The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1911-10-17

to connect both with this subway, the
permission was instantly granted, but
coupled with an expense demand upon
Lars
Gormly could give Miss Haldane .
million dollars to play with: he woul4
not spend ten cents for bribery. He
saw instantly that the demand upoa
him was q mere attempt to hold him
up To build the switch would cost
perhaps forty or fifty thousand dol
lars; the privilege might be worth ~
much more; but inasmuch as NO
&c hindered. he was doubtful even ~
to that The road had been built By
private capital-subscrfbed BY the PEG
ple-on d public franchise Tho in
terests Of the public vere supposed to
be paramount A reasonable return
upon their investment vas all that the
promoters had = right to expect
Gorm1y had consulted his attorneyD,
had appealed to the city council, and
had done everything that he could to
settle the matter short II publishing
the whole an2ir. He had failed alb
soluteiy everywhere. The members Of
the transportation committee Of the
board OF aldermen were very sorrys
but they did not see what could b
done. A gentle hint that Gormly
might prefer to indemnity 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 = ninety-nins
year period 1t was too bad that the
| innocent aldermen had allowed them
selves to be placed In such IN unfors
tuuAte position: but 30 It wAs-and
there you were There was no help
for the matter. and Cosmly's only -
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 moro desirable II
every way II he had the right TO run
cars out On the pier aloagside Of the
vessels Of his feet and transport the
merchandise in bulk In that way
He was tn = very desperate situA,
don Here he vas saddled With .
twenty-hve-year lease Of one Of the
most expensive piers In New York:
here he had . great warehouse Sin
here he had also . 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 f.om
pier to railroad, and from warehouse
to railrosd- 1t Vas perhaps the one
mistake that he bad made IN his bust
ness career not to have arranged mat
tiers before all this came to . climax.
The railroad people meant to make
him cay. They were resolved that
he should: he vas equally determined
that he would not
He vas not alone IN his position,
however; for II was found On Ill sides
he discovered 1t 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 lad beer
watered numerically Contract
which had been entered int for the
construction Of switches were found
to be Of little value: means we're avail
able to break them and evade them
and the whole water front OF New
York found itself practically helples,
in the grasp Of this octopus Of corpo
| ration
There had been no elamor In the pa
| pers over this matter; but there VA
| 4 tremendous undercurrent Of resent
| thought he saw an opportunity Of turn
| ing ii to his own account To expos
| the ubiquitous methods Of procedur
| Of the Gotham Freight Traction CON
pany. to bring about its ruin or it
downfall by depriving 1t Of the fraz
chise it vas abusing. to safeguard tn
people in their rights In any turtle
grants, was certainly N object sun
GENTLY high and sufficiently vast t
attract the attention. and. xhoald b
succeed. to awaken the admiration {
any O&lu8- anu 0O4 MY UAmScu ~
out losing sight Of Miss HAldane b
gan to look at the possibilities from
high and noble point Of view. in whic
. selfinterest took = secondary position
"A Therefore, late In November b
~ came boldly out in the open. and owe
!, his own name vigorously attacked tn
:, Gotham Freight Traction eonpan,
:, He did 1t In q unique wAy. too II
- stead of the full page advertisemeE
II Of Gormiy's store which appeAre
simultaneously in all the great daine
"a there Was presented one morning
=. clear. direct. businesslike English
u statement Of the whole situation e,
~ actly a. 1t was There were no threat
N no menaces, no limitations Of any Z
- ture plan or purpose: just \ bluI
NJ statement Of facts printed In lars
double-leaded type, and signed vii
a the familiar facsimile Of his nov I
IN nous autograph
frO BE CONTINUED)