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Show tK I 3: - 1.T 5 ' I :t.;v.'. - .p v rf Y i.m ,mr t.KMijrfl: -- The : i Wreckers i i By FRANCIS LYNDB N, house-cleanin- , It OsvrrigM ' ObM. acrlboart Bona SYNOPSIS. CHAPTER - UOnkui -- Nohm, nuiaftr, and bia aecratarr, Jlmmla Dodd, are marooned at Band Creek aid toe with young lady, Sheila Macrae, and bar emal cousin, Unseen, they in which mm a peculiar train a (pedal car la carried oft, road CHAPTER 1L H orcToea recogmaea rn car stolen aa John CbaAwick'a, financial agnate, whom be waa to meet at Porta) City. He and Dodda reacua Chadwick. p Tba latter offers Norcroaa the manager-ablo t the pioneer Short line, wblcb la In tba handa of eaatern speculator, beaded by Breckenridg Duaton, president of the line. Norcroaa, learning that Shelia Macrae la a topping at Portal City, -; aecapta. I t 1 I 1 l.ieheonwas fcrved to the Alexa, g and they kept the boalneaa talk like a houfte afire while they were eating, the hurry being that Mr. Chadwick wanted to start back for Chicago the minute he could find out If our connecting line eagt would run him special Now for a few unofficial things, Graham, and well call It a go," he Tou are to have an absolutely said. free band In the management and the operating. - WUnt yon say goes ag Jt lies, and Dunton haa promise me that there ahall be ntf appeal, not even to t I A go-lo- T : i r - , i x 1 ' i Hm."j "I Imagine he didn't say that will-- I tagly," the boss put In, wblcb was tbe first Intimation 1 had bad that be wasnt present at the directors meeting In the' hotel "No, Indeed ; nothing was done willingly. I had to swing the big stick end swing it hard. But I had them where they couldnt wiggle Toe are to eet your own pace, nnd yon are to havo aome money for betterments. 1 offered to float n new lean en abort time note with the Chicago banka, nnd the board authorised It," The boss pushed that part of It . ? ii !si I i aide abruptly, does aa . he always when he has got hold of the gist of n thing. . "Now, about my staff," he said. "It's open gossip nil over the West that the P. 8. L. 1 officered by a lot of dummies and place-hunteand relatives Ill have to clean house." "Go to It; that la a part of your Tree hand. Have you the material to draw. fromT" . , 1 know a few good men,' If I can get them," said the boss thoughtfully. "Tbe one man I cant place at sight la good corporation counsel I'm ob- Ilged to jhava a good lawyer. Uncle . rs JL house foreman and the division heads. Some few of them were allowed to take, the oath of allegiance and stay, I ut the plioc-fille- r para-Mieand pay-rothe cousins and the nephews and the brothers-in-law- , every last man of them had to walk under the ax. Three days later, when the whole low n was talking about the new Jack the Itlpper," as they called him, Kirgan, who had been our head machinery man on the Midland construction, tumbled In In answer to a wire. Mr. Norcross slnmined him Into place ten 1 minutes after he hit the town. Your office la across , the tracks, Kirgan, he told him. Ive begun the over there by firing your predecessor and three or four of hi8 pet foremen. Get In the hole and dig to the bottom. Ill give you six months in. which .to. make good.aa.a. model superintendent of motive power. Get busy. Thats me," said Kirgan, who knew the boas up one side and down the other. "You give me the engines, and Ill keep em out of the shop." And with that he went across the yard and took hold, before he had even hunted np- place to sleep In. ' Mr. Van Britt, our general superintendent, was the next man to show up. He was , fine ; a square-buil- t, stocky little gentleman who looked as If hed always had the world by the ear and never meant to jet go. Well, Im here," he aald, dropping Into a chair and sitting with his legs wide apart And then. Ignoring ,me aa If I hadnt been there. "Graham, what the devil have yon got against me, that you should drag me out here on the edge of nowhere and make me go to work for livlngr ", The boss just grinned at him and auldj- - "Its for the good of your soul Upton. Youve too much money. Tour office Is up at the, end of the corridor nnd your chair Is