Mountain Home maverick. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1906-1911, 1909-09-09


tar As a fitting. almost necessary.
complement Of such a nature be was
endowed with a sense Of humor that
added not a little TO the attraction he
exercised for those who knew him
sufficiently well 10 be able TO appre-
ciaie his qualities Of heart and mind.
He took a calm. all embracing survey
Of the Office as he entered. looked over
to Brooks desk and saluted him with
a cordial motion Of the hand and in
structed a boy to notify Captain VIII
liams Of his arrival. He was ushered
Immediately into the chiefs presence.
That worthy. who. like his superin-
tendent. was clean shaven. was seated
at his desk in his shirt sleeves. and
faS whole room. despite the wide open
widows was thick from the smoke
from an old blackened corncob pipe at
which he was putting vigorously. He
was a burly man. aud the short. thick
neck. the broad shoulders. the power
full. big jointed fingers and the mus
Giles that stood out in punches on the
hairy arms disclosed by his rolled up
shirt sleeves denoted that he possessed
unusual physical strength. An ugly
man TO get into an argument with was
Williams. one who it needed no mind
reader to judge. would be capable Of
following the word with a blow that
would crush an ordinary opponent.
For years. as Brooks had intimated.
he had led tile toughest life. a man
can lead. hammering by sheer brute
strength way TO wealth by ways in
which scruple had counted for nothing
at all and expediency for a good deal,
and his entrance upon a higher plane
Of civilization had not impaired much
polish to his appearance. habits or
speech which were those of the old
time sailing ship mariner, although Of
late years he had striven to conform
more closely to the examples Of re-
inement he witnessed in the only po-
lite society he cared for. which was
that Of the family Of his dead friend.
Stanley Harris. who was general man
ager of the Latin-American line when
he obtained control Of it. He had
way Of glazing at a person from un-
der his bushy eyebrows with a scru-
tiny that seemed to read through and
up and down him and made him most
I'll at ease under IT,
He made his decisions promptly. au~
thOritatively. after the manner of a
man accustomed to command and to
be obeyed without question. and he
never changed them. at least IN his
business and administrative dealings
Add to all this voice like a foghorn,
the effect of which. when he raised
It. was. as he knew full well. to make
his suDordinates quake and to intimi-
date others who had to do with him.
and it will be realized that he lived up
fully to his reputation of being a hard
man.
For his quiet. unmovable and thor
oughly capable dock superintendent he
entertained a certain respect. He
knew from experience that the man
was not the least bit afraid or even
disturbed by his bullying manner and
his believing and that his glare, al
ways squarely met, had no more effect
upon him than 1t would have upon the
bronze statue Of Washington which
treasury in Wall street.
Smith lowered himself slowly and
easily into a big armchair beside the
presidents desk.
1.-TWO delegates from the Longshore-
mems union were here just now" an
nounced the captain. "They say the
freight handlers are going to strike"
"Ya-as?" said Smith interrogatively.
Eyes What do you know about itg"
Nothing. except that they came to
me with a demand for higher pay for
the men. referred them to you"
We'll l didn't leave 'em any loop
hole for doubt as to my position in the
matter"
You turned them DOWN.
Turned em down, OF course
What do you think? Suppose I hand
ed EN- a raise on a silver platter and
bowed 'em out Of the door?"
Il don't suppose anything about it,
I'm asking for information"
Them two blathersbites came swag-
gering and clustering in here and said
every last one Of the men would quit
tomorrow morning at II o'clock unless
they got 3 cents more an hour They
wasn't staggering when they went
out of here. I tell you. I pretty soon
took the starch out of EN-"
faint smile fitted over the superin-
tendents face. but he ventured no re-
mark.
Il told EN-" Williams went ON. that
wouldn't give 'em a cent a century
more aud to strike and be id. / also
told 'em that any man who did go
out would never get another job with
this company. and. by Sam. he won'tv'
The captains voice had risen to
roar. and he brought his fist down on
the desk with such force that pens and
pencils went flying in all directions
and the ink splashed from the wells In
their solid crystal stand.
'Them labor agitators amt got
roff1r % fhn