Sioux County pioneer. (Fort Yates, Sioux County, N.D.) 1914-1929, 1921-05-05
!. cMApTER ill-cent,nued.

c''AeTEa !. Continued.
Mr.. Norcross held up finger for
me, and when jumped up he gave
me a sheet Of paper; q Pioneer Short
Line presidents letter-head with a
few lines written on It with pen and
sort Of crazy-looking signature under.
them. ..ss4s
'srake that to the Mountaineer job
Office and have five hundred Of them
printed" was the boss order. "Then
make copy and take 1t to Mr.. Cant
rell, the editor, and ask him to run It
in tomorrow's paper as an item Of
news, IL he feels like 1t. When you
are through. come down to Mr.. Chad
wick's car"
Since the thing was going to be
published, and was going to make
a copy of 1t, I didn't scruple to read
1t as ! hurried out to begin a hunt for
the Mountaineer Office. II was the
printers copy for an official circular,
dated at Portal City and addressed to
all officers. and employees Of the
Pioneer Short Line. It read:
. EFFECTIVE at once, Mr.. Graham Nor
cross is appointed general manager Of
the Pioneer Short Line System, with
headquarters at Portal City, and his
orders will be respected accordingly.
4 breckenridge Dunton,
ss1f4 o.. ePresiiont."
We had got our jolt, all right; and
leaving the ladder and the Friday start
out Of the question. / grinned and told
myself that the one other thing that
counted for most was the fact that
Mrs. Sheila Macrae was a widow. ..
/ chased like the dickens on. the
printing job. because, apart from
wanting to absorb all the dope could
as went along ON the new job, /
knew would be needed every minute
right at Mr.. Norcross' elbow, now that
the actual work was beginning.
Luncheon was served In the Alexa,
and they kept the business talk go
ing like house aflre while they were
eating, the hurry being that Mr.. Chad
wick wanted ito start back for Chi
cago the minute he could find out IL
our connecting line east would run
him special.
''Now for STEW unofficial things,
Graham. and wen call. It q co. be
said. 'sYou are TO have an Absolutely
free hnnd Ii the management and the
operating. What you say goes as Il
lies. and Dunton has promised me that
there shall be no appeal. not even to
him." a
: II imagine he didn't say that will
ingly," the boss put in, which was the
arst intimation had had that he
wasn't present at the directors meet
ing In the >hotel. +,
NO, indeed; nothing was done will
tngly. had to swing the big stick
aud swing Il hard. Rpt had them
where they coulGn't wiggle. You. are
to set your own pace and yon an to
have some money for betterments.
I offered to ffoat q new loan on short
time notes with the Chicago banks,
and the board authorized IT,,
The boss pushed that part Of Il
aside abruptly, as he always does
when he has got hold Of the gist Of :
thing. u vi seSsS
b, Now, about my stan; he said. cts
open gossip all over the West that the
2 s. Z. Is ofiicered BY 4 lot Of dunn
mics and place-hunters and relatives.
I'll hive to clean house. = 3 Is, ~.
"Go TO It; that Is part of your
tree hand.' Have you the material
to draw from r. ss5
Il know few good men, TT can
get then" said the boss thoughtf fully.
The one man 4 can't place afs sight u
z good corporation counsel. I'm OBJ
iiged TO have 4 good lawyer Uncle
ssOhn.'' 8 n
II have the man for; You, Il you'll
take him on my say 30: i young fell
dow named Ripley who Has done some
corking good work fof me in Chicago.
I'll wire him, K yen HE. Now word
Of two about this local graft We
& touched upon last night. I;don't know
The ins and opts of II, but people here
will tell you that q sort 0f holding
corporation, called Red Tower Con-
solidated, has q strangle grip on this
entire region. Its subsidiary COM
panies control the grain elevators. the
teuit, fpackeries, the coal mines and
distributing yards, the timber supply
and the lumber yards, and even have
finger on the so-called: Independent
smelters y y5l :.