The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1902-01-01
THE PASSING
A OF MR. and hrs.
JOSEPH BRUDER
by Henry Irving BOdge.
Copyright. 1901,
ny Henry Irving Dodge.
Observation-Disclosures


ows on the Rome-Watertown division,
and Joseph Brudcr and his wife got
down from the passenger coach that
was trailing behind six flats" of rails.
Brudor was six feet four and broad,
and his wife was five feet and narrow.
Brudcr carried n huge valise that cost
n dollar and had done service, also an
AK. Mrs Bruder wore mitts and Il
plalntiye. piquant smile. In her eyes
there was standing apology for the
disparity in their sizes. This seemed
to be sore point with the little wo-
man, for She was ever on the alert for
the qni2zing chances of strangers and
if one should stand apart and glance
at the odd couple lie was sure to have
his gaze arrested by q plaintive glance
from the woman which said as plainly
as speech, please don't make fun Of
us"
But the man never bothered his head
about what other folks thought. He
was a woodchopper, and that's all lie
knew or cared. Next to his wife he
loved his aX, and il used TO he his
pride that he could put Keen enough
edge on it 70 shave with He used to
lay his cheek fondly against the purple
blade and pat it and call it his darling.
And the AK seemed TO understand him,
for ii would bark with quick delight
when his giant arms swung 1t aloft and
he the maple and bury its nose to the
point whore tie tempered steel joined
the softer stuff.
When pguder got of the train, he
looked around In sort of inquisitiye,
defiant way aud put his hand clumsily
around his wife and drew her shoulder
over against his thigh There was lie
one at the depot but the agent, vet
eran in the business, the tenure OF
whose position was due TO five toes
that lie had years before contributed
TO the annual list of accidents on the
road. Smith had heard that Brudel
was coming to take the place of one o.
the striking woodcEo2pers, and 1t filled
| him with grave e3neefn. Almost al' a
| his relatives belonged TO the strikers
and his synipaihles were deeply Will
them. On Tie other hand, Il fell 20 III.
lot to show ostentatious loyalty to Tie
company. Beaver Meadows was tht
chief "woodin' up point Of the read
For miles the contiguous country yield
ed nothing from its stubborn soil save
stuntcd beech and knotted maple.
The president of the company that
supplied the railroad with wood was
Smiths hacker \ rcd from him would
have dislodgod that worthy from the
comfortable niche that afforded him q
comfortable living SO Smith was be-
tween the devil and the deep sea. His
heart was with the strikers. his inter
est with the company. That's why his
usually placid mind was iled with
perturbation when he behelI the lum-
bering form Of Joseph BruGer and the
diminutlve wife aligbt from the ca
boose Of Big -Four.
Bruder had an arm as long as his
wife's tongue aud could fell at blow
either kind of iackass, human or
brute Mrs. BrGder was the brains of
the outfit She took charge Of the
money, when there was any, allowing
Joseph only enough for tobacco. 9th
erwise he was Il teetotaler. ON the
whole, this strange couple was deemed
a combination to be avoided. No one
ever knew where they came from On
that score Bruder himself was silent,
with a persstency that defied all the
subtle influences of bucolic diplomacy.
Surmise said he was an ex-convict.
and as chapter and verse Of his past
were not forthcoming this comfortable
theory crystallized into a very good
counterfeit of fact.
When the Woodchoppers learned that
Joe Bruder was coming to take Cy Sell
denis job. they knew there would be
trouble, for they were determined
lot There was an understanding, how
ever, a sort of feeling, although no
words had been spoken, that somehow
Smith would settle matters, and SO
it was determined that no one from
among the strikers should meet Bruder
at the depot and attempt by moral or
muscular force to turn him back.
Smith knew what was expected of
him by his friends and relatives; he
also knew that the suspicious eyes of
the president were upon him, and hence
the delicacy of his position. He hated
being double faced" but he had a
very comfortable niche indeed, and
times were exceedingly hard in those
parts He reflected with considerable
disgust that it was quite unjust that
he, who hsd no personal interest in the
matter, should be the one upon whose
shoulders the task of adjusting the af-
fair should be thrust.
That explains why Smith was per-
turbed upon the arrival Of Mr.. and
Mrs. Joseph Bruder. 1t also explains
why he alone was at the depot to meet
the distinguished pair 1t is an axiom
that good luck always comes to the
lazy. Smith was lazy man, which
accounts for the piece OF good luck
which care 10 him on the morning of
the arrival OF Mr.. and Mrs Bruder
Bah Armstrong; two year-old baby
boy had died of cholera morbus few
days before. and the Borrowing par
ents. who were farmers. had put the
little creature in a simple pine box and
were sending him down the road to be
buried In the Armstrong family bury
ing ground at West Camden. The tiny
morsel Of humanity was at that mo-
ment resting In The frelghtroom Of the
Beaver Meadows depot
AS Smith .limped down the platform
toward Mr.. and Mrs Joseph Bruder he
lnolqd thpar,ol the cpap door of tho