The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1920-06-10

a'tuiih NhttrHhtu, uiu reuiiZe tllht 4
had been considerable Of jackass
myself"
"Yes," Bryce admitted, "there can
be no doubt but that you cut of your
nose TO spite your face"
His thoughts harked back TO that
first season OF logging in the San
Hedrln, when the cloud-burst had
caught the river filed with Cardigan
logs and whirled them down to the
bay. to crash through the log-hoom Mt
tidewater and continue out to the
open sea.
The old man appeared to divine the
trend of his sons thoughts. "les,
Bryce, that was disastrous year."
he declared "The mere loss of the
logs was severe blow, hut In Wldi-
tion | had 10 pay out quite u little
money to settle with my customers. /
was londed up with low-priced orders
that year although didn't expect to
make any money. The orylers were
merely TO keep the men employed.
You understand. Bryce! | had II
| good crew. the finest in the country;
and IL | had shut down, my men would
have scattered nnd-well, YOU know
how hard It Is 10 get that kind OF n
crew together again. Besides, ! had
never failed my boys before, and
couldn't bear the thought of failing
! them then. Half the mills in the
country were shut down at the time,
AID there was n lot of distress among
The unemployed. couldn't do IT,
| Bryce"
Bryce nodded. "And when you lost
the logs. YOU couldh't fiji those low
! priced orders. Then the market com
menced' to irHp and advanced three
! dollars In three months"
Exactly. my son. And my GUS
toners began to crowd me to III those
old orders. couldn't expect them to
suffer with me; my failure to perform
my contracts, while unavoidable, never
theless would have caused them
serious loss, and when they were
forced to buy elsewhere, | paid them
the difference between the price they
paid my competitors and the price at
which they originally placsd their or
ders with me. And the delay caused
them further loss"
He smoked medltatively for a min
ute. "Fve always been land-poor," he
explained apologetically. whenever l
had idle money, ! put II into timber
In the San Hedrin watershed, because
| realized that some day the railroad
would build In from the south, tap
that timber and double its value. I've
not as yet found reason to doubt the
wisdom of my course but'-he sighed
the railroad is long time COM
lng,''
John Cardigan here spoke of most
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 aud
egress would be closed for days at a
stretch when the harbor bar was on
n rampage. With the exception of
strip of level, fertile lard. perhaps five
miles wide and thirty miles long and
contiguous 10 the seacoast. the heavily
timbered mountains to the north. east.
and south rendered the building Of n
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-
ayes. but not IN my day. And when
II comes. y 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 I didn't
heed ii. II 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
I'd played the game so long, you
Know dldnt want 10 let that man
Pennington outgame me. It's hard to
teach an old dog new tricks, and be-
sides, was obSessed with the need
of protecting your heritage from at
tack In any direction"
John Cardigan Strengthened mp In
his chair ana 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
pain 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 he Sequoia. twenty
miles from your timber In the San
Hedrin watershed -