empty and waiting for you. Your appointment circular has already been mailed out" Mr. Horoack was the last of the new office staff to fall In, though he didnt have nearly aa far to come He was redsome ro t , the other headed and wore glasses. They used to say of him on the Overland Centra) that he could make business grow where none ever grew before, and thats what n traffic man lives for. brought Nsturally, the big turn-ovall sorts of dlsturbsnees st the send-of- f. Soros of ths rellsTcd cousins and nephews stayed In town and jumped 1b to stir up trouble for the bw management The Herald, which was the other morning paper, took up for the and there wasnt anything too mean for It to say about the boss and his new appointees. Then the employees got busy and ths grievance committees began to pour In. Mr. Norcross never denied himself to stood wide anybody. The office-doo- r open and the kickers were welcomed, aa yon might say, with open anna. "Yon men are going to get the aquareat deal yon have ever had. and a still aquarer one a little farther ll - J- t , Ill s, Now a word we touched upon last night. I dont know the ins and outs of It, but people here will tell you that a sort of holding Con- er Corporation.- - tailed - solhlated, has'a strangle grip on1 this entire region. Its subsidiary companies control the grain elevators, the fruit paekerles,-th- e coal mines and distributing yards, the timber supply and the lumber yards, and even have a finger on the Independent Smelters."! The boes nodded. "Ive heard of Red Tower. Also, I have heard that the railroad stands In with It to pinch tbe producers and consumers." .A road 'engine was backing down the spur to take the Alexa In tow for the eastward rua, and what was said had to be aald la a harry. "Djg It out," barked the wheat king. "If you find that we are In on It, Its your privilege to cut loose. The two men who trill give you the moat trouble are right here in Portal City : Hatch, .the president of Red Tower, and Heackel, Its They tay either of them would commit murder for a bill and they stand In with Pete Clanahan, the city boss, 1 and his gang of political thugs. Thats all, Graham; all but one thing. Write me after you've climbed Into the saddle and have found out just what you're In ,for. 'If you say you can make It go, 111 back yon. If It takes ' half of next . years wheat crop." When the special had become a black smudge of coal smoke in the distance, Mr. Norcroaa turned on me with the grim little smile that goes with his fighting mood. "Tou are private secretary to the new general manager o the Pioneer Short line; Jimmie, and your salary ," he said, brikly."Now - begins keta go up to the hotel and get our fighting clothes on." . - this local graft Red-Tow- If j f I . . tbn-doll- t a i CHAPTER IV "Heads Off, Gentlemen!" all Friday say! but the next few days did see a tear-uto beat the . hand on. the old. Short Line - With the printing of his appointment circular, Mr. Norcross took the offices in the headquarters building Gosh p I- lately-vacate- by Mr. Shaffer, andlt w:i something awful to see the way the heads went Into the basket One by one l.e called the Duntonltes In; the 'traffic manager, the general superin "You Men Are Going to Get the Squareat Deal You Ever Had. along. If yon will only stay on the was Job and keep your clothes on, the way the boss went at the trainmens committee. "We are out to make the R. S. L. the best line for service, and the best company to work for, ibis side of the Missouri river. I nant jour loyalty; the loyalty of every man In the service. Ill go further and say that the new manage-meii- t will stand If you and the other pay-romen stand by It in good faith, or It will fall If you dont" You'll meet the grievance committees and talk things over with them when there's a kick coming T aald old Tom McClure, the passenger conductor who was acting as spokesman. Sure I will every time. More than than, in take a leaf out of Colonel Goetbals book and keep open hpuse here In this office every 8unday morning. . Any man In the service who thinks he has a grievance may come here and state it and If he has a case, hell get Justice." Naturally, a