The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1921-02-19
CHATTER xxx
The Nfurtixr Mailman


I knew what we were up against
when we headed down 10 the railroad
layout. the chief and I. leaving tho
good old major thoughtfully putting
his cigar In the club smoking room.
With a strike due 20 be pulled off In
little more than threcshours there
were about a million things that
would have 20 be jcrked around into
shape and pruppcd up so that they
could stand by themselves while the
short Line was taking a vacation.
And Their. was only n little handful
OF US in the headquarters To do the
jerking and propping.
But II was precisely In crisis IKE
that the boss could shine. trom the
minute we hit the tremendous job he
was all there. carrying the whole
map OF the short Line IN his head.
thinking straight from the shoulder.
and never missing lick: and don't
believe anybody would ever have sus-
pccted that he was a beaten man.
pushed TO the ropes In the fnA round
with the CRITTERS. his reputation as
a successful railroad manager as
good as gone. and his warm little
love dream knocked sky.winding for.
ever and day.
Luckily. we found Fred May stfii
NJ his desk, and he was promptly,
clamped TO the telephone and told 10
get busy spreading the hurry call In
half an hour every relief operator We
had In Portal City was 10 the wire.
room. and the back breaking tob OK
preparing a thousand miles OF raif
road for n sudden tie-up was IN run
swing. Mr.. Perkins. ms division su'
perlnfendent. was in touch with tho
/ local labor unions. and a conference
wAs held with the strike leaders
psrsuadinx ard insisting by turns,
Mr.. NoYcross fought out the nee"n-
sary compromises with the unionn-
An ordinary traffic would be sus-
pended at Midnight but passenger
trains en- route were TO be run thru
to our connecting line terminals
cast and west. livestock trains were
TO be laid out only where there were
feeding corrals. and periahable
freight was to be taken to III cns-
tnafion. wherever that might ba
In addition TO these concessions.
the strikers agreed To allow the
mall trains to run without intsrrup-
ton. with our promise that they
would not carry pass~nr~ra Hos
kins and his COMMITTEES bucked n
little at this. but got down when
they were shown that they could
not afford TO risk a clash with the
government This exception ad
mitted. another followed. as n mat
ter Of course. II the mail trains
were to be run. some Of the teie-
graph operators would have 20 re-
main on du,p. at least 60 the extent
OF handling train orders.
with these generaiitl-s on, OF the
way. we got down TO details. Fire.
alarm" wires were sent TO the vari-
Gus cities and towns on the lines
asking for immediate information
regarding food and fuel supplies.
and the strike leaders were notified
that. for sheer humanity's sake.
they would have 10 permit the han
ding of provision trains In cases
where they were absolutely needed.
by IL o'cloak the tangie was get
ting itself pretty well Strengthened
out. Some OF the trains had already
been abandoned and tho others were
moving along to the axreetupon
destinations Kirgan had taken hold
in the Portal City yard. and By
putting on extra crews was getting
the needful shifting and car sorting
into shape: and the Portal City en-
| pioyes. acting upon their own init
alive, were picketing the yard and
company buildings to protect them
from iooters or fire-setters. Mr.
Van BIRTHS special. so the wires
told Us. was at Lesterburg. and II
was likely TO stay there: and Mr..
Van Britt. himself. couldn't be
reached.
II was haif-past eleven that we
got the first real yclp from some
body who was getting pinched. IL
came in the shape OF a wire from
the strathcona night operator. a
party Of men---mine owners" the
operator called them - had Just
heard OF the impending railroad Ito
up. They had been meaning to
come in on. the regular night train.
but that had been abandoned. SO
now they were offering all kinds OF
money for a special 10 bring them
20 Portal City. IL was represented
that there were millions at stake.
Couldn't we do somethlng7
Mr.. Norcross had kept Hoskins
and a few of the other local strike
leaders where he could get hold OF
them, and he put the request up to
them os a matter that was now out
OF his hands. Would they allow him
10 run a onc-cir special from the
gold camp to Portal City after mid
night7 II was for them TO say.
Hoskins and his accomplices went
OFF TO talk II over with some Of the
other men. When the big freight
conductor came back he was alone
and was grinning good-naturedly.
we amt amin 10 make the
company lose any good money that
comes a-rolling down the hill at IL.
Mister Norcross." he said ''Cinch
these here Strathcona hurry.boys
fr all you can get out o. them. and
II youll lend US the loan OF the
wires, we'll pass the word to let the
special come on thru"
(Coufipued Tomorrow