Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1911-12-28

Mrt lN>hCN who uShrved him Into the
SuOcrlu(cudcut'S office lid&crWood
looked ny and saw small man wear.
ing tie Khaki OF the engineers. With
soft felt hat 10 match. The Swapping
black NNcS, with the straight hrows
almost mNctiug over the noSc. sug,
gcStrd Goothc'S McphiStophclcs. and
FlcmtStcr shaved to tit the part, with
curliug muStaches and daggcr point,
ell imperial
i've been trying to find time for
mouth or more t. come up and yet ac
Quaintcd with you. MIR. lid&crwood,"
the visitor began when lidEcrwood
had waved him to a chair, II hope
you are not going IL hold it against
me that | haven't done II sooner"
lidGcrwood's smile was meant to be
no moro than derently hospitahlc.
I've are not standing much upon
ceremony in these days OF rcorganiga-
ton" he said. Then. to hold the in
tcrvicw down firmly to business
basis. what can | do Tor you, Mr.,
Flrmistcr?"
Nothing On top Of earth.
Its the other way round. | came to
do something for you-or. rather, FOR
one OF your suhordiuatcS, llallock
tells me that the ghost Of the old Mesa
] Building and loan association still re-
fuses to be laid, and he iutiuatcs that
some Of the survivors are trying to
make il unpleasant for him by acCus-
ing him to YOU As | understand Il,
the complaint OF the survivors is based
upon the fact that they think they
ought to have had u cash dividend
! Forthcoming on the closing up of the
associations affairs.
AS HalloCk has probably told you,
! had the misfortune to be the prcSi-
dent of the company Perhaps it's
only fair to say that 1t was losing
venture from the first for those OF us
who put the loauing capital into II.
Az you probably know, the money In
these mutual benefit companies IL
made on lapscs. but when the lapses
come all In Il bunch
IL am not particularly Interested In
the general subject, Mr.. Flcmistcr,"
Lidgerwood cut in. AS the matter
has been presented to me. under
| stand there was Il cash balance shown
on the books and that there was no
cash in the treasury to make Il good
Since IalloCk was the treasurer | can
scarcely do less than | have done
am merely asking him and you to
make some sort of explanation which
will satisfy the losers
'There Is only one explanation to be
made" said the building and loan
president brazenly. "A few OF us who
were the officers OF the company were
the heaviest losers, and we felt that
we were entitled TO the scraps and
leavings."
I'm other words. you looted the treas.
ury among YOU" said l.idgerwood cold.
ly. us that 1t, Mr.. FlemisterT'
The mine owner laughed easily. "I'm
not going to quarrel with you over the
word" he returned. Possibly the pro
ceeding was little informal IL you
measure It by some OF the more highly
civilized standards"
Il don't care To go into that" was
Lidgerwood's comment, but cannot
evade my responsibility for the one
member of your official STAFF who il
still on my payroll. How far was Hal
lock implicated?"
"IIc was not implicated Mt all save
In n clerical way"
you mean that he did not share In
the distribution OF the money!
HE did not"
"Then It is only fair that you should
set him straight with the others, Mr..
Flemistcr."
The ex-president did not reply ut
once, He took time to roll cigarette
leisurely, to light II and to take one or
two deep inhalations before he said:
"lt's n rather disagrecable thing to do,
this digging into old graveyards. don't
you think? AS for these klckers, real
ly don't know what you can do with
them unless you send them to me.
And If you do that | am afraid some
of them may come back on hospital
stretchers. | haven't any time To fool
with them ut this late day"
Iidgerwood felt his gorge rising, and
great contempt for Flcmistcr was
mingled with manful desire to pitch
him out into the corridor. II was II
concession to his unexplainable pity
for IIallock that made him temporize,
in justice TO Iiallock, | think you
ought to make Il statement OF some
kind that | can show to these men,
who. very naturally. look to me for
redress. VIII you do thatT'
"Ill think about IT," returned the
mine owner shortly, but Lidgerwood
was not to be put off so easily
You must think Of 1t to some good
purpose he insisted. 'If you don't
shall be obliged to put my own con.
struction upon your failure 10 do so
and to act accordingly"
Flcmlstcr's smile showed his teeth.
you're not threatening me, are you,
Mr.. Lidgcrwoodf