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About The Flathead Courier (Polson, Mont.) 1910-current | View This Issue
The Flathead Courier (Polson, Mont.), 11 Aug. 1911, located at <http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn86075296/1911-08-11/ed-1/seq-5/>, image provided by MONTANA NEWSPAPERS, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana.
Anybody can attach the plug T h e G :E. Flatiron then hea.s its e l f in about three m inutes a n d w il l s iay h o t w ith o u t f u r th e r attention. Saves time, steps and fuel If the washing and ironing are sent out, the G.E. Elect!ic Iron W’Jl still ba found a marvelously convenient utensil to have in the house. There are many little things women like to iron themselves, and many times it be comes necessary to wash and iron a few handkerchiefs, etc., before the “wash” comes home. When occasions like these arise, and there is a G.E. Iron handy, it is the -^vork of but a moment to attach the cord to a lamp socket and thf iron is ready. Get one today. At The Up-town office Of The Northern Idaho Montana Power Co. m 5 / t f f il/ t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f WHILE THEY LAST S t a n d a r d W h i t e m m m 9) m 9) 9) m 9) 9) m m m m w 9) 9) 9) 9) 9) 9) 9) 9) 9) 9) 9\ 9\ 9} 9\ 9) t f | $3.00 PER THOUSAND g PRINTED t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f t f T h e C o u r i e r m 9 J 9\ 9 > 4* (1) 9) in 9) 9) 9) 9 > 9) q\ f t 9y to blm be mentioned something cboat shooting you offhand, but I proofs !i • didn’t mean lt. You've got to interest him lu some way, Flemister.” “Perhaps you ean tell me how.\ waa the sarcastic retort. “I think perhaps I enn now. D j yon remember anything nbout tho skyrocketing finish of tiie Mesa Build ing and Loan association, or in thnt too much of a back number for u busy man like you?” “I remember it,” said Flemister. “Hallock was the treasurer,\ put in Gridley smoothly, j “Yes, but”— “Wait a minute. A treasurer is sup posed to treasure somethin)?, isn't he? There are possibly twenty-five or thir ty men still left in the Red Rut to Western service who have never whol ly quit trying to flnd out why Hal- lock, tlie treasurer, failed so signally to treasure anything.\ “Yah, that’s an old sore.” “Well, we’ll open the shutters a lit tle wider. One of the flrst things Lidgerwood will have to wrestle with will be this loan association business. Tlie kickers will put it up to, him. Hallock will be obliged to justify him self to Lidgerwood. and he can’t. In fact, there Is only one man living to day who could fully justify him.\ “And that man is”— “Pennington Flemister, ex-president of the defunct building and loan. You know where the money went, Flemis ter.” “Maybe I do. What of that?\ “1 can only offer a suggestion, of course. Tou are a pretty smooth liar, Pennington. It wouldn’t be mucb trouble for you to fix up a story that would satisfy Lidgerwood. You might even show up a few documents, if It came to the worst.\ “Well?” “That’s all. If you get a good, firm grip on that club you’ll have Hallock coming and going. It's a dead open and shut. If be falls ln line you'll agree to pacify Lidgerwood; otherwise the law will have to take its course.\ The man in the buckboard was silent for a long minute before he said: “It won’t work, Gridley. Hallock’s grudge against me ls too bitter. You know part of it, and part of it you don’t know. He’d hang himself ln a min ute if he could get my neck in the 6ame noose.\ “That is where you are lame, Flem ister. You don’t know your man. Put it up to Hallock bare handed. If he comes in, all right; if not, you’ll put him where he’ll wear stripes. That will fetch him. We’ll be going in a few minutes. Do you want to meet Lidgerwood?” /“Not here—or with you,” said the owner of the Wire Silver, and he turn ed his team and was driving away when Gridley’s shop foreman came up to say that the wrecking train was ready to leave. was continually uiging the w a rfare mnde Lid/rei'wond ri ?lay it. Ju s t why Grldley’s counsel should have produced fcueb a contrary e t ’cct Lidgerwood could not have explained. The advice was sound, nnd the man who gave il. was friendly aud apparently Ingenu ous. lint prejudices like preposses sions, nre sometime!; n.j strong as they are inexplicable, and whilo Lidger wood freely accused himself of injus tice toward the m a ster mechanic, a certain feeling of distrust and repul- ' Rion, dating bnclc to his first impres sions of the mau, died bard. Oddly enough, on the other hand, there w as a prepossession, quite as unreasoning, for Hallock. There was absolutely nothing in the chief clerk to inspire liking or even common busi ness confidence. On the contrary, while Hallock attended to his duties aud car ried out his superior’s