Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1920-04-23

the logs. you couldn't all tnost ~
priced orders. Then the market com
menced to jump and advanced three
dollars In three months"
Exactly. my son. And my Gus
toners began to crowd me to fill thos,
old orders. I couldn't expect them t.
suffer with me; my failure to perform
my contracts, while unavoidable, never
theless would have caused them
serious loss, and when they wer'
forced TO buy elsewhere, paid then
the difference between the price the,
paid my competitors and the price n
which they originally placed their or
ders with me- And the delay caused
them further loss"
He smoked meditatively for a min
ute. ave always been land-poor," h'
explained alphabetically. Whenever J
had idle money, I put II into timber
In the San Hedrin watershed, becaus,
I realized that some day the railroad
would build in from the south, tai
that timber and double its value. I've
not as yet found reason to doubt tho
wisdom Of my course; but"--he sighet
-"the railroad is long time com
ingw
John Cardigan here spoke OF mos
important factor In the situation. The
crying need Of the country was feeder
to some transcontinental railroad. By
reason OF natural barriers, Humboldt
county was not easily accessible to the
outside world except from the sea
and even this avenue of ingress and
egress would be closed for days at o
stretch when tie harbor bar was on
a rampage. With the exception OF q
strip Of level, fertile land. perhaps five
miles wide and thirty miles long and
contiguous to the seacoast, the heavily
timbered mountains to the north, east,
and south rendered the building of a
railroad that would connect Humboldt
county with the outside world a pro
foundly difficult and expensive task.
"Don't worry, Dad. II will come"
Bryce assured his father. ITS bound
to-"
Eyes, but not In my day. And when
II comes. a stranger may own your
San Hedrin timber and reap the re-
ward OF my lifetime of labor"
Again a silence fell between them,
broken presently by the old man.
THAT was mistake-logging in the
San Hedrin," he observed. II had my
lesson that first year. but didn't
heed 1t. II I had abandoned my
camps there, pocketed my pride, paid
Colonel Pennington two dollars for
his Squaw creek timber, and rebuilt
my old logging road, would have
been safe to-day. But was stubborn /;
I'd played the game so long, you
know--I didn't want to let that man
Pennington outgame me. It's hard to
teach an old dog new tricks. and be
sides. I was obsessed with the need
of protecting your heritage from at
tack I'm any direction"
John Cardigan Strengthened up in
his chair and laid the tip OF his right
index finger in the center Of the palm
of his left hand. "Here was the sit
uation, Bryce: The center Of my
palm represents Sequoia; the ends Of
my fingers represent the San Hedrin
timber twenty miles south. Now. II
the railroad built in from the south,
you would win. But II II built in from
Grants Pass, Oregon, on the north
from the base of my hand, the terminus
Of the line would be Sequoia, twenty
miles from your timber in the San
Hedrin watershedp
Bryce nodded "In which event"
he replied. I'VE would be In much the
same position with our San Hedrin
timber as Colonel Pennington is with
his SQuaw creek timber. We would
have the comforting knowledge that
we owned IL and paid taxes on II but
couldn't do dad-burned thing with
I'll"
fright you are The thing to do.
then. as I viewed the situation, Bryce,
was to acquire body OF timber north
OF SeQuoia and be prepared for either
eventuallty. And this | did"
Silence again descended upon them
and Bryce, gazing into the open fire
place. recalled an event In that period
Of his fathers activities: Old Bill
/ Il'UhtISuu llliu COiilt NY 10 lIflT mouse
- dinner one night, and quite sud
denly, In the midst OF his SOUP the
old fox had glared across at his host
and beloved
"John. hear you've bought SIX
thousand acres up in Township nine.
Going TO log it or hold 1t for invest
mentr'
at was good buy" Cardigan had
replied systematically; 80 l thought
I'd better take It at the price. | sup
/ pose Bryce will log 1t some day"
"Then | wish Bryce wasn't such a
boy, John. See here, now, ncighbor.
| I'll 'feSs up. took that money Pen
nington gave me for my SQuaw creek
timber and put II back into redwood
In Township nine, slam-bang up
against your holdings there John,
| I'd build a mill on tidewater II you'd
sell me a site, and I'd log my timber
! #"
"Ill sell you mill-slte, Bill, and !
won't stab you to the heart, either,
/ Consider that settled"
That's bully, John; but still, you