The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1911-08-18
Ter on the one hand and his ware

10 connect both with this subway, the
permission was instantly granted."but
coupled with an expense demand upon
him for something Like a million dol
( iars.
Gorrnly could give Mas Haldans a
! million dollars TO play with hs would
/ uot spend ten cents for bribery. He
, saw Instantly that The demand upon
lin was a msrs attempt 10 hold him
I Up. To build the switch would cost
I perhaps forty sr nrty thousand dol
'ars: the privilege might be worth az
much more; but inAsmuch as no
/ streets were crossed. 20 overhead traf-
, &c hindered, he VIA doubtful even as
! 10 thRt- The road rad been built By
prtvats capital-sufncribe by the peo-
Dls-m a public franchise. The in
terests Of the pg6iiG we're supposed TO
be paramount A reasonable return
upon their Investment was all that the
prornuters had right TO expect.
Gormly had consulted his attorneys,
had appealed 10 the city council, and
had done everything that he could to
! settle the matter short Of publishing
the whole affair. He had failed alb
solutely everywhere. The members Of
| the transportation committee OF tho
hoard Of aldermen were very sorry,
| bat they did not see what could be
might prefer to indemnify the alder
men for their trouble in case they
should give him permission was met
with panied silence OF explosive wrath.
1t WIS furthermore pointed out TO him
that the board had no power, the
rights Of the people having been vest
ed IN the corporation for ninety-nins
year period. 1t was too bad that the
innocent aldermen had allowed them
selves To be placed In such an unfor.
tunats position; but 30 It was-and
there you were. There was no help
for the matter, and Gormly's only re-
source was TO pay the money, unless
he wanted to unload his goods into
truck wagons and vans and cart them
all over the city. OF course he could
do this; but II would be much easier,
more profitable and more desirable in
every way II he had the right to run
cars out on the pier alongside of the
vessels OF his feet and transport the
merchandise In bulk In that way.
He was in a very desperate situa-
| ton. Here he was saddled with a
twenty-fve-year lease Of one of the
most expensive piers in New York;
here he had a great warehouse six
blocks OF more away from the pier;
here ne had also a vast store several
miles from the warehouse; here was
railroad that practically connected
all three, provided one or two little
! spurs or switches could be built from
pier to railroad, and from warehouse
to railroad. It was perhaps the one
ness career not to have arranged mat.
ters before all this came to a climax.
The railroad people meant to make
him pay. They were resolved that
he should; he was equally determined
that he would not
He was not alone in his position.
however; for 1t was found on all sides
he discovered it by making quiet in
| quiries-that other shippers anG
merchants seeking similar privileges
were being held up in the same way.
The road had proved enormously ex.
pensive to build; the stock had been
watered numerically. Contracts
which had been entered into for the
construction OF switches were found
10 be of little value; means were avail.
| able to break them and evade them.
and the whole water front of New
York found itself practically helpless
in the grasp of this octopus OF a corpo-
ration.
There had been no clamor In the pa
| pers over this matter; but there was
tremendous undercurrent OF resent
ment and dissatisfaction, and Gormly
thought he saw an opportunity Of turn
ing 1t to his own account. To expose
the iniqutous methods OF procedure
of the Gotham Freight Traction COM
| pany, to bring about its ruin or its
downfall by depriving 1t of the fran
chlse 1t was abusing, to safeguard the
! people in their rights In any further
grants, was certainly an object sufil-
ciently high and sufficiently vast to
attract the attention. and, should he
| succeed, TO awaken the admiration OF
any being. And Gormly himself with
out losing sight OF Miss Haldane be-
gan TO look at the possibilities from a
| high and noble point OF view, in which
self-interest took a secondary position.
Therefore, late in November he
came boldly out in the open, and over
his own name vigorously attacked the
| Gotham Freight Traction company.
He did II in unique way, too. In
stead OF the full page advertisement
OF Gormly's store which appeared
simultaneously in all the great dailies,
there was presented one morning In
clear, direct. businesslike English a
statement OF the whole situation ex-
actly as II was. There were no threats,
no menaces. no intimations OF any fu-
ture plan or purpose; just blunt
statement Of facts printed in large