instructions , with the exactness of an automaton, his attitude was distinctly ntagonistic. As tiie chief subaltern oa Lidgerwood’s small staff lie was efficient and well , nigh invaluable. As a man Lldger- j wood felt he m ight easily bo regarded i as au enemy whose designs could | never be fathom ed or prefigured, but under the crabbed nnd gloomy crust of i the man the superintendent fanclcd he j could discover a certain snv.T’e loyalty, j But under the loyalty there was a i deeper depth—of m isery or tragedy, or both. Questioned by Lidgerwood. McClos key declared that Hallock was m a r ried; th a t after the flrst few m onths in Angels his wife, a strikingly beautiful J’oung woman, had disappeared and that since her departure Hallock had lived nlone In two rooms over the freight station, rooms which no one, save himself, ever entered. On the Red B u tte W estern orders, regarded by disciplined railroad men jas having the im m u tability of the laws of tho Medes and Persians, were still I interpreted as loosely as If they were I but the casual suggestions of a by stander. Rules were form u lated only J to be coolly Ignored when they chanced J to conflict w ith some train crew ’s j desire to make up tim e or to kill it. CHAPTER V. THE OUTLAWS. OH the flrst lew weeks after the change in ownership and Ihe arrival of the new superintend ent at Angels a sardonic laugh was heard in the land. The Red des ert grinned like the famed Cheshire cat when nn iucoming train from the east brought sundry boxes and trunks snid to contain the new boss’ ward robe. Its guffaws were long and up roarious when it began to be noised about that the company carpenters and fitters were Installing a bath and other civilizing and softening appli ances in tbe alcove opening out of the superintendent’s sleeping room in the headquarters building. Lidgerwood slept in the Crow’s Nest not so much from choice as for the reason that there seemed to be no al ternative save a room in the town tavern, appropriately named the Ho tel Celestial. It is a railroad proverb that the properly inoculated railroad man eats and sleeps with his business. Lidger wood exemplified the saying by hav ing a wire cut Into tbe dispatcher’s ofllce, with the terminals on a Uttlo table at bls bed’s head and with a tiny telegraph relay instrument mounted on tlie stand. Through the relay, tap ping softly in the darkness, came the news of the line, and often after the strenuous day was ended Lidgerwood wonld lie awake listeuing. At the tar paper covorod, Iron roof ed Celestial, where he took his meals, Lidgerwood had a table to himself, which ho shared nt times with Mc Closkey aud at other times with breezy Jack Benson, the young engi neer whom Vice President Ford had sent upon Lidgerwood's request and recommendation to put new life Into the track force and to make the pre liminary surveys for a possible west ern extension of the road. On the line and in the roundhouse and repair shops the nickname \Col lars and Cuffs” became classical, and once, when Brannagau and the 117 •were ordered out on the service car, tho Irishman woro the highest cellu- Ditected to account for fuel and oil consumed, theenglnemen good natured- ly forged reports and the storekeepers blandly O. Ii.’d them. Instructed to keep nn accurate record of all material used, the trackmen jocosely scattered more spikes than they drove, mude firewood of the stock crossties and wero not above underpinning the sec tion houses with new dimension tim bers. In countless other ways the waste was prodigious and often mysteriously unexplainable. The company supplies had a curious fashion of disappearing in transit. Two carloads of building lumber sent to repair the station at Red Butte vanished somewhere be tween tho Angels shipping yards and their billing destination. In such a chaotic state of affairs track and train troubles were the rule rather than the exception, and it was a Red Butte Western bonst that tho fire was never drawn under the wreck ing train engine. For the first few weeks Lidgerwood let McCloskey an swer the \hurry calls\ to the various scenes of disaster, but when three sec tions of an eastbound cattle special. Ignoring the ten minute interval rule, were piled up in Ihe pinon hills he went out nnd took personal command tf the track clearers. This happened when the joke was at flood tide, and the men of the wreck ing crew took a ten gallon keg of whisky along wherewith to celebrate the flrst appearance of tbe new super intendent in character as a practical wrecking boss, The outcome wns rath er astonishing. For one thing, Lidger wood’s flrst executive net wns to knock In the head of tho ten gnllon celebra tion witb a striking hammer, before It was even spigoted, nnd for another bo fluickly proved