The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1916-02-08
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4udJ y $50 dSTeeQ AlleFL0n. An at
torpey who is also a large stakeholder
could control that clientage. Suppose
see Buckley about this? Send him in,
will your.
Approaching the convenience of hav-
Ing no witnesses to conversations
which so Intimately concern the serv-
ing of the public, sSledge loafed out
and stood nonchalantly over the table.
The five men looked up at him keenly,s
but Sledge was staring into Cap Dig
glesby's hand. Buckley finished. his
deal and glanced up again. He imme--
diately arose
Take my hand, viii you. Sledge q
he begged, and he removed SIedge's
stein from the sideboard to the table.
S1edge sat down and fingered Buck
ley's chips while he drank at his beer
Hope you break him. observed Cal
win T. Luther as he presently dealt the
cards ..Buckley's too all fred lucky.
and think he plays crooked myself.
House committee.' yelled Franchise
Walters. That's unclublike langua ge..'
Sledge looked at his cards and put In
chips and drew and bet with the. air of
o man who is confirmed in the opinion
that the general average will get a
square player in the end, no matter
how he guards himself, and, siRae not
caring whether he won or lost Buck
lays chips, he- bet the same on a flush
as he did on a pair of deuces.S He had
Increased Buckley's stack slightly when
that gentleman returned. Sledge was
about 10 rise, but Buckley sat in A1ler~
toms place instead.
Keep your seat, Sledge,'' he observ-
ed as he nodded to. Cap DiggIesby,
Sledge's bitterest and most relentless
foe on the foor of the house Of repre-
sentatives
Yes, keep it i've handed" urged
Digglesby. Il want to stretch my legs
q few minutes, and a four handed
Poker game is about as exciting as
prayer meeting
Digglesby walked around the room
two or three times and looked at the
patriotic pictures with which the walls
were plentifulIy decorated for the ben
eft of Buckley's earnest constituents,
then he sauntered into the hall and
stretched his legs into the next room,
where the senator. in deep thought,
awaited him.
Digglesby returned tos the poker &
game by and by, and as he sat down
smiled cheerfully at Buckley Buckley,
who had been playing casino. seven-up
and pinochle with his poker cards and
making mad havoc In Allerton's
chips in consequence, Immediately
drew pair, to his triplets and ''bet his
head orr with keen zest.
Digglesby gave no sign or glance at
Sledge, but nevertheless, after an
other deal, Sledge arose stolidly from
the table. and, without making any
bones about 1t, walked directly into
the bedroom. Allerton was loun ging
IN a cushioned window sui, smoking a
cigarette, ana with his foot pushed the
big leather rocker around to more
inviting position.
The old veteran found a way he
comfortably explained. rf we at
tempted to railroad a bill empowering
the granting OF fifty year franchises
without remuneration it would be
showed under so quickly that the tell
er couldn't keep track of the votes
There aren't ten men in the capitol
building who would dare go home to
their constituents il they supported
such measure"
..Sure not" agreed Sledge. "Never
let anybody do anything in a law.
Keep 'em from it
That's the idea" assented Allerton.
Restrictive legislation. The people
are strong for that just now, anyhow.
Digglesby's idea is to call the act "A
bill for the projection of municipalities
against the monopolistic perpetuity of
street car companies %
t.GreatF'', approved Sledge. sit sounds
fierce If they get it. 1 don't myself,
but I know it's against the monopo-
les
ITS almost harsh with them" dryly
commented ATlerton. 1.-THE bill will
restrict the car companies to a painful
degree It win make a penal ofense
on the part of the officers to bond a
company for more than it's capitaliza-
Hon.
Sledge chuckled
t1Thes bankers convention will in
dorse that" he said.
''The bill will prevent street railway
companies from running open or sum-
rner cars when the Thermometer is be-
low 40 degrees f. 1t will prevent the
running of winter cars without double
glass protection for the motormen. It
will be made Illegal to have more than
one strap in every eighteen inches of
space. 1t viii be made illegal for
full car to run by a signaling pedes-
trian, and it viii be made Illegal, al
though this viii be scattered in three
or four places in, the bill, and sur
rounded with a lot of ambiguous Ian
guage, for any franchise to be granted
for as long period as fifty years."
That's the talk" nodded Sledge.
Restrictive legislation
q thought yoa could get along with
forty2nine years and eleven MONTHS
stated ATlerton. moreover, think we
can frame the bill to protect the peo-
ple.''
"Can you slip It through %
'sDiggIesby thinks so, although he
agrees with me that about six months
after it's done somebody will explain it
so that the voters will understand 1t.
and the man who fathers it will have
his name chiseIed alongside Benedict