The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1911-06-13

The editor Of the Telegram was now
mad on his own account. He presumed
to call up Mr.. Tank about 1t.
Too bad. Holman is such an unre-
liable sort Of fellow" said Tank, sooth-
ingly. Why don't you try another
truckmanf" Other customers of Hol-
man. who experienced similar embars
rassment. had this same thought. and
presently his horses were standing in
stable eating their heads of. and 1t
mattered little whether the wheels
were on or OF the trucks. since there
was nothing to haul In them.
That day Mr.. Tank took occasion to
run by MT. Holman's warehouse on his
way to luncheon. The spur track was
there and carload Of packing-house
products was being unloaded. Mr..
Tank noticed the brand on the boxes.
who furnished supplies Of many kinds
to the city and county institutions to
tho amount OF thousands Of dollars
monthly. That afternoon this con-
tractor found an immense bill OF his
for supplies hold up in the auditors
Office. A committee from the common
council was Investigating the charac-
ter Of supplies furnished and had re-
questsd that tho bill be not passed to
voucher for the present. Also there
were no more orders for the contractor
pending this investigation, which, as
the city government moves slowly
on occasion. might take years. The
contractor bestirred himself with coun-
Gil committees, with almhouse super
fntendents, and finally with Mr.. Daniel
Tank. himself.
Warehousin' with Holman, amt
you?" queried Mr.. Tank.
.Yes," answered the contractor.
We'll" observed Mr.. Tank. lowering
his left eyelid. notfceably, Bill Hol-
man amt very popular with me Just
now"
Tho contractor sat up abruptly. for
an instant, while he exchanged
glance. shrewd and conceiving. with
the one open eye of Daniel Tank
His lips pursed themselves and
emitted long, low whistle; then he
leaped for the door.
That afternoon, long lines Of trucks,
and they were not Of the Holman kind,
for Diche Dugan's gang was stil2
abroad in the land, were backed up at
the Holman warehouse doors and this
brokers' products were seeking other
Judgment
The man who was putting in the new
ffre-alarm system for the city was also
In trouble. He couldn't seem to get In
formation desired. Men cold-shoul-
dered him and misled him and
grouched him in thousand ways. He
was q man OF experience with muni-
cipal governments, and after a few
days, threw up his hands high and
asked the chairman OF the IRE board
to dinner.
The commissioner began with Mar
tint, and aided and allotted and en-
couraged by his host, ate and drank his
way through the generous bill of fare
to state Of comfortable amiability.
The flre-alarm man saw that q we'll
filed glass of some ingratiating spirit
was ever at his elbow. With the coffee
and cigars came the moment for which
he was waiting.
Shay" said the commissioner strug.
Cling to balance the demi-tasse before
his lips, want to wise you up
little
.Yes?" said the hre-alarm man,
blowing smoke high to conceal his
eager expectancy. yes? Go ahead"
you got lot of stuff in Holman's
warehouse, amt you-copper wire,
boxes. tnsulators, switches and all
that?"
Yes" assented the man. Why"
Well, Bill Holman amt right with
the administration, y see?"
The fre-alarm man saw, and as soon
as he could bring the dinner decently
storage for some scores of tons of cop
per wire and other accessories.
The mysterious boycott ran every.
where, even into the banks Men who
did business with Holman began to
have trouble with their accommoda-
tions at the leading financial institu-
tions OF the city-institutions SO emf
nent and respectable that 1t seemed
impossible that vulgar, club-flsted
boss, who, yesterday, was bouncer IN q
saloon and to-day by the favor Of
chance. ruled the city like car to be
cast down and go the way of his kind
tomorrow, could have any commerce
with them, let alone influencing their
treatment of faithful customers OF long
standing and unquestioned integrity.
There was the case of Jones Com
pany. dealers IN hides and wool They
were doing an immense business and
Holman had their teaming contracts.
They were buying freely and holding,
on some tips regarding the new tariff
bill, and had stretched themselves out
to the limit and still they wanted &C.
commodations. All at once there
seemed not to be anywhere such a
thing as accommodation. Not only
was there no money for them, but
gently and firmly they were requested
to reduce the amount Of their indebt.
edness. Jones was in SO far he went
white at the thought of curtailed
credit He sat down in the Office of
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