The Washington times., 1901-08-25

The question is" said the stout gen.
tleman. emphasizing the last word and
pausing effectively. who's to be the
scapegoat of this AFFAIR."
There must be one. you Think said
the thin man with the grey beard, as his
anxious eyes searched the other mans
face.
''Of course" the stout man answered
with an air OF finality- You don't want
the papers to get hold of the truth. do
you? You don'twant IL to leak out that
were manufacturing explosives with In
ferior chemicais-to say nothing of dan
gerous processes. long ago condemned as
murderous. which we've employed to cut
corners and boom the dividends You
don't want that going the rounds, do
your
"No-indeed not" the thin man said.
eagerly.
Ergo, the scapegoat," said the other.
II don't see where you'n find one" the
thin man observed YEARLY.
Well" the stout man began. and his
voice was full of vigor and determination,
when you run a business of this sort
and in this manner. when you do almost
anything to tickle the stockholders, wheh
Won cut down expenses to the point OF
holding human beings over eternity on
No. 50 cotton thread, you've got to De
prepared for almost anything, ana wheh
that anything comes-as 1t Will sooner
or later-you've got to take day OH
and smooth things over with the public
The public Is inquisitiye, and 1t has
way of finding out more things than you
want it to. Now, what we've got to do
is square the public. We've made money
this past year; we've saved so mucn
through cheap stock and risky processes
that it's a small matter il the old snack
on the Plains has gone up with bang
Let ii go. It's a loss, to be sure. but 1t
nothing to what the loss will be IL the
true inwardness of that bang becomes
common gossip. If 1t should get out Just
why the works blew up, you'd never put
another ounce of product on the market
and your stock wouldn't be worth the
paper it's engraved on. In fact, you De
lucky to get off without long term lor
manslaughter."
..Well?" said the other, as he SHIFTED
uneasily in his chair.
Fix the blame on someone mat VIII
satisfy EN- Don't bother about dollars
| and cents just at present
And the-the-er-scapeg suggest
ed the thin man.
LAS 1 said, when you run things In THIS
way. you have to be prepared Tor any
thing. There's two things to be thanKful
for. First. 1t S Gods own mercy 1t didn
happen in the daytime. Thirty killed and
forty Notwithstanding like that In
scare type. That would have been seri-
ous Second that a man named Moriarty
was loafing round the building some
| where There's your man..
Moriarty-Moriarty," said the thin
man. as if endeavoring to place the name
.Sure. Moriarty-night Waterman. same
one that grated US for twenty more pei
! month. when somehow-Lord knows how
he got on to the fact that We were taxing
| long chances
"oh, yes" said the thin man, his face
| lighting Where Is he?"
well, I should say he was numbering
the earth at several points. unless they've
| collected him. the other said grfmiy
Low down, 1 suppose, to take advantage
of a man when he's, dead. Still, it's bounC
| to be somebody. and we may as well us'
him, who fret used us.
| Are YOU sure he's dead?" the thin NAL
asked
/ You've never seen an explosion iik'
that. I imagine" the stout man said dryly
Anyway, how will you fix the blame OF
him?" the other enquired-
| Easy enough Reporters will be 'rount
| today to interview US. Well. there's only
one way we can imagine 1t happened. Or
| several occasions we've been out. to thu
! works at night. Moriarty was smoking