Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-01-29
CHAPTER I.

eI DT0auWdy. Inc SuperCllOuS, well
groomed clerks who, on ordinary days,
are far too preoccupied with their
own personal affairs to betray the
slightest interest in anything not i'm
mediately concerning them, now con-
descended to bestir themselves and,
gathered in little groups conversed in
subdned, eager tones. The slim, ner-
vous fingers Of half dozen naughty
stenosraphers, representing as many
different types of business feminity,
We're husyily rafting the keys of click
i ing .ypewriters, each of their owners
intent on reducing with all possible de-
spatch the mass of letters which lay
piled UP In front of her. Through the
heavy plate glass swinging doors, lead
| ing to the elevators and thence to the
street, came and went an army of mes
sengefs and telegraph boys, noisy and
| insolent.
Though the open windows the hoarse
shouting OF news-venders, the rushing
| of elevated trains, the changing of
street cars with the occasional fever
ish dash Of an ambulance-all these
familiar noises of a great city had the
far-away sound peculiar to top floors
of the modern sky-scraper. The day
was warm and sticky, as Is not I'M
common In early May and the overcast
! sky and distant rumbling of thunder
promised rain before night.
The big express elevators. running
smoothly and swiftly, unloaded every
few minutes a number of prosperous
looking men who, chatting volubly and
affably made their way Immediately
through the outer offices towards. an
other and larger inner office on
the glass door OF which was
the legend Directors Room. Private"
Each conner gave patronizing
nod in recognition Of the defer
entail salutation of the clerks. Earlier
arrivals had preceded them. and as
they opened the door there issued
from the Directors Room confused
murmur of voices, each different In
pitch and tone, some deep and DELHI
crate. others shrill and nervous, but
all talking earnestly and with ANNA
ton rs men do when the subject under
discussion is of common interest. Now
and again voice was heard high
above the others, denoting anger in the
speaker followed by the pleading ac-
cents of the peacemaker, who was ar
guing his irate colleague into calm
ness. At intervals the door opened to
1 admit other arrivals, and through the
crack was caught glimpse of dozen
directors. some seated, some standing
near a long table covered with green
baize.
1t was the regular quarterly meet
ing of the directors of the Southern
and Transcontinental Railroad Com.
| f,,,4 nth n
mere routine that had called out a
quorum Of such strength and which
made today's gathering one Of extra
ordinary importance in the history Of
the road That the business on hand
was of the greatest significance was
easily to be inferred from the con-
cerned and anxious expression on the
directors faces and the eagerness Of
the employees as they piled each other
with questions.
Suppose the Injunction Is sus-
! tained?" asked clerk in whisper.
SIS not the road rich enough to bear
| the loss?"
The man he addressed turned impa-
tiently to the questioner:
That's all you know about railroad
| ing. Don't you understand that this
suit we have lost will be the entering
wedge for hundreds of Others The
very existence of the road may be at
stake And between you and me-" he
added in lower key, with Judge
Rossmore on the bench we never stood
much show It's Judge Rossmore that
scares 'em, not the Injunction. They've
found it easy enough to corrupt most
of the Supreme Court judges, but
Judge Rossmore is one too many for
them. You could no more bride him
than you could have bribed Abraham
Lincoln"
"But the newspapers say that he.
too has been caught accepting $4,000
worth of stock for that decision he rem
dered in the Great Northwestern case"
"Lies. All those stories are lies"
rplied the other emphatically. Then
looking around cautiously to make sure
no one overheard he added contemptu-
ously, "The big interests fear him, and
they're inventing these lies to try and
injure him. They might as well try to
blow up Gibraltar. The fact is the
public Is seriously aroused this time
and the railroads are in panic"
1t was true. The railroad, which
perior to law, had found itself checked
in it's career of outlawry and oppres-
sion. The railroad. this modern octo-
pus of steam and steel which stretches
its greedy tantacles out over the land
had 1T last been brought to book.
At first, when the country was in
the earlier stages of its development,
the railroad appeared in the grlise of a
public benefactor. 1t brought to the
markets of the East the product of the
South and West. 1t opened up new and
inaccessible territory and made GASES
of waste places. 1t brought to the
city coal, lumber, food and other prime
necessaries of life, taking back to the
farmer and the woodsman in exchange
clothes and other manufactured goods
Thus, little by little, the railroad worm.
ed itself into the affections of the PEG.
pie and gradually became an indispen-
sable part of the life it. had itself ere.
ated. Tear up the railroad and life
itself is extinguished.
So when the railroad found it could