The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-05-18
OLD SHACKELBY'S
INTERFERENCE.
A Love story of To-day.
By Bert Foster.

By Bert Foster.
One of those uncompromising old
painters of the Middle Ages is said to
have done, as his masterpiece, a great
picture representing the two states of
mans soul after death. The Styx flow
ed through the center, with the Ely
! sian Fields upon the one hand, it's glo-
rious light gliding the edge of the sui
/ lenly moving waters, while upon the
other the eternal mists covered the pic
ture with an almost impenetrable man.
! tie.
Out of this cloud unfortunate souls
had fought their way to the rivers
brink and these turned longing, but de-
spairing, eyes upon the light and hap
piness on the other shore. And the re-
! splendent creatures who walked in the
sunlit gardens now and again turned
! glances of pity and commiseration upon
the Dwellers in the Mist.
Now, Boulder and Pinkerton Heights
were the counterpart of this allegorical
picture.
The Erich Iron Foundry, the
! Shackleby Machine Shops. and the
great gas works which supplied dozen
| towns and cities with lighting supply
were located in Boulder. Across the
river was Pinkerton Heights, contain
ing within its boundaries the homes of
the men who owned the industries of
| Boulder.
The smoke fog from the furnaces and
| tall chimneys painted the houses occu-
pied by the employees a universal dirty
! brown. The villas on the opposite
bluff were variously and gaily painted.
OF course, there were times when an
easterly wind set in and blew the
! smoke across the river. Then the good
| housewives of Pinkerton Heights shut
their front windows and quarreled with
the industries which brought their hus-
| bands wealth.
AS a general thing Pinkertonians had
| very little interest in the Boulderites.
When Bessie Erich, who was given to
odd fads and fancies. began to visit
among her fathers employes--or, rath-
| err, their wiVes-and stir Pinkertonian
/ femininity with tales of the hard lot
of the jewellers in the mist. her re-
| marks We're not received with enthu-
siasm.
About all Pinkerton had cared re-
garding Boulder was to govern in and
pay it's wages, heretofore. Now the
women folk were stirred to form a ma
| ternity association and a sewing guild
! and various other organizations for
machine charity. and occasionally par
ties from the Heights went across to
visit the mean little houses of the foun-
dry and machine shop workers-just as
curious people in big cities go slum-
ming.
Oddly enough Bessie Erich never
accompanied any of these organized
parties of visitors And 1t was notice.
able that few of the Boulderites well
coined the visits with overwhelming
cordiality.
When Bessie went, she was alone, or
was accompanied only by a boy to
carry her basket, and her reception
was much different from that accorded
the visiting committee of the Burden
i Sharers and the Small Clothes Guild.
One day Patsy Moran played truant.
Not that he was not fond of Miss Bes-
sic, and his mother received joyfully
the half dollar he earned by carrying
the basket and running errands. But
Patsy had a desire for a regular Job,
and he ran away that morning and
was taken on at the machine shops as
a rivet boy.
Therefore Bessie landed from the
Amos G, PinkeTton, the fussy fiat bot
toned steam scow which piled from
bank to bank of the river (for there
was no BRIDGE, and stood upon the
wharf with the heavy basket by her
side and no Patsy in sight.
| ana Wnlle Sne looked ABOUT nelpleSS-
! ly, who should come down the wharf
but Frank Burden. Now, would not
wish to swear that Burden had not
lonered purposely in that vicinity,
knowing ii was Bessie's afternoon to
come across the river. Nor would 1 be
yelling to swear that he was alto
gether guiltless of being a party to
Patsy Moran's truancy, for Frank had
/ hired the little rascal himself and set
! ~ F1.,.I- IL, he oh inc eha
But he came down the wharf now
with a most innocent air and stopped
to raise his hat and speak to the foun-
dry proprietor's daughter.
Bessie had known him-not familiar
ly, of course, for no Pinkertonian ever
was we'll acquainted with a Boulderite
since her earliest school days.
Franks father had been a. foreman in
/ the foundry, a man of some parts and
rather better education than the ma
jority of foundrymen. He had not been
satisfied with the school supplied to the
/ Boulderites and had sent Frank across
the river to the Heights school until
he was old enough to attend the acad-
envy in the neighboring city.
But Frank was a dweller in the mists.
| He occupied his fathers old cottage
near the foundry, had become one of
the best machnists on Shackleby's
staff, and was now assistant superin-
| tendent of the shops.
Everybody who knew him respected
! young Burden and liked him-on his
! own side of the river. Social customs
| could not be overlooked, and the gulf
| between Pinkerton Heights and
Boulder was deeper and wider than
! that mentioned in Holy Writ.
But Bessie Erich saw no harm in
! welcoming Franks appearance as she
/ would have that of any other nice man
| she knew, nor did she refuse to allow
him to accompany her and carry the
! basket Frank knew more about
Boulder people than those among them
who needed help than she did herself.
! She had heard before of his own quiet
| charities, and admired him for them.
! After that, when she made her week.
" visit to her pets" as her father
| laughingly called the objects of his
| daughters charity, Patsy never showed
/ up at the wharf; but Burden was al
/ ways there She never told him when
/ she would be over. and he never asked
/ her II he might be her companion on
| these errands Of mercy; but ere long.
| had she dared catechise herself. she
must have admitted that she looked