Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1905-09-28
At High
Water Mark
By c. B. LEWIS
Copyright. 1906. bv r.. B. Mcclure

S~>/<>rNNNNNNNNN NNNNNNNNNNNNN<&
The two center piers Of the great
railroad bridge over the Goomtree
river had been finished, and there was
much rejoicing They had been sunk
in the muddy bed of the stream a dis
tance Of sixty feet. and they lowered
almost as high above the surface. 1t
had taken thousands OF tons of stone
and thousands Of bags OF cement and
hundreds Of days work to complete
these piers. They had had the labor
Of thousand men and fifty elephants.
When they were finished holiday
was given to all the workmen, and
the chief engineer gazed proudly at
his work and said:
"They are done at last Floods may
roll down-earthquakes may topple
down forests-come what may, and
my piers will stand here when a thou
sand years have passed away"
1T is 50, sahib-it Is So" answered
the voice Of thousand natives, and
then they cheered him and his work.
When a thousand native Indian
workmen are employed together on
one Job there are three or four castes
There are masons, carpenters, elephant
drivers, shovelers, boatmen and what
not There Is enmity between the
castles, there is jealousy between the
different trades, there is chance every
hour In the day for a general riot, and
the men must be under strict dis
cipline. The superintendent word
must be law from which there is no
appeal A culprit Is not told to 70
hence, because he has bound himself
and the company has bound itself. He
Is punished by fine, Imprisonment or
the lash. Because Of this custom this
news ran through camp one morning:
cat the hour Of high noon today the
flag Of punishment will be raised on the
staff, and Kim Nassik will be tied to
the post and fogged. Three times has
his overseer warned him, and three
times has he muttered and cursed be-
low his breath and failed to amend his
conduct. Kim Nassik Is lazy, and he
has made Bundara, his elephant. the
same. When both driver and elephant
are lazy, the work fags. One man and
his beast can hinder a hundred others
1t is right that Kim Nassik should be
well fiogged."
When the elephant driver, after sew
eral warnings, had been sentenced to
punishment. he replied to the superin-
tendent:
"Your words are true, sahib, and I
would not have you take them back.
/ have been lacking In diligence, and
Bundara has agreed with me, but we
have a reason. A few Sundays ago he
got loose and ran away to the jungle.
We hunted for him for hours. When
we finally came upon him he was talk
ing with u wild elephant. He came to
me at my bidding. but that night, when
all the camp was asleep. he whispered
In my ear that we were fretting the
river; that the waters were growing
and complaining; that some evil would
surely fall upon US II we damned
them back. For a million years the
Goomtree has had free flow to the sea.
Could 1t be otherwise than that she
should be angry and that some disas-
ter should befall us?'
I1UW ID II Wltu Lut tTceo--Wllu Tie
grass-with all else that man usesT
asked the official "If the river Is a
million years old men have used her
for n million years. Thousands of
boats and RATS have foated down her
current and she has not complained.
Men must travel, and they must have
bridges on which to cross streams.
TUA 10 Al
back. There Is plenty Of room for 1t
to flow onward. Bundara is a big,
strong beast, but he is lazy. He has
told you this story that he may have
less work to do. You shall have twen-
ty lashes at the post before all men,
and Bundara shall also look on as a
warning to tell no more lies"
."As you will. sahib."
At noon the whipping took place, but
the punishment was not severe. 1t
was because Of the moral effect that
II was inflicted. Kim Nassik's ele-
phant was there, and he dropped his
head and tears ran from his eyes. They
said he felt pity for his master and
that his conscience troubled him. To
spare the feelings OF man and beast,
the superintendent gave them half a
day off the works-half n day in which
to repent and decide to do better In
the future.
At sundown all labor ceased, and 1t |
was reported that Nassk and his beast |
had gone to the jungles. That was q |
serious offense. The elephant was gov
ernment property and was hired to
the railroad company Mt so much per
day. Nassik had been his mahout for
ten years, but he was no more. He
had incurred n serious penalty by flee
ing, and a party was made to bring |
him back, but they hunted In vain. In
four weeks the incident was almost |
forgotten.
In time the great iron beams were |
stretched from pier to pier, and CROSS
beams and glrlers were put In place, |
and from sunup to sundown the hot /
air quIvered under the strokes OF the |
scores of hammers. The approaches /
were filed In and spans laid to the /
piers, and the chief engineer looked /
over his work with n smile OF satisfac-
ton.
"All Is going WELL" he said to him
self "In another sixty days the iron
horse will be snorting across this struc-
ture The Goomtree is on the rise, and
n flood will come, but we need not fear
It. We cleared It's banks OF drlftwood
for fifty miles last year Nothing here
can dam Its waters back and imperll
the bridge"
An heur after Nasslk had been pun
ished he had clasped bis arms around
the trunk OF his elephant and said:
"Bundara, have been disgraced be-
fore thousand men because you told
me what the wild elephant said. do
not believe you lied, but let us so to
the Jungles and be by ourselves. II the
Goomtreo 10 fretted and harassed. then
she Will take revenge. We should not
be punished for what the sahibs are
doing"
The pair fed afar Sometimes they
were alone and sometimes In the COM
pany OF wild elephants. The untamed
beasts had no fear OF Nassik. For
weeks they hid In the jungle or roamed
through the forests.
Light Of my SOUL" began Nassik
one day, "the time for the food In the
Goomtree draws near Whisper II to |