The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-02-04

the future or their heretofore prosper
 ous organization well enough to hold
 to theiH stock or to purchase more in
 the face of apparent adversity. It was
 true that certain purely manipulat!7e
 transactions had seemed to Initiate I against the company and had tempo
 rari1y depressed the market value of it's stock.
 Bendix stole sly look at Sledge
 He had never batted an eyelash. I However, the president went on, the intrinsic value of the stock was still there, and, with that thought Constant
 ly iii mind, there was no need for a panic 1.-The stock was worth and should command par. The improve ments, for which the reorganization had been made, were to be carried out. and others vastly greater were in i'm mediate contemplation
 It was a hopeful speech, a rousiAs speech, reassuring speech, and Presf- dent Marley felt when he sat down, bathed in self appreciation and per spiration, that, there being six re- porters present by special invitation, he had raised the market value of his l stock from ten to fifteen points. I So impressive was his speech that little Henry Peters, whose cheeks were shrunken and pale and whose wrinkle i framed eyes were bleared from the loss of sleep, turned to his nearest neighbor and said, withNa sigh of re- l lief:
 '1'm glad I didn't sell my stock day befores yesterday. I almost took thir- ty-fye for it, but the man didn't come back Gf
 HIS ne1gnDor, a WattIe necked man with a crooked nose and towlike hair which swept. down his forehead and curled up over his eyebrows. said through his nose, like the wheeze of a penny whistle:
 'sNyah; everything's all talk.'' l Up rose Attorney Tucker, a sharp nosed little man with beady eyes and l the crisp business air which frowns on smile and hates a holiday. 1 Let his fellow stockholders beware 1 of too much optimism. He himself had been, next to President Marley, the largest individual holder of stock l in the company. He had sold all but an extremely small portion before the panic and wished that he had sold the balance, for the outlook was very | gloomy. He did not wish to make his remarks in the form of a personal ti- rade, but he did feel it necessary to point out that the downfall and u1ti- mate ruination of their company was due, not to mismanagement but to political manipulation
 .sLet me tell you the truth!' he shouted. I've have with us today, at this very meeting; man of tremen- dous power and influence; politician of national renown: one who is at this moment under the searching eye of l the law; an omnipotent friend and relentless foe, and this man has cho- 1 sen, for reasons of his own, to wreck, and devastate and turn to useless rust the Ring City Street railway Ncom- pany."
 Every eye was turned to S1edge, but that omnipotent friend and relentless foe, without moving corpuscle, gazed straight ahead at nothing.
 tHe is no friend of the working man!' swore little Henry Peters.
 As if infuriated by his impassive- ness, Attorney Tucker, who was paid l by Sledge for the purpose. figurativ 1 ripped the big boss up the back, skin ned him alive, hung up. his hide to dry, and scattered his ashes to the winds, painting him as an unsuitable monster, I and chiefly calling attention to his hab- its of ruthless devastation. Wherever 1 the present street car company had 1 line the new one would have one on l an adjoining street, with newer and better and swifter cars, and a closer schedule, and unless something radical l were done he would not give a con tinentaI cuss per bale for the stock of the now rapidly dying Ring City Street Railway company.
 A long low sigh. like the midnight soughing in a churchyard, arose from that meeting, as Attorney Tucker sat 1 down. Little Henry Peters. with a livid face, clutched the arm of his waffle necked neighbor.
 i If that man had only come back I could have. got thirty-fve for my ,stockw he walled. I'm ruined. shall lose my homeI Frank Marley is rotten business manr'
 "Yeh!' intoned the crooked nosed 1 one. They're all thieves"
 Jim Delaney, who, with a clear eye and straight countepance, could make l louder speeches than any man in the Eighth ward painted even a blaeker picture than Attorney Tucker, and i when he sat down he had bankrupted l every stockhol6er within the sound of l his voice. It even semed incredible that street car should still be whiz- ziDg outside. Little Henry Peters sat nuInblY. with his hair clgtched in his hands. If he could have swapped his 5000 worth of street railway stock for jackknife with two broken blades his conscience would have hurt. him. and every. stockholder was in his class. Misery sat enthroned on every counte- nance.
 1 Daniel B. Atkins, a rising young law yer, with no capital but an empty con science and silver tongue, was tha first individual since Marley to offer a g1eam of hope.
 He admitted all that the preceding gentlemen had said and believed. him. | self, that the company was reduced to pauperisEl unless something radical