The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1921-07-01

removed from joint In the left-hand
rail and the end of the down-hill rail
had been sprung out to make de-
railing switch, which was held In posi-
ton by the insertion Of one of the
fish-plates between the rail-webs. If
we had hit the trap, going at even or
binary Notwithstanding speed, there
would have been nothing left to tell
the tale but a heap of scrap at the
bottom Of the thousand-foot dump.
Under Mr.. Van Britt's directions the
engineer and fireman Of the pilot en-
CINE brought tools and the break was
repaired.
While they were doing it the boss
stood aside with Mr.. Van Britt, and
l heard what was said Mr.. Van Britt
began it by saying, eve don't need
any detectives this time. You are on
your way to Strathcona to put crimp
in the smelter squeeze-the last of
the Red Tower monopolies-so Dawes
told me. He was probably foolish
enough to tell others, and the word
was passed to. scrag you before you
could get to it. This trap was set to
catch your special"
Evidently" barked the boss; and
then: How did you happen to be
here on that engine, Upton?'
"rve been ahead Of you all the way
up from Portal City," was the calm
reply. II thought it might be safer
if you had a pilot to show you the
way. l guess 1 must have had
hunch."
The boss turned on him like flash.
"You had something more than a
bunch: what was it-a wire?"
Mr.. Van Britt gritted his teeth a
| little, but he told the truth.
Eyes; a friend of ours tipped me
off-not about the broken track, of
course, but just in general way"
| The break was repaired and the
men were taking the tools back to
the engine. AS we turned to follow
them, Mr.. Norcross said: "Just one
more question, Upton. Did your wire
come from the capital?"
But at this Mr.. Van Britt seemed
to forget that he was talking to his
general manager.
"It's none of your id business
where it came FROM" he snapped back;
and that ended it.
Notwithstanding the slow run and
the near-disaster on Slide mountain,
we had our meeting with the Strath-
coma mine owners the following morn
ing; and that much of the special train
trip served it's purpose, anyway. The
boss met the miners a good bit more
than halfway, and gave them their
relief-and the Hatch-owned smelter'
its knock out-by promising that our
traffic department would make an ore
tariff to the Independent smelter on
the other side Of the range low enough
to protect the producers.
1t was nearly three o'clock in the
afternoon before we got away for the
return to Portal City.
We had seen nothing of Mr.. Van
Britt during the day. and until we
came to start out 1 thought maybe
he had gone back to Portal City on
the regular train. But at the station
l saw the pilot engine just ahead of
us again, and though couldn't be
quite sure, thought caught glimpse
of our athletic little general superin-
tendent on the fireman's box.
The boss was pretty quiet all the
way on the run down the mountain
to Bauxite and, for wonder, he
didn't pitch into the work at the desk.
l could tell pretty well what he was
thinking about. For six months he
had been working like horse to pull
the Short Line out of the mudhole of
contempt and hostility into which a
more or less justly aroused public
enmity had dumped it; and now, just
as he was beginning to get it up over
the edge, he had been plainly notified
that he was going TO be killed If he
didn't let go.
Just as the way seemed to be open
ing out to better things for the Short
Line, q mis-set switch or bullet in
the dark would knock the entire hard
built reform experiment into cooked
hat.
There was every reason, now, to
hope that the experiment was going
to be a success, at least, at our end
of 1t, if 1t could go on just a little
farther. Slowly but surely the new
policy was winning its way with the
public. Traffic was booming, and al
most from the first the Interstate Com
merce inspectors had let us alone, just
as the police will let man alone
where there is reason to believe that
he has taken brace and is trying
his best to walk straight.
Also, for the drastic intrastate reg
ulations-the laws about headlights,
and safety devices, and grade cross
ings, and full crews, and the making
of reports to this, that, and the other
state official; laws which, If enforced
to the letter would have left the rail-