Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1910-11-18

taCon and the signature. The inQutfY
into the affairs of Chiawassee Consoli-
dated had revealed little or nothing
more than the general manager al
ready knew. The president had turn
ed the inQuiring stakeholder over 70
Dyokman, the bookkeeper, with In
structions to give Mr.. Gordon the full
est possible information, and:
"Dyckman slid out Of II, smooth and
easy-like," Calem's letter went On. "He
allowed he was mighty busy, right
about then. Wouldn't I just make my
self at home and examine the books
for myself? I reckon that was about
what Farley wanted him to do. I'm no
book expert, and l couldn't make head
or tail out of Dyckman's spider tracks.
Looks to me like all the books are good
for is to keep people from finding
where h company is at. What little
l found out, young Norman told me.
He says we're in a hole, and the nrst
wagon-load of dirt that comes along
will bury us out of sight"
Tom, driven now with the closing
work Of the college year, yet took lime
to write another heartening letter to
the hard pressed old soldier. 1t had
been his good fortune to win the Clark
son prize for crucible tests, and to
have gained thereby a speaking ac-
quaintance with the multimillionaire
iron king who had founded it. Mr..
Clarkson did not believe that the fnan-
cial storm would grow to panic size.
AS for himself, Tom thought the haz-
ard was less in the times han in the
I,oulo,,, IT, tAor Co1ob ,,oo to Laan hiQ
finger on the pulse Of the main office,
wiring Boston at the first sign Of its
weakening.
The Junior me~tallurgical was In the
thick of the June examinations when
the catastrophe befell. The brief story
of 1t came to Tom in the first dictated
letter he had ever received from his
father, and the tremulous shakiness or
the signature pointed eloquently to the
reason. Chiawassee Consolidated was
out Of blast-"temporarily suspended
in the pleasant euphemism Of the elder
Farley; the force, clerical and manual,
was discharged, with only Dyckman
left in the deserted South Tredegar Of
fees to answer questions; and the
three Farleys, with Major Dabney, Ar
ucd dllu iio GuPiiAo9Aot
the summer in Europe.
Caleb wrote in some bitterness OF
spirit. Though the Gordon holdings IN
the company, increased from time tc
time as the iron-master had prosper
ed, amounted to a little more than q
third of the capital stock, everything
had been done secretly. The genera,
managers W notice Of the shutdown
had come in the posted Notice to EN-
ployes." When the Farleys should
leave, he would be utterly helpless; OF
their return they could repudiate ev'
erything he might do in their absence
Meantime, ruin was imminent. The al
fairs of the company were In the ut
most confusion; the treasury was emp
ty, and there were no apparent asset'
apart from the idle plant. Creditor
were pressing; the discharged work
men, led by the white coal-miners
were on the verge of riot; and Majo
Dabney's royalties on the coal land
were many months in arrears.
Tom rose promptly to the. occasion
: and in all the stress Of things foun
s space to wonder how it CHANGED tina
5 he knew instinctively what to do an
: how to go about it. Before his infor
nation was an hour old a rush tele
gram had gone to his father, askin
from what port and by what steame
e the Farleys would sail; asking ais
n thai certain documents be sent to
= given New York address by first mai
e This done, he laid the eXigencie
r frankly before the examiners In tn
technical school, praying for such len
I iency as might be extended under tn
circumstances. Since all things ar
= possible for an honor-man, beloved
s those whose mission 1t is to grind tn
human weapon to its edge, the Difficult
ties in this field vanished. Mr.. Gordo
= could go on with his examinations unit
y his presence was needed elsewhere
e and after the stressful moment wa
passed he could return and finish.
The return telegram from Gordoni
was a day late. Knowing diplomac
a only by name, Caleb Gordon had gon
: directly to Dyckman for informatio
y regarding the Farleys' movement
: Dyckman was polite to the gener;
e manager, but unhappily he knew moth
d ing of Mr.. Farley's plans. Caleb trie
Z elsewhere, and the little mystery thick
e ened. At his club, Mr.. Farley ha
a spoken of taking a Cunarder from Bo'
ton; to a friend in the South Tredegf
j Manufacturers Association he had cor
If fded his intention of sailing from Phi
le adelphia. But at the railway ticket o
'e flee he had engaged Pullman reserve
g lions for six persons to New York.
s This last was conclusive, as far
= it went; n Japheth Pettigrass SUI
piled the missing item. The Dabne,
h and the Farleys made one party, ar
Japheth knew the steamer and Il
70 sailing date.
q Party will sail by White Star Lii
l. Baltic, New York. Tomorrow. Ne
York address, Fifth Avenue Hotel. P'
TT pers to your care 271 Broadway |
a mail yesterday" was the messal
IN which was signed for by the doc
n, keeper at the mines and metallurt
" n---- -