneys to you"
"Ahw with an indescribable accent.
"He make me work on Sunday. He
lose me my two eyes. "A bad man,
Sword. i will no have anything to do
with him"
And the old descendant of thousand
kings turned his face TO the wall and
would not even so much as make a mo-