The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1908-02-20


to you and yours:
That's how it looked to us For
times had been hard with us. and. us
told you, old Keswick had always
calculated that the losses must he
evened up on wages somehow.
"'And this feIler. I'll be bound he's
never invented nothin' more useful
than a new tie to his crayatr says Jim
Bryce. He'll fool away no end of
money, and then either the mill will
have to go down or wages will. and
mine has got about to the foot of the
ladder now
"'Oh. there's no doubt we'll go down
unless some of his experiments blows
him up Wish they wonldr answers
Tom. only he put it rather uglier than
that
''Of course twas only talk. but the
feein was under it, and after awhile
from hopin' somethin would happen
the boys went a little further and got
to plannin' how to make it happen
Il amt goin' to tell much about any
about it for fear I'd run across some
thin I'd feel bound to hender, and
| didn't want to hender nothin'. that's s
the fact Only there was no murder
nor nothin' like that in it; the men
wasn't that kind-leastways most of
'em wasn't.
"'No, we amt a-goin' to hurt mann
my's darlin' - bless his pretty little
heart!-not less he gifts in the way
| when he'd better be out of it, says
Tom. with a grin. But if the play
thing he's so tickled over jest flies to
flinders some day and the noise scares
him so that he gives up and runs home
it'll be the best thing for him and all
the rest of US
Seemed like nobody doubted he'd be
easy scared. and so the whisperin' and
! black looks and secret meetin's went
| on.
''Cne day in summer Il box was
| brought into the room where we work
ed shall always remember that
day, just how everything looked 1t
had been Il bright. warm mornin'. but
about noon it clouded up slowly. and
every breath Of wind died away. Not
| a leaf moved on the trees.
"Inside the mill everything looked
| darker and gloomier than usual in that
queer gray light. Great piles of east
| ms throwed black shadows over the
| slippery floor: the long iron Shafts was
| like hungry arms forever reachin'
down and drawin' back empty. and
| from under the brick arclway the
| round door of the furnace seemed glar-
in out like big red eye.
"Nothin' seemed to go that day the
way folks had calculated. That mis-
| er'ble little box had no sooner been set
! down in the room than somebody call
ed: Hist! Look outr And there was
Boss Darlin', comm back from his din
| ner at an onarthly hour when he's
| never been known to come before
He had a rose stuck in his buttonhole
and looked like dancin' master goin'
to a party as l heard Bob mutter as
he slipped the box out of sight under
pile of stuff at the end of the room
They couldn't carry out their plan
then, so there wasn't nothin' left for
'em but to hide it.
1.-THE boss looked round kind OF
smilin' and pleasant-like. He'd got
that model he was busy with about
into workin' order, and lie was wonder
full pleased over it. And what did he
do that day but have it brought into
| our room. because the weather havin
turned gloomy-like there was bette!
light by big window there. So there
he stayed. fussin' over it. just as if he
was on guard.
"Then it began to thunder. and there
was sudden dash of rain. SO that jim
Bryce's little girl who had come dow,
with his lunch basket wouldn't sc
home. jim was q pieceworker and nj
ways said he could do twice as mucl
work in an afternoon if he had :
snack bout O'clock
"Jim looked sort of uneasy now an(
then when little jimmy d get off to thu
back part of the room anyways nigl
where that box was. But he couldn'
say nothin'. and maybe there WASH
any danger. only was sure he didn'
like her round there and was giat
when she wandered off into the room
! beyond-a storeroom. where she wa:
! let stay sometimes while she waited
for her fathers basket
''The storm grew heavier instead o
lighter till we could hardly see t.
work All at once there was blindin
fash of light and crash as if til,
whole earth was tearin' to pieces. ant
we all started and tumbled in ever!
direction The minute we could ge
our senses and look round we fount
that the whole end of the room wa
blowed off and gully plowed wa.
down to the foundations like as If ;
bombshell had tore through.
Beyond that ragged openin' th'
great brick wall was still standin'. bu
we could see that it was swayin' ant
wavin' just ready to fall. I've neve
seen anything look so awful us tha
tremblin' wall did. for over Oh TIL
other side of it run another buildin
where the tinishin' rooms was and al
hands at work
Il s'pase the same thought struck Il
all at once that the only hope for 'en
| WAS peal of the bell that would sen,
'em all fyin' to the entrance at the ia
end of the buildin' Twas in the oil
days. you see before the new part o
the mill was built or we had an
alarm connection with ali the roonl>
There was only the big bell. and th