The Washington herald., 1911-06-12

Trouble, that sooner or later comes tc
all, had come to Garner & Son." an(
as so often happens In this planet oi
pounds, shilllngs. and pence. it was finan-
cial trouble.
The firm of Garner & Son was in dim
culties. Garner & Son was the cotton
spinning factory in the little village Of
Birchendene. situate in valley amid
the northern moorlands.
For three generations the Carriers had
run the business, which had been founded
by thrifty John Garner, originally a poor
hand-loom weaver. who wore clogs and
talked dialect; but whose descendants, as
is the way Of the whirligig, wore shining
boots and talked educated polish. and, as
It does not always happen, were none
the worse for 1t.
The factory Of Garner & Son was the
industrial mainstay of the village. There
was no other big works in the neighbor-
hood; not coalpit, nor foundry, nor
another factory, for miles. The bread
and butter Of Birchendene depended upon
the enterprise OF Garner & Son, who knew
their responsibility, and were decently
proud of 1t.
The firm had always been noted for its
fairness and its consideration Of the
workpeople. The Garners were money
makers of the phiIanthropic type. They
gave generously out Of their profits; they
inaugurated and kept going a working
mems institute, library, gymnasium, and
public bowling green for the village;
scholarships for the schoolchildren, en-
abling those with the qualifications to win
their way into college and even the
university. There were at least three
barristers Zone an NJ. P), two successful
editors, several schoolmasters, and pro-
fessional gentlemen in other avocations,
who, being the sons of poor working
men without means to pay for the higher
education of their children, owed their
start and their career to the munifcence
Of Garner & Son.
In short, the firm Of Garner & Son
watched over Birchendene like wise
and kind father; and the village was one
of the happiest little communities in all
the smoky shire of shuttles and spindles.
But now trouble had come to the firm.
Long-continued trade depression was tell
ing a tale.
The present head of the firm. John Gar
ner the second, sat in his office in the
factory basement. poring seriously over
the account books. From the window
there was a wide view o. the beautiful
solitudes Of the moorlands, with farms
conspicuously white on their dark-green
slopes; but John Garner was not inter-
ested in that picture this day.
He was a man approaching fifty years
of age; his hair was rapidly growing
gray. He was of medium height with a
long, thoughtful face, that just now
looked very weary and worried.
Near him stood a young man, taller,
more athletic, than his father. with a
face full of health. This was John Gar
ner the third, who, after study at the
Manchester Technical School and Uni
versity, had recently begun to take part
In the management Of the mill.
We'll, dad" said the young man, Bar
ney (the odd man, general factotum about
the works. told me you wanted me-"
Yes, John; I've something serious to
say" said the father, turning round in
his revolving chair. I've been thinking
about 1t all day, indeed, for many days.
To get straight to the point. the firm OF
Garner & Son is in a bad way-a very
bad way Unless there is a speedy
change-well, we shall have to stop the
mill, and it may mean bankruptcy"
I've known we weren't doing well
lately" said John, for. the last few years
have been gloomy for all manufacturers;
but didn't think that matters were SO
bad"
LAS yeu know, we're running short
time-three days a week-and I didn't
like having to do that. But now we shall
have to think of closing the mill alto
gether, a thing that's never occurred to
Garner & Son since the cotton famine;
and even then we ran longer than any
body else-ran at loss, so as not to
deprive our people Of wages entirely.
But this is a different affair from the
cotton famine. That was bound to end
with the American war; this-well,
Heaven knows when it will end II we
have to close the mill I'm afraid it will
be forever, and we can write finis to