Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1906-05-22
+ = 4 = = + 4 = Il Il It + Il /,

anu lieu UP tuc iuain inS AS'
weeks and set us crazy, for we were al
ready losing our grip on the California
fast freight business. But ut that time
HALEY was superintendent OF bridges
on the West End.
His father was a section foreman.
When HALEY was a kid-a mere Kid
he got into Brodle's Office doing er-
rands. but Whenever he saw drafts
man ut work lie was no good for er-
rands. At such times he went all into a
mental taug,e that could neither De
thrashed nor kicked out Of h..l. though
both were conscientiously tried by Old
man HALEY and Superintendent Bro
die. and Bro.iic. since he could do moth
ing else with him, finally kicked him
into learning to read-and to cipher,
Brodie called it. Then by and by Hal
lev got an old table and part OF cake
of India ink himself. and himself be-
came craftsman, and soon, with some
cursing from Brodie and LUX a
that now.w from his paralyzed daddy,
became chief craftsman in Brodle's or
fee. HALEY was no college man. liai'
lev was q Rrodie man. Single minu OH
single mind. concentration absolute.
Mathematics. drawing. bridges. brains
that was HALEY. But no classics eX'
cent Brodie, who himself was Il classic.
All that Brodie knew HALEY had from
him. and where BrOdie was weak iiai'
lev was strong. master OF himSelf.
When Brodie shamed the image he was
made In HALEY hid the shame best he
could-though never touched or made II
his own-and Brodie, who hated even
himself. showed still n light in the
wreck by molding HALEY to his work.
For one day. said Broa!e In his heart
this boy shall be master OF these
bridges. When am rot lie will be here
what | ought to have been-this Irish
boy-and they will say he was Brodie
man. And better than any OF these
dough heads they send me out. better
than any OF their eastern graduates lac
shall be. II he was made engineer by Il
drunkard. And HALEY was bettcr-far
far better than the graduates, better
than Brodie. and to HALEY came the
time to wrestle the Spider.
Stronger than any man before or
since he was for that work. All Bro
die knew, all the Indians knew. al
that lifc's experience, eating. living
watching. sleeping with the BIZ river
had taught him. that HALEY knew. and
when BrOdie's bridge went ont llailey
was ready with lis new bridge for the
Spider water which should be better
than Brodies. just as he was better
than Brodie. 1t was TO be such a
bridge as BrOdie's bridge. with the fire
water left out. And the plans for a
Howe truss. two pier, two abutment.
three span. pneumatic caisson bridge
to span the Big Sandy river were sub
mitted to headquarters.
But the cost. Tie directors jumped
their table when they saw the figures.
We were being MIXED ut that time-to
put 1t bluntly. being sucked, worse
than lemons-by Wall street clique
that robbed our good road. shaved our
salaries, impoverished our equipment
and cut our maintenance to the quick.
They talked economy and studied pira'
cy. In the matter Of appropriations
for themselves they were freebooters;
for lis. they We're thrifty as men OF
Hamelin town. When HALEY demand
ed a thousand guilders for his Spider
water bridge they laughed anu said
"Come, take fifty" He couldn't do
anything else, and he built fifty gull
der bridge to bar the Spiders crawl.
1t lasted really better than the average
bridge, and since HALEY never could
get thousand guilders at once he
kept drawing fifty ut time and throw
ing them annually at the Spider.
But the dream OF his life-this we all
knew and the Sioux would have said
the Spider knew-was to build hnal
bridge over the Spider water. bridge
TO throttle 1t for all time.
, 1t was the one subject on which you
could get rise out Of HALEY any time,
day or night-the two pier, two abut.
ment, three span, pneumatic caisson
Spider bridge. He would talk Spider
bridge to q Chinaman. His bridge
foreman, Ed Peeto, q staving big one
eyed French Canadian, actually had
but two ideas in llfe-one was HALEY,
the other the Spider bridge. When the
management changed again, when the
pirates were sent out on the plank 30
many good men had walked at their
command, and great and public
spirited man took control Of the sys-
TEN, Ed Peeto kicked his little water
spaniel in frenzy of delight. "Now,
Sport, old boy" he exclaimed riotously'
well get the bridge"
81 there were many long confer
encc ut division headquarters between
Buck. superintendent, and Callahan,
assistant. aud HALEY, superintendent
Of britge anh after, HALEY went once
more 10 general headquarters Juggling
all his estimates revised and all his
plans refigured. All his expense esti.
mates outside the Spider bridge and
one other point were slight, because
HALEY could skin along with less
money than anybody ever In charge Of
the bridge work. He did 1t by keeping
everything up; not u sleeper, not q
spike-nothing got away from him.