Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-10-14

the most important parts. In an hour,
when the other train came sweeping
| in. he had the whole company i'll line
rracticing fire by company" fire by
rank, fire by file" and never in doz-
en- drills had the Junction Light guard
| learned as much as they had that day.
! THAT fellows q dandy drillmaster,"
was the verdict. and the fame of the
exploit and the praise of this unknown
soldier had gone through the train be-
fore ever it reached the bridge. Next
morning when Company G was told
off for possibly hazardous piece of
duty and its captain was found to be
still in arrest and ''sulliing in his tent"
committee went to the peppery little
blinking eyes, not as might have been
expected. to ask ''cap's release" but
to say that 1.-The boys wanted man
who was way up in the biz if there
was any fighting to be done and could
not that West Point fellow take COM
mand?" "Will you do it?" asked the
little major of Langdon. "Will you do
SNhOeu NAltihlIbis9, anu away "SlI
Eric across a maze of tracks, 10 strap
ping young fellows striding confident
ly after him, rejoicing in the ring and
power of his word of command An
hour later they stood confronting flu
rious mob ten times their number, hurl-
ing bricks and billingsgate and foul
abuse. AT the point of the bayonet
ho1 cln he T
Of strikers, driven them into the open
yards and the street beyond and open
ed a passage for train of cattle cars.
But by this time, noting that most of
Melyille's forces We're afar up the
tracks rescuing cattle trains, from ev-
cry direction tramps. toughs and the
desperadoes among the strikers drop
ped the devilment they happened to be
engaged In and came bowling to re-err
force the expelled gang. Only 20 yards
away, just outside and along tile picket
fence, they crowded, clamoring, ours
ing, brandishing weapons and hurting
| missiles, but these latter, having to be
hurled high, generally fell short Many
among Langdon's new command were
idlS NhoSe beiN "OttfG lOuS Slice
have fed but for their leaders placid
unconcern. He had backed them, as it
We're. up against the brown wooden
walls of the freighthouse and then
stood coolly forth ten feet In front of
them, facing the raging throng with
out, sometimes quietly smiling as
though he enjoyed the situation, some
times slowly pacing UP and down At
last as the clamor increased it became
evident that the mob was bent on a
dash at the office building to their
right. standing alone opposite the great
wooden gates gates which gave di-
rectly on the buildings containing the
most valuable local properties of the
Big Horn road, excepting possibly the
locomotives in the roundhouse. 1t
was a moment Of excitement. No
man in the little band of defenders
could estimate the extent of damage
that would unquestionably result il
that maddened throng broke through.
1t seemed as though by this time all
the devilment of the disaffected was
concentrated here at one spot, for the
mob was vastly increased in size, and
the jeers, bowls and curses were now
continuous. Small wonder that many
young state ''guardsman" III the lit
tie command felt a nervous thrill as he
gazed at the host of semisayage faces