Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1911-06-29

coupled with an expense demand upon
him for something like q million dol
lars.
Gormly could give Miss Haldane .
million dollars to play with; he would
not spend ten cents for bribery. He
saw instantly that the demand upon
him was a mere attempt to hold him
up. To build the switch would cost
perhaps forty or fifty thousand dol
lars; the privilege might be worth as
much more; but ipasmuch as no
streets were crossed, no overhead traf-
fic hindered, he was doubtful even as
to that. The road had been built by
private capital-subscribed by the peo-
ple-on public franchise. The in
terests Of the public were supposed to
be paramount A reasonable return
upon their investment was all that the
promoters had right to expect.
Gormly had consulted his attorneys,
had appealed to 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 the
board of aldermen were very sorry.
but they did not see what could be
done. A gentle hint that Gormly
might prefer to indemnify the alder
men for their trouble in case they
should give him permission was met
with panied silence or explosive wrath.
1t was furthermore pointed out to him
that the board had no power, the
rights of the people having been vest
ed in the corporation for a ninety-nine
year period. 1t was too bad that the
innocent aldermen had allowed them
selves to be placed In such an unfor
tunate position; but so 1t was-and
there you we're. 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 It would be much easier,
more profitable and more desirable in
every way If 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 q
twenty-flve-year lease of one of the
most expensive piers in New York;
here he had great warehouse six
blocks or more away from the pier;
here he had also vast store several
miles from the warehouse; here was
railroad that practically connected
all three, provided one OF two little
spurs or switches could be built from
pier to railroad, and from warehouse
to railroad. 1t was perhaps the one
mistake that he had made in his busi-
ness career not to have arranged mat
tiers 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 and
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 we're found
to 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 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 Ubiquitous methods of procedure
Of the Gotham Freight Traction COM
pany, to bring about its ruin or itS
downfall by deprivlng 1t of the fran
chlse 1t was abusing, to safeguard the
people in their rights in any further
grants, was certainly an object suffi-
GENTLY 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 tho
Gotham Freight Traction company.
He did II in a unique way, too. In
stead of the full page advertisement
of Gormly's store which appeared
simultaneously in all the great dailles,
there was presented one morning in
clear, direct, businesslike English a
statement of the whole situation ex-
actly as 1t was. There were no threats,
no menaces, no limitations Of any fu-
ture plan or purpose; just blunt
statement of facts printed In large
double-leaded type, and signed with
the familiar facsimile Of his now IA