The Washington times., 1905-07-16


tied brutal face out of which peeped
eyes cruel as those of a doing serpent
he had all the calm malignity of ID wait
ing hungry devilfish. In passing out I
glanced at the register. The two arrivals
were Jacob Poltz, OF New York, and
NJ. c. Coleman, of Unitah. From your
letter 1 needed no guide to determine
which was MIR. Coleman. Passing into
the parlor [ Joined my aunt. In a few
minutes the pair sauntered in. Mr..
Colenan's face held a strange fascina-
ton for me. Your recital of the evil he
has wrought, of the pitifu1 emptiness of
strong hands, of the low walls of starv-
ing mothers and children, and the black
pail hanging over hundreds of innocent
homes. made him to me as tabled
monster. Then as l thought Of the time
when his soul would stand shivering be-
fore his Maker, a wave of curious pity
swept through my heart. In few
minutes they arose, Mr.. Poltz with
weary air remarking, I'm very tired
We will postpone our conversation until
morning. A nutting party had been
arranged for the next morning in which
the few remaining guests were to par
ticipate en- masse. You can realize my
disappointment when at daylight mex
Gus headaches Clearly the outing was
not for me, so after the merry, noisy
party had set out. I withdrew to my
room. 1t is situated in secluded corner
of the great building with window
opening upon an always shady nook of
the encircling gallery. Closing the
blinds I pulled couch to the window
then with my head pillowed in the win
dow. prepared TO grin and bear my
enforced solitude. The ripple of the cool
mountain air-nature's healing fingers
had nearly soothed me to sleep when the
sound of heavy footballs was followed
by a heavy voice saying, Here is the
very place. Now, Coleman, we can come
to an understanding. Pull your chair
out of the SUM-
John. know I should have gotten up,
but knowing the character of the speak
ers gave me an intense curiosity to
hear their conversation. Well, 1 remain
ed quiet. and, sir, l am very glad I did
so!
Coleman" resumed Mr. Poltz, as the
pungent odor OF two freshly-lighted
cigars filtered into my nostrils, 'ft is my
unpleasant duty 10 inform you that your
work upon the 1nter-Mountain' has been
very unsatisfactory TO the syndicate
and, what is worse, has placed me as
your sponsor. in an extremely disagree
able position. When you were, at a
princely salary, ten months since. placed
in your present position, it was with a
full knowledge of the service to be rem
dered- The road is still solvent Men
like our English friends expect subor-
dinates who can deliver the goods. I
stood for you as a man capable of pIac-
ing the road in the reorganization class
in six months Your failure is mine.
Blank still holds heavy block of stock
which. added TO his prestige, constitutes
an ever-present menace. We will not
be able to keep the Alien Bros. quiet
much longer. Silence as to the true rich
ness of their mines is purchased at a
ruinous figure. To me, knowing as
do, you and your previous methods, your
failure is inexplica BILE
A few moments silence, then in sui
len voice Mr.. Coleman replied. I'll ad-
nit it does look bad, but you are ,n-
aware of the conditions l was ND
against. Blank was an hysterical senti-
mentalist. and had left untried no means
to attach his entire force 10 the road.
Why, do you know that in case of a
wreck the men would compassionately
speak of the heavy loss to the com
pany! The men were all hlgh-grade.
sober, and too intelligent. Wrecks. ex-
cept an OCCASIONAL derailment or run
away, were unheard of To force trou-
bic by heavy reduction of wages was
decided to be too open,- so | had left
nothing better than the course I've fol-
lowed [ replaced the Blank officials
by men on whom I could depend ther
started along the most approyed lines
OF railway Wrecking. The experienced
men were fired on the first available
pretext; arbitrary decisions. based l1pon
rulings and bulletins absurd TO jmnos-
sibility, soon put TO let upon nearly
every cab and caboose. The vacancies
were filed with the cream of the coun-
try's slums. Mechanical and construc-
tive force, cut to half of the REQUIRED
working capacity, soon filed shops and
round houses with disable engines. the
side tracks with abandoned trains.
whilst collisions. burnt, or ruined en-
gines were Of daily occurrence. Despite
my best efforts, I've neve. been able 10
get below water line. The glamour OF
Blanks name seems to hang over #
ici h!lc" oi the UljllOnS traced on the
wrong side Of our leader This house
would not hold the dead we have
paid"
Y ~
Never mind about that" Interrupted
Mr.. Poltz. harshly, thinking aloud is a
bad habit. Now as to the matter of
forcing a strike. You wrote of three
men who II properly handled. could be
used. l placed the extract in my memo
randum book. There it fs-'John GRAY:
young, intelligent, fully imbued with
the Blank ideas; stands well with the
men; could be approached only upon
wide grounds-betterment of conditions
return Of road to the old high standard
and mutual respect of both sides. Brady;
q product of CHICAGO yards, a splendid
reputation professionally, but quick
tempered and inclined tc be rough in
manner and speech; could be handled on
personal grounds. alGug lines OF III
treatment etc. Jasper; ax-master me-
chanic, a Blank man, possessing to an
unlimited degree the love and respect of
all men who have worked under him
has weird notions, but sufficient intelIi-