The Ordway new era., 1921-05-27

didn't have nearly as far TO come a
some OF the others. He was red
headed and wore glasses. They uSe'
80 say OF him on the Overland Contra
that he could make business grow
where none ever grew before, ant
that's what a traffic man lives for.
Naturally. the big turnover broush
all sorts OF disturbances at the send
on. Some of the reliev. d cousins anC
uephewS stayed in town and jumped
in % stir up trouble for the new man
I agement. The Herald. which was the
Z other morning paper, took up for the
/ down-and-ours. and there wasn't any
thing TOO mean for it TO say about
the boss and his new appointees. Then
the employees got busy and the griev-
ance committees began TO pour in.
Mr. NOrcroSs never denied himself TO
anybody. The otfice-door stood wide
open and the kickers were welcomed,
as you might say, with open arms.
You men are going to get the
SquareSt deal you have ever had, and
still Squarer one n little farther
along. IL you will only stay on the
the way the boss went Mt the train
mems committee. I'VE are out to
make the z. 5. L. the best line for
service, and the best company to work
for. this side Of the Missouri river.
l want your loyalty; the loyalty of
every man in the service. I'll go
further and say that the new manage
ment will stand if you and the other
payroll men stand by it in good faith.
or it will fall If you don't"
You'll meet the grievance commit
tees and talk things over with them
when there's kick coming?" said old
Tom Mcclure, the passenger con
ductor who was acting as spokesman.
Sure wil-every time. More than
than, I'll take a leaf out of Colonel
Goethal's book and keep open house
here in this office every Sunday morn
ing. Any man in the service who
thinks he has a grievance may come
here and state it, and if he has case.
he'll get justice"
Naturally, a few little talks like
this, face to face with the men them
selves, soon began to put new life into
the rank and file. Mr.. Norcross' old
pet name of "Hell-and-repeat' had
followed him down from Oregon, as
1t was bound to, but now it began to
be used in the sense that most rail-
road men use the phrase, THE Old
Man, in speaking of big boss that
they like
There was so much crowded into
these frst few weeks that I've for
gotten half of 1t. The work we did,
pulling and hauling things into shape,
was fright, and my end of the job
got so big that the boss had to give
me help. Following out his own policy,
he let me pick my man. and after I'd
had a little talk with Mr.. Van Britt,
l picked Fred May, a young fellow
who had been under Van Burgh. He
was all right; a little too tonguey.
perhaps, but a worker from away
back, and that was what we were
looking for.
Out of this frantic hustle to get
things started and moving right, any
body could have pulled a couple of
conclusions that stuck up higher than
any Of the rest The boss and Mr..
Van Britt were steadily winning the
rank and file over to something like
loyalty on the one hand, and on the
other. wherever we went. we found
the people who were paying the freight
a solid unit against us, hating us like
biazes and entirely unwilling to be-
lieye that any good thing could come
out Of the Nazareth of the Pioneer
Short Line
As soon as we returned from our
first inspection trip. the boss pulled off
his coat-fguratively speaking-and
rolled up his sleeves. 1t wasn't his
way to talk much about what he was
going to do: he'd jump In and do II
first and then talk about 1t after
ward-If anybody insisted on knowing
the reason why.
There were long private conferences
with Mr.. Ripley. the bright young law
yer Mr. Chadwick had sent US from
| Chicago, and with a young fellow
named Junernan, an ex-new sraper mar
who was on the pay-rols as "Adver
tisln2 Manager" but whose real bust
ness seemed TO be to keep the Shor
Line public fully and accurately in
formed Of everything that most rail
road companies try to keep to them
selyeg
| The next innovation that came alon,
was another young Chicago man name,
Hiiloushby. and mis- title on the pay
rfolI was Special Agent" I, who wa
as close TO the boss as anybody in ou
outfit, never once suspected the tru
nature Of Billoughby's job until tn
day he came in to make his final re
portland Mr.. Norcross let him max
It without sending me out on an errand
/ "Well. think I'm ready to tall
Johnson, now," was the way Billough
by began. RED Tower Is the on
outfit wen have to kill on and nut ON