Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-04-05
CHAPTER VII
SENTIMENT INTERPRETERS,


SENTIMENT INTERPRETERS,
Tom Bendix waiting discontentedly III
the bare little back room of the occident
looked TIN, astounded. as Sledge walkeu
in; for the boss, still wearing his floral
adornment, was making queer hoarse
sound, the like of which had never before
escaped his lips in the memory of mortal
man. He was hummlng! Humming a
spintered and Jagged and pteously as
torted fragment of a little love ditty!
Tom Bendlx killed a fly
"Bozzam is waiting" he stated.
Nothing doing" grunted sledge and
sat down III his favorite rough armchair.
II didn't tell him anything" BendlY
went on obviously uneasy. "IVe Deeh
figuring, sedge, BY making the reor-
sanizatIon Of the street car company we
can scoop out that two hundred and htty
/ thousand undivided surplus, all right but
! Marley will have over n third of 1t, for
he owns 30 per cent. of the stock"
| "Unh-hunh' said Sledge.
He DOESN'T deserve it," protested Ben
| dix you've made the company a pay
| ing one, and that surplus belongs TO you
| BY giving Bozzam's phony new company
a blanket franchise for the rest OF the
| city we can resell that franchise to the
| present company for the full quarter of
| n million: and Bo2Zam slips me the mint
| that his crowd will do the work for nifty
Thousand. leaving the other two hundred
| thousand for you and the organization
It's simple, it's easy and it's legitimate,
and it can be dressed in such a way that
the voters will eat it up as a big public
| improvement"
''Nixlr decided Sledge looking indffer-
| emily out of the window.
"Just as YOU saw" reluctantly agreed
| Bendix. but there's big difference,
chief between a hundred and two hum
dred thousand dollars. Marley alone will
tear off eighty-scven thousand Ave hun
dred."
"How?" asked Sledge. He looked down
at his red rose. 1t was beginning to
droop. He threw it on the floor and re-
placed It with a fresh one. Say Tom.
have n wad of these brought in every
morning"
"AT right" returned Bendix, making a
note of If. and cast a wondering look at
the boss, Sledge had only recently turned
d,wn a likely applicant for the state Leg
islature because the man was a BUTTON
hole-bounuet Johnny" "The best plan of
oneration I see" went on BendIx. as to
reorganize our half-mill!on-dolar COM
ponv for q million. We sell quarter
million of the new stock for improve
ments and make a present of the other
uIarier of n million to the old stockhold-
ers pro rata. They'll think they're get
tinp, that undivided surplus i'm stock in
pIocc oF cash and thev'II Mi be rich"
SIedge nodded his head and grunted in
annroyol
.'Tbe surnIus will sin he in the bank.
however and we get il in the transfer
Wen have the old shares turned over to
us 70 exchange for the new. and for
about an hour wen own al! the stock. In
that hour we'u hold n special stockhold-
ers' meeting or us choice owners and de-
clare an extra dividend of so per cent"
"GooI done" rnmbled SIedpe
oThore pre objections to IT," warned
BendIx. I'VE can probably bury the rec
ordg all ,.igb+ so tbat the tv,G bmn[red
and ID fifty W tEousand surplus SURF @ will fade away
iiI,o a. soon bmhbIo INT ~ tbe Isvsn,r,s
Blade ever gets 10 It thev'u carry II on
the front page for n wear"
SIedre's only renlv 10 that dire throat
rne a chuckIe
,urhe Rlade hurts some " insisted Rom
dix. "Thev'u carry n camnnirn against
MS ono of ibese days"
SIedge shrugged his mighty shoulders
o,,a,. ao sIi"htIF'
wv ,,yyS'r Sp re 5 dSc." 'S he stated
"A reform administration does teach
tho toWn a lesson - aJn,ittod ponSi,i
but we're NOT ready for ' il Vet Leaving ,H.
the Blade out of H. though I don't Iil,e
to waste this eighty-seyen thousand five
brpdred nm NTarIev and ha'5 hoya 20 be
in on it"
81 want him in said SIedga
Rcndiv looltad at hin, in s1,rrr,s.
. 'T tbnugbt vo,, Tvare q apairst NtarIo,,m
"Chanred nv mind I" ana SIodoa io,o
ir sril,tttI. so,,,rI ~ '.Iuse, Iean,
,,i, ~ d "%'S 81, puIasu tne espetiai
,,In6ory lo5ge For bis not',,o,,ta,1oo ''''' '''o
"T NAV, ,s 1,eir son5 co., 49,, 49,,
hand bi,, tinla,tahio tha,, Na,i - Inta,i ail5
Pondi,. r,,,s' Sol, ns ] 'neu ."T "geiueu 'i,.
that c,,ss so,,o,oT. i,he
80 80 ,9 15oIrJ,, :, ~ /" soou pusi-
's19 tilS 10 thG soleIln
VIZ we SitiIi'ns nuslache, tel
sto u a. a., !" '''e gray clothes 10
step IN
..r,.s,eS yes, ,,, S'F' acknowledged Adolph.
I.l,na eiaSa,a ,,,,,, ,, ,.,.,.,. ,,----,
'Sledge hodded and Auolph disappeared
Mr' BozSam' though certain in his soul