few little talks like tills, nee to face with the men themselves. soon began to put new life into the rank and file. Mr, Norcross old had pet name of followed him down from Oregon, as It wav liO'itul to, but now It began to ll In tie setp-that most railroad men ust the phrase, The Old Man," in speaking of a big boss that he LEZzrnnif iv-- tljey like. There was so much crowded into ONE NIGHT, MONDAY, MARCH 28 10 a: m. Mail Orders Accepted Now When Accompanied by Check or Money Orders , payable to Columbia Theater. boats on kale Next Monday, .. As For one year the rape Mecca of all met-ropolit- an The Bohemians, pi- the lgrimsof to artistic shrine sensation. Flavor Inc., Announce different from all o t h e r revues as Green-whic- h village is different from any other Nourishment Convenience Economy AT GROCERS EVERYWHERE Made by Postmn Cereal Company, Inc Battle Creek, Michigan. 1 JI these first few weeks that I've forgotten half of 11 The work we did, ppUlng and hauling things Into shape, was a fright, and my end of the job got so big that the boss had to give me help. Following out his own policy, he let me pick my man, and after Id had a little talk with Mr, Van Britt, I (picked Fred, May, a young fellow who had been Under Van Burgh. He waa all right; a little too tonguey, perhaps, but a worker from away baek, and .that was what we were looking for. Out of this frantic hustle to get things started and moving right, anybody could have pulled a couple of conclusions that stuck up higher then any of the rest The boss and Mr. Van Britt were steadily winning the rank and file over to something like loyalty on the one hand, and on the other, wherever we went we found the people who were paying the freight a solid nnlt against ns, hating us like biases and entirely unwilling tq believe that any good thing could come oat of the Naxaretb of tbe Pioneer Short Line. AA soon as we returned from our first Inspection trip, the boss pulled off his icon; figuratively speaking and rolled up his sleeves. It wasnt his way, to talk much about what he was going to do; hed Jump In and do It first, and then talk about It afterward If anybody Insisted on knowing the reason why. There were long private conferences with. Sir, Ripley, the bright young law yer Mr. Clmdwlck had sent us from Chlingo, and with a young fellow man an named J as Adverwho' was on the pay-roll- s tising Manager, but whose real bui-ne.-- s seemed to be to keep the Short Line public fully and accurately Informed of everything that most railroad"- companies try to keep to themselves. The next Innovation that came along was another young Chicago man named Billotrghhy, and Ills title on the pay1, who was roll was "Special Agent. as close to the boss as anjbody In our outfit, never once suspected the true nature of Billoughbys Job until the day he came In to make his final report and Mr. Norcross let him make It without sending me out on an errand. "Well, .1 think Fm ready to talk Johnson, now," Was the way Blllough-b- y began,- -' "Red Tower Is the one outfit welt have tv kill off and put out of business. Under one name or another. It la engineering every graft In , urn-ma- wlrfe lilm. If you like. or two about 3Eu vv assws Best Food g er down-and-out- j4 s, John." "I hav the man for you. If youll take him' on my say so; a young fel low named Ripley u ha haa done some corking good work for me m Chicago. U , n5TTT7a '.A" U I t I.'' PROVO POST, TUESDAY MARCH 22, 1921. tendent, , the roadmaster, the master mechanic clear on down to the round- 1 vTV" V3S i.