The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1921-06-30

safety-deposit room of Broad street
bank"
The boss laughed at that, and I'm
telling you right now that was glad
to know that he was still able to laugh.
you've never seen the day when
you wanted to renege, Upton, and you
know It," he hit back. Think of the
perfectly good technical education you
were wasting wnen l took hold Of you
and jerked you out here"
"Huhl" said our millionaire; "Pve
just had two enginemen on the carpet
for running over an old ranchman's
pet COW. They said they couldn't
help 1t; but told them that under
the 'publIc-be-pleased policy, they'd
| got to help It,"
The boss chuckled. II believe you'd
joke at your own funeral, Upton. You
| didn't come here TO tell me about the
ranchman's pet cow"
mot exactly. came to tell you
that Citizens Storage & Warehouse is
| due to have strike on its hands. The
management which seems to have
got itself consolidated In some way---
shot out lot of new bosses all along
the line on the through train last
night, and this morning the entire
works. elevators, packeries coal yards,
lumber mills, and everything, are
posted with notices of a blanket cut
In wages; twenty per cent. fiat, for
everybody The news has been trickling
In over the wires all morning; and the
last word is that a general strike of
all G. S. & w. employees will go on at
noon tomorrow"
"That is move number one" said
the boss And then: "You have heard
that the Hatch people have reached
out and taken in the G. S. 4 W."
"Hornack was telling me something
about 1t; yes"
ut is true; and the fight is on. You
see what Hatch is doing. At one
stroke he gets rid of all the local en-
ployees of c. s. & w., who have been
drawing good pay and who might make
trouble for him little later on, and
fills their places with strike-breakers
who have no local sympathizers."
"But there will be another result
which he may not have counted upon."
Mr.. Van Britt put in. "The blanket
cut serves notice upon everybody that
once more the old strong-arm monopoly
is in the saddle. The newspapers will
tell us about II tomorrow morning.
Also. a good many of them will he
asking us what we are going to do
about II; whether we are going to
fight the new monopoly as we did
the old. or stand In with the graft, as
our predecessors did"
1--WE needn't go over that ground
again-yOu and I, Upton" said Mr..
Norcross. "YOu know where ! stand.
But the conditions have changed. We
have been knitted In the back" And
with that he gave the stocky little
operating chief a crisp outline of the
new situation precipitated by the
Dunton-C Collingwood political bribery.
Mr.. Van Britt took II quietly, as he
did most things. sitting with his hands
In his pockets and smiling blandly
where Hornack had exploded In wrath
full profanity. At the wind-up he said: !:
: sold Uncle Breckenridge is one too
many loT you, pidhuH lOu Nuu
stand the gaff-this new gaff Of
. Hatch's and neither can you go be-
fore the people as the accuser of your
president-and hope to hold your job.
The one thing for you to do Is to lock
up your Office and walk out"
! "Upton, II / thought you meant
! thnt-but I never know when to take
you seriously"
, "The two enginemen who ran over
the ranchman's pet COW had no such
difficulty, l assure you. And isn't II
good advice? You know, as well as
do, that Chadwick is holding you here
. by main strength; that you can never
accomplish anything permanent while
, Dunton and his cronies are at the steer.
I lng-wheel. 1t might be different If you
had the local backing of your con-
, stituency-the people served by the
p Short Line. But you haven't that; up
I | to date, the people are merely inter-
ested spectators"
a "Go on" said the boss, frownins
e again.
@ "They have stake In the game
: the biggest of the stakes. as matter
4 of fact-but II isn't sufficiently ap.
!. parent to make them climb in and
!. fight for you. They are saying, with
n good bit of reason, that, after ali
I is said and done. Big Money-Wall
v Street-still has the call. and any
l. twenty-four hours may see the whole
: thing slump back into graft and
a crooked politics."
!, "It is so true that you might be
e reading II out Of a book" was the boss
comment. And then: "What's the an
p swer?"
d Mr.. Van Britt shook his head. 81
II don't know. If you had money enough
IS to buy the voting control In p. s. l.
Il you might get somewhere; but as 4
II is, you're like a cat In Hades without
m | claws"