that lie was Oridley’s equal, if not his master. In the gentle art of track clearing. Through the long day nnd the still longer night of toil and stress the new boss was able to endure hnrdship with the best man on the ground. This was excellent, ns far ns it went. But later, with the offending cattle train crews before him for trial and punishment, Lidgerwood lost all he hnd gained by being too easy. \We’ve got him chnsln’ his feet,\ said Tryon, one of the rule breaking engineers, making his report to the roundhouse contingent ut the close of the “sweatbox” interview. “It’s just as I've been tollin’ you mugs all along— he hain’t got sand enough to fire any body.” One day in Lidgerwood’s private of fice Jack Benson said to him: “What do you know about Fred Dawson, Gridley’s shop draftsman?” “Next to nothing personally,\ replied j Lidgerwood. “He seems a flne fellow | —much too flne a fellow to be wasting i himself out here in tho desert. Why?\ | “Oh, I just wanted to know. Ever met his mother nnd sister?’’ “No.” “Well, you ought to* The mother la loid collar he could find in Angels, I rounding out the clownery with a pair ;one 0f tjie oniy two angels in Angels, of huge wickerwnre cuffs, which had ■ nml the sistor Is tho oth{,r Dawson once seen service ns tho coverings of himself is a ghastly monomaniac. He a pair of maraschino bottles. Lidgerwood Ignored tho jests good naturedly, rather thankful for the playful interlude which gave him a breathing space and time to study the field before the real battle should be gin. That a battle would have to be fought was evident enough. As yet the demoralization hnd been senroely checked, and sooner or later the neces sary radical reforms would have to begin. Gridley, whose attitude toward the new superintendent continued to be that of a disinterested adviser, as sured Lidgerwood that he was losing ground by not opening the campaign of severity at orce. The fact thnt the master mechanic is a lame duck, you know, like overy other mnn this side of Crosswater Summit, present company cxceptcd.\ “A lamo duck?\ repeated Lidger wood. “Yes, a man with a past. Over in the ranch country beyond the Timan- youis they lump ua all together and call us the outlaws.\ “Not without reason,” said Lidger wood. \Not any,\ assorted Benson, with cheerful pessimism. “The entire Red Butte Western outfit is tarred witb the same stick.\ \I know,\ snid Lidgerwood. “Bnt you were speaking of Dawson, weren’t you?” “Tes, and that’s whnt makes me say what I’m snylng. He is one of tbem, though ■ In’t be If he weren't such a i ■ sensitive ,v ;ie’:i a B. S. ii. ... U., or lie wuuid bavo beeu if he liyd stayed out his s-nior year iu Carnegie, but also he hap pened to be a football Bend, and lu the last intcrcollqgiate game of his last season ho had £he horrible luck to kill a man, and the mau was the brother of the girl Dnwron was going to marry.” “Heavens nnd earth!” exclaimed Lidgerwood. \Is he thnt Dawson?” “The same,” said the young engineer laconically. “It was tho sheerest ac cident, and everybody know It, nnd nobody hlamefl Dawson. I happen to know, becauso I was a junior in Car negie nt the time. Rut Fred took it hard; let it spoil his life. He threw up everything, loft college between two days and came to bury himself out here. For two years he never lot his mother and sister know where he was; made remittances to them through a bank in Omaha .so thoy shouldn’t be able to trace him. Caro to hear any more?\ “Yes; go en,” said the superintend ent. “I found him,\ chuckled Benson, “and I took tho liberty of piping his little game off to the harrowed women. Next thing he knew they dropped in on him, and he is just crazy enough to stay here and to keep them here. That wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for Gridley. Fred’s boss. You won’t believe lt, but lie hns actually got the nerve to make love to Dawson’s sister. And he n widow man, old enough to be her father!” Lidgerwood smiled. It is the privilege of youth to lie Intolerant of age in its rival. Gridley was, possibly, forty two or three, but Benson was still on the sunny slope of twenty-five. “You are prejudiced, Jack,” he criticised. \Grid ley is still young enough to marry again if he wants to—nnd to live long enough to spoil his grandchildren.” “But he doesn’t begin to be good enough for Faith Dawson,” countered the young engineer stubbornly. “Isn’t he? Or is that another bit of your personal grudge? - What do you know against him?