Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1904-03-22

OF Railways faulC, am willing to aQ-
NIT, but it's your fault too"
'To be sure" replied DAILY, with the
accent Of sarcasm.
"You had no business entering into
any such contract. 1t gave him no
show"
Il suppose that was mainly his look
out, wasn't it? And, as already told
you, we had to protect ourselves"
"You should have demanded security
for the completion of the work. Under
your present agreement, If Railway
got in the timber, you were to pay him
a fair price. If he didn't, you appro-
priated everything. he had already
done. In other words, you made him
a bet"
II don't care what you call it," an
swered DAILY, who had recovered his
good humor in contemplation Of the Sc
curity Of his position. 1.-The fact stands
all right"
"It does," said Thorpe unexpectedly,
"and I'm glad of it. Now, let's examine
few figures. You owned 100000
feet Of timber, which at the price Of
stumpage" (standing trees) "was worth
$4,000"
"Well?"
"You come out at the end of the sea-
son with three million and a half Of
saw logs, which with the 81 worth Of
logging added are worth $21,0OO.''
"Hold on!' cried DAILY. 1--WE paid
/
ourselves for less"
"You could not have done it for one
cent less than four-twenty in that coun-
try" replied Thorpe, "as an expert will
testify"
"Why did we give it to Railway at
four then?"
You saved the expense of salaried
overseer and yourselves some bother"
replied Thorpe. "Radway could do it
for less because, for some strange rea-
son which you yourself do not under
stand, a jobber can always log for less
than a company"
eve could have done it for four" in
sisted DAILY stubbornly. But get on.
What are you driving at? Ny times
valuable"
"Well, put her at four, then," agreed
Thorpe. ''That makes your saw logs
worth over $4,000. OF this value Rad
way added $4,000. You have appro-
priated that much of his without pay
ing him one cent"
Daily seemed amused. "How about
the million and half feet of ours he
appropriated 2" he asked quietly.
"I'm coming to that. Now for your
losses. AT the stumpage rate your
million and half which Railway 'ap.
propriated' would be only three thou
sand. But for the sake of argument
we'll take the actual sum you'd have
received for saw logs. Even then the
million and half would only have
been worth between eight and nine
thousand. Deducting this purely theo-
retical loss Radway has occasioned
you from the amount he has gained
for you, you are still some four or five
thousand ahead Of the game. For that
you paid him nothing"
That's Railways lookout"
'In justice you should pay him that
amount. He is poor man. He has
sunk all he owned in this venture,
somei So, 1000, and he has nothing to
live on. Even If you pay him five thou-
sand, he has lost considerable, while
you have gained"
How have we gained by this bit OF
philanthropy?"
Because you originally paid in cash
for all that timber on the stump just
$4,000, and you get from Railway saw
logs to the value of $4,000 replied
Thorpe sharply. Besides, you still
own the million and half which, if
you do not care to put them in your
self, you can sell for something on tha
skids.''
Don't you know, young man. that
white pine logs on skids will spoil ut
terly in summer? Worms get into
EN-"
II do" replied Thorpe, unless you
bark them, which process will cost you
about 81 thousand. You can find
any amount of small purchasers at re-
duced price. You can sell them easily
at SO. That nets you for your million
and a half a little over $4,000 more.
Under the circumstances do not think
that my request FOR five thousand is
at all exorbitant.'
DAILY laughed. "You are a shrewd
figurer, and your remarks are interest
Ing" said he.
"Will you give s5.o00?'' asked Thorpe.
II will not" replied DAILY; then, with
sudden change Of humor: "And now
I'll do little talking I've listened to
you just about as long as I'm going
to. I have Railways contract in that
safe. and live up to it. I'll thank you
to go plumb to blazes"
'sThats your last word, is it," asked
Thorpe. rising.
sit is"
"Then," said he slowly and distinctly,
"I'll tell you what I'll do. I intend to
collect In full the 81 thousand for the
three millions and half Mr.. Radway
has delivered to you. In return Mr..
Railway will purchase Of you at the
stumpage rates Of 81 thousand the
million and a half he failed to put
in. That makes bill against you,
If my figuring is correct, Of just SILL