The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-06-16

chief and suggested a number of
phone calls-at my expense-to
various individuals ranging from
the Governor of the state to the
chairman of the board of United
State Steel, both of whom I hap
pen to have met. It was unavail-
ing.
The captain himself appeared.
have seen hundreds of him sitting
behind desks in New York and
Chicago's outlying and unimpor-
tant precincts. This one was a
little older and slightly more puz-
zleE looking than the majority of
his type.
He was in the grip of a general
situation that made thought man.
datory. You could see that was
hard. The scarlet blood vessels
in his nose and cheeks bulged
dangerously. He was thinking
about the works"
Were going to lock you up for
the night, see," was his gracious
opening. "Then you won't be
making sketches of our gates"
I showed him my notes. He
seized them, balled them up in his
fist, tossed them on the floor.
That's what happens" he
shouted, to treSpassers who take
notes on this company's property"
n
THEN he and the man that
Il looked like a macaw seized
such blank paper as 1 had about
me. They studied it with an air
of profundity-invisible ink, no
doubt, was that they feared. I
told them to keep the blank
sheets and they did.
Next came the preliminary to
the works" I may say that this
consists in showing the intended
victim around with the open hand
until he becomes so irritated that
he strikes an officer.
Having heard a great deal
about the quaint practices of
private police in the steel indus
try, I permitted one hearty shove
to sit me IN a chair.
There certainly are enough of
you to attend to this matter" I
couldn't resist that remark.
ut only takes one, buddy" an
old man leaned close to me and
Kissed. He was so ancient that
a hearty sneeze would have
foored him, but, suppose, he
had his pride to uphold.
I suddenly became aware of a
slight moisture about the temples.
These men did not believe me
and refused to give me a chance
to prove who I was. They even
refused to arrest me in the usual
way and take me before court
where my story would be weighed.
Oh, yes, I had seen the works
and I had hoped to take fish
ing trip in a few days. You
aren't able to fish for quite some
time after the works" A rub
Der hose, for instance, does not
mark in the hands of an expert.
1T occurred to me that my taxi
Il man, Steve, was waiting, up
paid. I appealed to them to send
some one out to tell Steve to come
in and collect. 1 told them that
after all this driver was earning a
living and had nothing to do with
my Vaccinations.
This diverted them. They
brought Steve into the Office. I
hurriedly told him to go to the
hotel where he would find James
Doss, our political writer. di-
rected him to tell Mr.. Doss of my
plight.
Steve must have hurried. In
about ten minutes, while the blue
coats were Raging about me, I'M
certainly now, to be sure, a gen.
tleman with authority appeared.
He was pleasant but firm.
We'll just call this thing fifty
fifty" he remarked as though the
discussion we're over who would
pay for the next hamburger.
"You shouldn't have come on
company property in this irregu-
lar way. If you are who you say
you are you could see he doubted
it,, you should have made your
investigation through regular
channels"
But" I replied, 81 arrived in
Gary after business hours and
saw no harm in looking about.
There were no company officials
that I could readily reach and I
saw no point in bothering them
over such a trivial matter By the
way, what is your name?"
81 am company official, that's
ALL" he replied, turning on his
heel.
r AFTER I found out that The
IL Times Mr.. Doss had prac-
tically removed the Gary police
headquarters from its foundations
in his efforts to prove that really
was not planning to dynamite the
steel company's property.
1t occurred to me that an ordi-
nary citizen, who merely wished
to observe Lake Michigan from
the Elgin, Eastern & Joliet Rail-
road bridge, would have Jared
rather badly. He might have been
silly enough to retaliate when the
boys" in the steel company police
efo fioy1 vrzoTo rn,1cI,fr,er 1,f,.. ar1x1vd