Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-11-25
THE PHANTOM DESTROYER

i and managers, some of them really pre-.
tentious affairs. Macleod himseI nveu
, in one of them. and we could see him
ahead of US, being driven home.
Just at present. however. 1t was the
Snedden house that interested us most.
for we felt the need OF getting ourselves
, established in this strange community.
was an old-fashioned farmhouse ana mao
} been purchased very cheaply by Snedden
, several years before. He had altered II
bination Of old and new proved to be
typical of the owner as well as OF the
house.
Kennedy carried off well the critical Sit
uation OF our introduction. and we 1ouho
ourselves welcomed rather than scrutih-
lied as intruderS.
Garfield Snedden was much Older than
his second wife. Ida. In fact, she DID not
seem to be much older than Snedden :
daughter Gertrude. whom MacLeoo nau
already mentioned-a dashing young lady'
never intended by nature to vegetate IN
the rural seclusion that her father had
sought before the advent OF the poWoeI
works. Mrs. Snedden was one OF tnose
capable women who can manage man
without his knowing 1t. Indeed. one feit
that Snedden, who was somewhat OF Do.h
student and dreamer, needed manager:
I'm glad your susad train Mas IN Win
be ready in few moments now:
We had barely time to look about De-
fore Gertrude led US into the dining room
and introduced US to the other ooafoeIs.
Knowing human nature. KENNEDY was
careful to be struck with admiration ana
amazement at everything We had seen IN
our brief whirl through Nitropohs. "
was rot difficult or entirely assumed
feeling either, when one realized that,
only n few short months before the re-
gion had been nothing better than an al
most hopeless wilderness OF scrub pines.
We did not have to wait long nelore .ne
subject uppermost in our mlhos WIS
brought up-the explosions
Among the boarders there were at
least two who. from the start. promised
to be interesting as well as important:
One was a tall, slender chap named
Garretson. whose connection with the
company, l gathered from the converse
ton, took him often on important mat
ters to New York. The other was an
connected with the management OF the
works, reticent fellow, more given TO
listening to others than to talking him
self
ANYHOW" remarked Garretson, tapping
the back of his chair with his knuckle.
as token of respect for that evi! splfle
who seems to be exercised by Knock
ing wood -
"Oh," exclaimed Gertrude. with lit
tie half-suppressed shudder. II do hope
those terrible explosions are at last
over
"If had my way" said Garretson,
tial law until they were over"
ut may come to that" put in Jackson.
quietly.
quite in keeping with the present
tendency of the age agreed Snedden.
in a tone of philosophical disagreement.
IT don't think it makes much differ
encs how you accomplish the result.
Garfield chimed in his wife. 'as long
as you accomplish II, and 1t Is one that
Snedden retreated into tho refuge OF
silence. Though this was only q bit OF
the conversation. we soon found out
that he was an avowed pacihst. Garrett
son. on the other hand. was an ardent
militarist. good deal Of f1re-eater.
wondered whether there might not be
good deal of the poseur about MIN. too.
1t needed no second sight to discover
that both he and Gertrude were deeply
interested in ea,h other. Garretson was
what Broadway would call "a live one"
and. though there is nothing essentially
wrong in that fact. I fancied that de-
tected, now and then. an almost ma
rernal solicitude on the part of her step
mother. who seemed to be watching
alternately. Once Jackson and Mrs.
Snedden exchanged glances. There
seemed to be some understanding be-
tween them.
The time to return to the works was
approaching. and we all rose. Somehow.
Gertrude and Garretson seemed natu-
rally to gravitate toward the door to-
gether-
Some distance from the house there
was a large barn. Part of 1t had been
turned into a garage. where Garretson
kept fast car. Jackson. also. had a
roadster. In fact, in this new community.
with its superintendent new wealth. every
body had a car.
Kennedy and I sauntered out after
the rest. AS we turned an angle of the
house we came suddenly upon Garretson
in his racer. talking to Gertrude. The
crunch of the gravel under our feet
warned them before we saw them. but
not before we could catch a glimpse Of
a warning finger on the rosy lips of
Gertrude As she saw us she blushed
You'll be late," she cried. hastily.
"Mr. Jackson has been gone five min
utes.
ION foot returned Garretson. non
chalantly. I'll overtake him in thirty
seconds" Nevertheless. he did not wait
longer. but swung up the road at
pace which was the admiration of all
speed loving Nitropolitans.
to stop for us after lunch and. without
exciting suspicion. managed to stow
away the larger part OF the contents
of our grips in his car.
Still without openly showing our con-
nection with Macleod. Kennedy sought
out the manager of the works and.
though scores Of correspondents and
reporters from various newspapers had
yainly applied for permission to in
spect the plant. somehow we seemed to
receive the freedom of the place and
without exciting suspicion.
Craigs first move was to look the
plant over. AS we approached It our
attention was instantly attracted to
the numerous one-story galvanized
iron buildings that appeared to stretch
endlessIy in every direction. They
seemed to be of temporary nature.
though the power plants. offices and
other necessary buildings were very
the factory buildings was nothing but
wood, covered by iron sheathing. and
even the sides seemed to be removable.
The floors. however. were of concrete.
They serve their purpose WELL. OBJ
served Kennedy, as we picked our way
about. Explosions at powder mills are
frequent, anyhow. After an explosion
there Is very little debris to clear
away as you may imagine. These
buildings are easily repaired or replac-
ed. and they keep a large force of men
for these purposes. well as materials
for any emergency.
One felt instinctivelS the hazard of
the employment. Everywhere were
signs telling what not and what to do.
One that stuck in my mind was, TT is
better to be careful than sorry"
Throughout the plant at frequent in
tervals were first aid stations with
kits for all sorts OF accidents. includ-
often overcome by ether or alcohol
fumes. Everything was done to mini
nliZe the hazard. yet one could not es-
cane the conviction that human life