The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-04-24
,lContinued.)

f.-
 Slater broke in: He's spellbindcr all right He made me hate the Hei. dlemanns and detest myself for five minutes. wasn't eveh sure I liked you. Murray 2
 :'It's wild scheme, of course,'s con- tfnued the doctor, but he's putting it over. The town council has gaAnted him a ninety-nine year lease covering every street The roadbed is started, and things arc booming Lots have been staked all over the flats, property values are somersaulting everybody is out of his head, and Gordon is god. All he does is organize new companies. He has bought sawnlill, a wharf. "a machine shop, acres of real estate He has started bank and new hotel. He has consolidated the barber shops, and he talks about roofing in the streets with glass and making the town series of aTcades, 7
 Slc ter half smiled evidence of d con. vulsiye nnirth within.
 They've picked out a site for a uni versity,~ he said bitterly "Cortez is going to be seat of learning and cuI- ture- They're planning a park and a place for an Alaskan worlds fair and museum and library. I've always wondered who starts public libraries it's nuts But I didn't s'pose more than one or two people got foolish that way O'Neil soon found that the accounts he had received of Gordon,s last at tempt to recoup his fortunes were in no way exaggerated. Cortez. long the pIaything of the railroad builders, had been ripe for bis touch 1t rose in it's f.nf~- s-<z appeal with frantic delight
 Gordon perfectly understood that something more than vague accusa. tions were necessary to bring the pub lie to his support in sufficient numbers to sweep him on to victory, ana with this in mind he laid crafty plans to ; neize the Heidls1nann grade. The trust had ceased active wGH on it's old right of way and moved to Kyak, to be sure, hut 1t had not abandoned its original route and, in fact, had main tained a small crew at the first defile. outside of Cortez. known as Beaver Canyon Gordon reasoned shrewdly= that a struggle between the agents Of the trust and the patriotic citizens of the town would afford him precisely the advertising he needed and give Ef-<---eN against the HeidIenanns
 It was not difficult to incite his vic tims to this act of robbery. On the contrary, once he had made the sug- gestion, he had hard work to restrain them unttl be had comp1eted his prep arationS These preparations were simple They consisted ia writing and mailing to every neWspaper of conse- quence a highly colofed account of the railroad struggle These min1eograph- cd stories were posted from Seattle in time for them to reach their destina- lions on the date set for the seizure of the grade
 It was an ingenious publicity move, worthy of theatrical press agent, and 2 it succeeded beyond the promoters fondest expectations --too well, in fact, for it drove the trust in desperation to an alliance with the s. R. and N
 The day set for the demonstratio came; the citizens of Cortez boldly marched into Beaver canyon to take possession of the old Heidlemann workings, but 1t appeared that they had reckoned prematureIy. A handful of grim faced trust employees warned { them back; there was rush, some rough work on the part of the aggres- sors. and then the guards brought their weapons into play. The result afford cd Gordon far more sensational mate rial than he had hoped for; one citizen was killed and five others were badly wounded. Cortez, dazed and horror stricken, arose in her wrath and de scended upon the "assassins;' lynch 1ngs were planned and npobs threat ened the local jail, until soldiers were hurried thither and martial law was declared.
 Of course the wires were burdened with the accounts the reading public o1 the States awole to the fact that bit ter strife y-as wagipg in the north be tween honest miners and the soulless Heidlemann syndicate. Gordon's pre- vlously written and carefully colored stories of the clash were printed faI and wide. Editorials brothed indigna- ton at sch lawlessness and pointed tc the Oortez Home railway as 8 com mendable effort to- destroy the Heidle- mann throttle hold upon the northland Stock subscriptions came In a deIuge which fairly enguIfed Gordon's Seattle 6f1ce force.
 During this brief white hot campaign the promoter had been actuated as much by his senseless hatred of O'Neil as by lust of glory and gain. and il was with no little satisfaction that he returned to Alaska conscious of having dealt telling blow to his enemy. He sent Natalie to Omar on another visit in order that he might hear at first hand how O'Neil took the matter.
 But his comp1acency received a shock when the girl returned He had ne need to question her.