Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-12

its locomotive whistles was added to the
perfervid clamOr of the new camp in the
Plug Pass basin.
The goal reached. the Denver folk took
a fresh leaf out of the book of shrewd-
ness. Holding the completed line only
long enough to skim the cream of the
rush earnings. they sold their stock at a
sound premium to the Pacific South
western. pocketed their winnings can
nily. and escaped short half year before
collapse of Saints Rest, came to establish
the future Waterloo for Napoleonic young
superintendents in the Southwestern S
service.
This was all ancient history when Ford
left the Granger road to climb. at Presi-
dent Colbrith's behest, into the Plug
Mountain saddle. and a round half dozen
of the young NapOleons had been broken
before he put foot in stirrup for the
mounting. While his attacking of the
problem had been open-eyed, he had not
stopped to specialize in the ancient his
tory of the Plug Mountain branch. When
Ne did specialize. his point of view was
pretty clearly defined in a letter To Mr..
Richard F'risbie of ST. Paul. written after
he had been for six months the master
of the Plug Mountain destinies.
I'm up against it, good and solid"
was the way he phrased it to Frisbie.
My hundred and fifty miles of two
streaks of rust and a right of way has
never paid net dollar since the boom
broke at Saints Rest. and under present
conditions it never will. If | had known
the history of the road when President
Colbrith went fishing for meas l didn't
] wouldn't have stouched the job with a
ten-foot pole.
But now I'm here I'm going 10 do
something with my two sireakS of rust
to make them pay-make a spoon or spoil
a horn. Just what shall be done l haven t
decided fully. but | have a notion in the
back part of my head. and if it works
out, / shall need you fist of all. VIII
you come?
Have ! told you in any of my earlier
letters that | have personally earned the
ill-will of General Manager North? l
have and it is distinct from and in addi-
ton to his hostility for the unearning
branch for which l am responsible. I'm
sorry for it. because l may need his good
word for my inchoate scheme later on.
1t came up over some maintenance-of-
way charges. He is as shrewd as he is
INSCRIPTIONS, and he knows well how to
pile the sins of the congregation on the
back of the poor scapegoat. To make a
better showing for the main line, and at
the same time to show what a swilling
pig the Plug Mountain is. he had the
branch charged UP with lot of material
we didn't get. Naturally. | protested
and was CURLY told to mind my own bust
ness. which had no ramitications reach
ing into the accounting department. Then
] threatened to carry 1t over his head to
President Colbrth. whereupon L gained
my point temporarily and lost possible
stepping stone to success.
None the less, I am going to win out
if it costs me the best year OF my life.
I'm going to swing to this thing till
make something out of it. if | have To
put in some more winters like the one
have Just come through-which was Sheol
with ice and snow i'll the place of the
traditional fire and birthstone. If | have
one good auality-as | sometimes doubt
it's the inability to know when | am
satisfa ctorily and permanently licked"
Stuart Ford was shivering through the
second of the winters on the gray. needle
Wjnded day when he stood on Y he crust ed
drift heartening his men. who were
breaking the way for further rammings
of the scrap-heap BOG and her box plOw.
During the summer which lay behind the
pitiless storms and the blockading SHOWS
he had explored and planned, studied and