The Bienville Democrat. [volume] (Arcadia, Bienville Parish, La.) 1912-1980, 1921-05-05

a still sQuarer one little farther
along, if you will only stay on the
job and keep your clothes on was
the way the boss went at the train
mems committee. "We are ont to
make the 7. S. L. the best line for
service, and the best company to work
for, this side Of the Missouri river
| want your loyalty; the loyalty of
every man in the service. I'll 90
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 will-every time. More than
than, I'll take q leaf out Of Colonel
Cocktails 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
it 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 a big boss that
they like.
There was so much crowded into
these first few weeks that I've for
gotten half Of it. The work we did
pulling and hauling things into shape
was a fright, and my end of the jof
got so big that the boss had to give
me help. Following out his own policy
he let me pick my man, and after T(
had q little talk with Mr.. Van Britt
, l picked Fred May, a young fellow
who had been under Van Burgh. HI
was all right; a little too tOnguey
perhaps. but worker from ava,
back, and that was what we Wer
looking for.
Out of this frantic hustle to &c
things started and moving right, any
body could have pulled a couple 0
=, conclusions that stuck up higher thai
any of the rest. The boss and MI
Van Britt were steadily winning tn
rank and file over to something Xix
loyalty on the one hand, and on tn
other, wherever we went, we fOun
the people who We're paying the freigl
a solid unit against us. hating us Xix
blazes and entirely unwilling to BE-
lieve that any good thing could com
out of the Nazareth of the Pionee
Short Line.
As soon as we returned from OF
| first inspection trip, the boss pulled O
! his coat-fguratively speaking-an
rolled up his sleeves. 1t wasn't h
! way to talk much about what he Wf
| going to do: he'd Jump in and do
! first, and then talk about it afte
| ward-if anybody insisted on KNOWN
! the reason why.
| There were long private conference
! with Mr.. Ripley, the bright young Ia1
4 YER Mr.. Chadwick had sent US fro
] Chicago, and with young fello
] named Juneman, an eX-neWsraper M
i who was on the pay-rOlls as "Adve
/ Using Manager" but whose real bus
7 ness seemed to be to keep the ShO
Line public fully and accurately !
formed of everything that most ra
road companies try to keep to thel
selves.
THE next innovation that came 0lOl
was another young Chicago man nam
,e Billoughby, and his title on the pa
roll was Especial Agent" I, who W
as close to the boss as anybody in o
of outfit, never once suspected the tr
I'd nature of Billoughby's job until t
tx day he came in to make his final
a portland Mr.. Norcross let him ma
II. if without sending me out on an erra1
"Well, think I'm ready to ia
w Johnson. now" was the way Billoue
he by began. "Red Tower Is the 0
nd outfit We'll have to kill off and put q
nd of business. Under one name or I
nd other, it is engineering every graft
ed this country; it is even backing
fake mining boom at Saw Horse
r. which, by the way, this railroad co
wv pany is now building a branch lin
It. Mr.. Norcross turned to me:
as Jimmie, make a note to tell
he Van Britt to have the work stopE
at once on the Saw Horse bran
no and all the equipment brought l
~, s And then to Billoughby: "Go on
GO "The main graft of course, IS
,at the grain elevators, the fruit pa
80 cries, the coal and lumber yards
on the stock yards and handling corr'
W. ~ In these public, or quasi-public, u
tiles the railroad has given them
~ fee simple, it seems-all the "
~ room, switches, track facilities,
W.. the like. Wherever local competlt
,or has tried to break in, the rallr'
mo company has given it the cold shol
,or er and it has been either forced
or frozen out"
-, Exactly" said the boss. snow
' ho me how far you have gone in
40 other field"
%. a' 1--WE are pretty we'll shaped up
Nd are about ready to begin busln