The Coolidge examiner., 1934-02-02
wSC ser trs

looked again "a, the photograph and
experienced another thrill
The next was more subdued. Prob
lens. complicated and grave. were
befure them. To keep pulp going
down the river 10 sufficient quaint.
ties for The regular call Of the barge
which came up Lake Superior 90
load wns of arst importance. II that
stogned. contract would be
broken. With the breaking of that
contract. creditors would shut down
Immediately. Money WAS short
there was scarcely enough 20 keep
the crews go.ng and continue con
structlon OF The raIlrond The build.
INK ~ that. It developed. was race
against time. A FINAL grant ot credit
had bccn extended by the banks
grudE.nEly. 10 save this remnant
of rolarls holdings. and on which
sound expansion might be based. a
mill must be Up. receiving and saw
INK logs by November.
Steve frowned Hadn't McNully
and smoky. the guide. both said the
rlEht-ofway had been blocked2
In later letters q note of pleading
appeared Kate was desperately
worried az not hearing from Jim az
Goodbye.
Please. please write TO me" she
begged. Every day 1 have 20 lie
to the old Dad and say you are
there II he knew what know Il
might kin him. Duner
After he bad gone through all the
mail he searched for one particular
letter and re.rcad n paragraph:
"If only we could get binding
option on the Macdonald tract the
old National would come across
with enough 10 let us draw a deep
breath. Sot only would they finance
that purchase bot they wouldn't drive
Us 50 hard 20 commence operating
the Goodbye stuT. II the Laird
weren't such n hard boiled old ras-
cali san. there's always a chance.
You're at bat keep your eye on the
bail!
lie stared through the window
which gave a view of the lake. The
man. LaFane. was sitting In the
sand before q small log house
Three children we're playing about
aim aud he was tossing the small.
est IN bis arms
MeNaliy came out %, the store
and Steve through the window
hailed him.
Now. Mac I've been through the
mail. be began. ''and the situation.
Elth all that's happened Ia Chicago
since Yo--siuce I left. doesn't seem
50 good sun. we're alive. and
while there's lie there's hope.
You've been here a long time. you
know the country better than any
~ Us ! wlsh you'd tell me Just
what your slant on this JOB Is. and
teu Il from the beginning. Just as
II were hearing the whole thing for
the frsi time
The older man scratched his head
and hIiched h.s chair before a
wall map.
~Wen likely you know more m
! do about the bank end Of H.
That's bad enough I guess But.
seeing ar you've never been here be
fore
Now. here we are. Here's the
Polaris stumpage, inside this red
line. This block south OF US. cutIln'
across the river below our line. is
MacDonald's timber. II takes In
Twenty Mile rapid. you see. To the
west OF II, country breaks OF into
pine barrens and that's where We
aimed TO come with the grade I've
got II 1fteen miles out from the
main line. right up 10 here. That's
where we went on three days ago
and found No Trespass signs up"
Blocked. chr
Tighter than a drum, thought
when mentioned Il at breakfast
you took Il awful DANCED calm %
I'D heard rumors on the way in. Z"
Wei. this is a body blow 2" the
old man declared grimly. That
stun just ahead OF our grade. Franz
claims. is his. Well. | know dam
well he don't own an acre anywhere
He's just actin for the Bensons.
Could they squeeze Us out and buy
our timber from the banks. they'd
have this whole country except the
Lalrd's stun.
"Of course, Macdonald won't sell
We can't build to the east OF him
because she's SO rough that a grade
would bust US. SO we picked out
this cheap and easy route. An old
feller down below Shoestring owned
these three sections and he give
Thorpe his word we could cross
Where Thorpe made his mistake was
in not gettin' an easement from
him: somebody found out about
that, and let US get the work done
right up 10 that line, bought the
land up and blocked US tight. Franz
was cool as a cucumber about II.
said he had sOmethin' we wanted
bad and that he was ready to let
the courts decide the value. That