\ Pressed thus sharply against tho un yielding fact. Benson was obliged to confess thnt he knew nothing at all against the master mechanic, nothing that could be pinned down to day and date. Gridley was well known to be n hard hitter, and now and then, when the blows fell rather mercilessly, the railroad colony called him a tyrant and hinted that he, too, had a past that would not bear inspection. But even Benson admitted that this was mere gossip. “Where do I come ln on all this, Jack? You have an ax to grind, 1 take it,” said Lidgerwood. “I have. Mrs. Dawson wants me to take my meals at the bouse. I’m in clined to believe that she is a bit shy of Gridley, and maybe she thinks I could do the buffer act. But as a get- between I’d be chiefly conspicuous by my absence.” “Sorry I can’t give you nn office Job,\ said the superintendent in mock sympathy. “So am I, but you can do the next best thing. Get Fred to take you home with him some of these flne evenings, nnd you’ll never go back to the Celes tial, not lf you can persuade Mrs. Dawson to feed you. The alternative Is to fire Gridley out of his job.” “This time you are trying to make the tail wag tho dog,” said Lidger wood. “Gridley has twice my back ing ln the P. S. W. board of directors. Besides, he’s a good fellow, and if I go up on the mesa and try to stand him off for you it will be only because I hope yon are a better fellow.\ “Prop it up on nny leg you like, only go,” said Benson simply. “I’ll take it as a personal favor and do ns much for you some time. 1 suppose I don’t have to warn you not to fnll in love with Faith Dawson yourself—or, on second thought, perhaps I had better.” This time Lidgerwood’s laugh was mirthless. \No you don’t have to. Jack. You can safely deputize me, I guess.\ “All right, nnd many thanks. Here’s 202 coming in, nnd I’m going over to Navajo on It. Don’t wait too long be fore you make up to Dawson. You’ll find him well worth while after you’ve broken through his shell.” When Lidgerwood began the draw ing of tho net a now time card was strung with McCloskey’s co-operation, and when lt went Into effect a notice on all bulletin boards announced the adoption of the standard “Book of Rules” und promised penalties in a rising scale for unauthorized departure therefrom. Promptly the horse laugh died away, and (ho trouble storm wns evoked. Grievance committees haunted the Crow’s Nest, aud tho insurrectionary faction, starting with the trainmen nnd spreading to tho track force, threatened to involve the telegraph operators—threatened to become a pro test unanimous and in the mass. Worse than this, the service, haphaz ard enough before, now became a maddening chnos. Orders were mis understood, whether willfully or not no court of inquiry could determine; wrecks were of nlmost daily occur rence, and the shop track wns speedily filled to tho switches with crippled en gines and cars. In the pandemonium of untoward events McCloskey was Lidgerwood’s right hand, toiling, smiting, striving and otherwise proving himself a good soldier. But close behind him cnme Gridley, nlwnys suave and good nntured, making no complaints, not even when the repair work mnde nec essary by the innumerable wrecks grow mountain h:.4;b. and always coun seling firmness and more discipline. \Don’t give in nn in h c'-' muckers that you nv -■« : . ijtm (UOJNTJ..NUED jNEXT W E E K ; J.P.BINDON M o d e r n P l u m b i n g a n d S t e a m F i t t i n g JOBBING A SPECIALTY W ater mains figured on. All Work Guaranteed s s s s s s s s a s a c s e s s s e s e s c a g D r . G . A . R o h r e r $ Surgery a Specialty Office, 209 Jamieson Bld’g. S Spokane, Washington. £ S s s e s e s s s s s s s s s s s s s s a e s e s S T h e - - j McDonald Hospital 29, 3d Avenue E, K a l i s p e l l , - - - M o n t New, Splendidly Equipped and Strictly Up-to-date j None but Graduate Nurses Employed. MISS B. M. RYAN, Manager D r s M a c d o n a l d a n d S m i t h 137 Main Street K a l i s p e l l - - - M o n t A. D. MACDONALD, M.D..C.M. Practice Limited to Surgery and Diseases of Women C. S. SMITH, M. D. General Practice. Special Attention to Diseases of Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat J . W . F U L L E R A u c t i o n e e r P o i s o n , M o n t Farm and Stock Sales A Specialty Correspondence Solicited f ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ McLeod L i v e r y GOOD RIGS GOOD• HORSES REASONABLE PRICES Alex McCloud, Proprietor A t T h o A lla r d B a r n 4 th St ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ : : ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ z t t t X C . W . D a g g e t t C a r p e n t e r a n d C o n t r a c t o r P . O . B o x 3 6 2 Or Call at Bell Hotel Evertfags WHEN IN MISSOULA STOP AT T H E P A L A C E H O T E L Only First Class European H*tel In The City Cafe Open Until 9, p. m. 8 German Grill, 4, p. m. To 1, a. tn. M u l l e m e r , H a l l e & R i c k P r o p r i e t o r s . M i s s o u l a , — M o n t a n a . WELLS WELLS If you are going to have a well dug it will pay you to see M. H. BODKER Poison Heights