-''T-- C i , j.!., this country; it ts even backing the fake mining boom at Saw Horse to which, by the way. thfs railroad company la now building a branch line, Mr. Norcross turned to me: "Jimmie, make a note to tell Mr. Van Rritt to have the work stopped at once on the Saw Horse branch, and all the equipment brought ln.J And then to Billoughby: Go on." The main graft, of course. Is It) the grain! elevators, the fruit pack-ericthe coal and lumber yards and the stock yards and handling corrals. utilIn these public, or quasi-publiities the railroad has, given them In fee simple,. ltseems all the yard room, switches, track facilities, and the like. Wherever local competition has tried to break In, the railroad company haa given It the cold 'shoulder and It has been either forced out or fro ten out." - "Exactly, " said the boss. "Now tell me how far you have gone In the - other field." "We are pretty weTTibapcd up nnd are about ready to begin business. Junemun has done splendid work, and so has Iliplcy. We have succeeded, In a measure, though the opposition has been keeping tip a steady bombardment. Hatch and his people havent been Idle. They own or control a dor.cn or more prominent newspapers In the state, nnd p.'s sni know, they arc to. iking mi o; p E l . your mau.ngemeiit tin on,. . per. The net result so far has been merely to keep tie people stirred up and doubtful They say that the rail road haa never played fair and I guess It hasnt. In the past" "Not within a thousand miles," was the boss' curt comment "But go en with your story." , "We pulled the new deal off yester day, simultaneously In eleven of tbe principal towns along the line. Meetings of tbe bankers and local capital lata were held, and we had a man at each one of them to explain our plan and to pledge the backing of the rail-road. Notwithstanding all the doubt and dust thats been kicked up by the Hatch people. It went like wlld-flre- . "With money Y" queried the boss. "Yes; with real money. Cltlxens Storage 4 Warehouse was launched, as you might say, on tbe spot, and enough capital was subscribed to make it a going concern. Of course, there vere aome doubters, and some few greedy ones. The greedy ones protested against the fixed dividend scheme; they didnt see why the new company shouldnt be allowed to cut a melon now and then If It should be fortunate enough to grow one." Mr. Norcross smiled. "That la precisely what the Hatch people have been doing, all along, and It la the chief grievance of these same people who now want a chance to outbid their neighbors. The lease condition was fully explained to them, wasnt It?" "Oh, yes; Ripley saw to that, and copies of the lease were In the exhibits. The' new company Is to have railroad ground to build on, and ample track facilities In perpetuity, conditioned strictly upon the limited dividend. the dividend Is Increased, the lenses terminate automatically. The boss drew n long breath. Youve done well, and better than Now we well, Billoughby, he said. are ready to fire the blast How was the proposal to take over tbe Reel Tower properties at a fair valuation received? some opposition. "There and three of the other larger towns, want to build their Owd plants. But they agreed to abide by a majority vote of the stock on that point and my wire reports this morning say offer will be made that a lump-sufor the Red Tower plants today." Mr. Norcross sat back In his chair and blew a cloud of cigar smoko toward the celling. , Hatch wont sell," he predicted. Hell be up here before night with blood In bla eye. Im rather glad It has cqme 'down to the actual give and take. I dont play the waiting game very successfully, Billoughby, Keep In touch, and keep me In touch. And tell Ripley to keep on pushing on the reins. The sooner we get at It, the sooner It will be over." t s A Daring and Colorful Spectacle Mirroring the Notions and the Emotions, the Ethics H and Antics of New Yorks Quartier Latin - - , t Book and Lyrics by Philip Bartholomae and John Murray Anderson. Music by A. Baldwin Sloane. 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Aunt Jemima Buckwheat Flour-6 bars White Laundry Soap 10-l- b. 55 - 95 55c 9-l- 9-l- 3 135 b. : -50 i1 bars Kirks Olive Soap MOPE FOR THE MONEY. -- (Continued next Issue.) 450 NO CHARGE. NO 35 25 DELIVERY. West Center St, Provo. a, II puts a Wayne Electric Washing Machine in your home. Call and let us explain our easy payment plan on WAYNE, WOODROW AND : EDEN WASHERS - WHIPPLE ELECTRIC CO. Youll declare the Wayne 1 ( Washer is aemarkablyfimpla and efficient when you see ' that it haa only 17 moving parts, and youll like the j - way it showers every thread of fabric with spariding hot ; J 214 West Center St. Provo, Utah. . k 3,- M- i- Phone 30. ' uds. See us for demonstration. ! |