The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-10-26

beat impatiently upon the rau Of the rol-
ing tub as Il waIIowed in the sea .
Re spent the first three days aftcr hs
arrival at the mines IN the mountains
climbing them on foot and skiruiug their
base on horseback and sleepiEg where niStt
overlook him. Van Antwerp did not &C.
company him on his tour CT inspection
through the mines. but delegated that duty
70 an engineer named MacHiiians. and %
Weimer. the United States Consul az Val
encia. who had served the company n
many ways and who vas IN its closest con
adcnce.
For three days the men tollei heavily
over fallen trunks ard trees. slippery vlta
the mos Of centuries. or slid backward on
the rolling stones In the wate-aags. o.
elung 20 their pouiCs' backs to GlG-e the
hangiug creepe-s At times FOR hcur> t1-
gether they walked iu single nle. benz
nearly double, AMI seeing nothing before
them but the shining backs and shoulders
OF the negroes who hacked cut the way fGr
them 70 60 And again tIey would come sud-
denly upon a %prcclplrc. and drink ~ the sott
cool breath OF the C---Ga..aud iuCk 1awI
thousands Of feet rrou the impeuvtrable
green under which Jhey haI bc crawirS
out To where IL met tht sparkling sgrifc-
Of the Caribbean Sy5. Tt was taree days
OF unceasiuE activity while the slu sh1ne.
and OF anxious qucstionlngs around the
campfire when the darkness zen. and when.
NAANAE WIZ AE ~NAAAAaAa NA NaH- nANfAHAHHAN HHT
but that Of fuliaE water Ia "A distant rayi--
or the calls OF the nislt birds
on the mOrainS 81 the fourth day CLAY
and his attendants returned Co. camp and
rode 10 whore the men had just b-ssu to
blast away the slcpins surface of Tire lnouu-
tain.
As Clay passed between the zine ,heia
and palm huts OF the soldier worSn tAes
came running out TO meet him and one.
who seemed 90 be . leader. touched his
bride. and with his straw s1uh-eri in his
hand begged for "a word with 81 = ror the
Director.
The news OF CIay's return had reacned
the opening. and the throh "f tfe tImmy
engines and the roar Of she blasting ceased
as the assistant engineer came down the
valley To greet the new manager. They
found him seated on bis horse eaz!rg ahead
OF him. and listening 20 the story OF The
soldier. whose fingers. ~ Pc spoke. trem-
bled In the air. with al the Srace and PSI
sion Of his Southern nature. While hack Of
bis companions stood humniy. In n OLE
lent chorus, with eager. supplicatlng eyes.
Clay answered the mans speech curtiy.
with a few short woris. In the Spanish
patos in which he had beer addressed. and
then turned and smiled srimly upon TIE
expectant group Of engineers. De kept
them waiting Tor some short space. while
he looked them over carefully. a. though
he had never seen them before.
well. gentlemen" he said. I'm glad 20
have you here all together. I am only aor-
~ you dldn't come in time 10 hear what
this fellow has had TO say. I don't as a
rule listen that long 10 complaints. hut he
told me what I have seen for myself and
what has been told me By Others. 1 have
been here three days now. and I assure
you. gentlemen. that my earliest course
would be TO pack Up my things and go
home on the next steamer I was sent down
here to take charge OF a mine IN active
operation. and l ~hnd-what? I find that in
six months you have done almost nothing.
and that the little you have coudescended
to DO has been done sa badly that il viii
have to b. dCle over again: that
You have not oily wasted n half
year OF time-and I can't tell low
much m~oney-but that YOU have sue
ceeded IN a-ntagOnszias all the people on
whose goodwill we are absolutely dcpen-
dent; you have allowed your machinery to
rust in the rain. and your w0rkmen 10 rot
with sickness. You have not only done
nothing. but you haven't a blue print 20
show me what you meant.to DO. I have
never In my life come across laziueS and
mismanagement and incompetency upon