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About The Red Cloud chief. (Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb.) 1873-1923 | View Entire Issue (March 29, 1917)
RED OLOUD, NEBRASKA, CHIEF f. "l v. L t r ) WEB OF STEEL By CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY FATHER AND SON CopyrlSht by riemlntf II. Uevell Co. YOUNG MEADE MAKES A DISCOVERY WHICH TERRIFIES HIM AND HE TRIES TO SAVE MANY LIVES Tho Martlet Construction company Is putting up n groat Inter national bildge planned l)y llortriim Monde, Sr., lainoiis engineer. Ills son, Heitrnin Meade, Jr., resident engineer at tin- bridge, Is In love with Helen llllngworth, daughter of Colonel llllngworth, pros lilent of the construction company and they will iniiiry as .soon as the brltlKO Is complete. The young engineer questioned his father's Judg ment on the strength of certain Impoitant gliders, hut was laughed at. His doiihts nie vorlllod, however, and he makes desperate efforts to' stop construction, foailng groat loss of life. CHAPTER IV Continued. But Meade was out of the house. It Was summer and the sun had set, hut tho Ions twilight of the high latitude BtlH lingered. Hoforo lilm lose the gl Kuntlc structuro of the brldgo. For alt Ita airiness It looked as substantial us tliu Hock of Glbtnltar, and It looked oven more Mihstuntlnl If possible, us tho man, seizing a lantciu and, for getting his weakness, ran down be neath the overarching steel to the pier head, climbed up to the shoe, and crawled out on the lower choid as rap- Idly as ho could. Meade needed but one glance to see tho dellectlon from the right line In tho Important member. Kor all his years of Inexperience ho was a better trained engineer than lough-utnl-ronily Abbott. What appeared to the latter oh a slight dellectlon, Meade saw In Its true relation. There was a variation In tho center of tho member of an Inch and a half at least, althoiiKh un noticeable to an untrained eye. It had all come in tho last week. They had extended the suspended span far out beyond the edge of the cantilever and, with the heavy traveler at the end, tho downward pressure on the great lower chord members had greatly In creased. It was a terribly heavy bildge at best It had to bo to sustain so long a ppnn, tho longest In the world. And tho load, continuous and Inei easing, hail brought about this, to the layman trilling, to the engineer mighty, bend. If It bent that way under that much of a load, what would it do when the whole great span was completed and it had to carry Its transitory loads of tralllc beside? When two different views meet It Is natural that age, e.peilcnee, reputa tion and authority shall carry the day. Although Heitriim Meade, .lr., had never been persuaded In all paitiou lara of the soundness of his father's design, and could not be persuaded, Unit vast experience, that great repu tation, that undoubted ability with Its long record of brilliant nchleeincnt had at last silenced him. He had ac cepted through loyalty that which he could not accept in argument. Once uccepted, he acted accordingly, heart ily seconding anil carrjlug out the wishes of the older and, as the worltl would say, the abler man. Tho thing that smote the engineer hardest was that this weakness was exactly what he had foreseen and pointed out. It was the possibility of tho Inability of this gieat member to enrry the stress that nuug Meade had deduced by using the formula of Schnildt-Chomnlt.. It was this point, nml this point partlculaily, that he had dwelt upon with his father and which they had argued to a finish. So strongly had he been Impressed with tho nosslble structural weakness of this member that he had put himself on record In writing to his father. The old man had oeihorne him and now tho little curve, one and a half to ono nml three-quarter Inehes In sixty feet, established the accuracy of his un heeded contention. Vainly now he wished lie had not let the old habit of affection and the little touch of awe with which ho regarded his father per- Braado him against his reason. rio Btopped, feeling suddenly 111, as n very nervous high-strung man may feel under tho sudden and unexpected physical shock. Ho was weak still from tho tonsllltls. Ho leaned against tho diagonal at tho end of C-10-It, clinging to it tightly to keep from fall ing. Abbott, who had followed more slowly, stopped by him, somewlmt sur prised, somewhat amused, more Indig nant than both. "Abbott," said Meade fiercely as tho erecting engineer Joined him on tho plerhcnd, "If you put another pound of Joad on that cantilever I will not bo answerable for tho consequences." "What do you mean?" "Thnt dellectlon is nearly two Inches deep now and every ounce or pound of added weight you put upon It will make it greater. Its limit will bo reached mlehtv soon, if it collapses" ho threw up his hands "tho whole thing will go." "Yes, If It collapses, that's true," guild Abbott, "but It won't." "You'ro mad," said Meado, taking onfortunatcly tho wrong courbo with tho older man. "Why, boy," said Abbott, "that bridge will stand us long as creation. Look t It. Thnt bucklo doesn't amount to nnythln" It Is only In one truss tuiy- way. The corresponding member In the other truss Is perfectly straight." "Abbott, tor Hod's sake, hear me," pleaded Meade In desperation. "Draw back the traeler and put no more men on the bridge. Stop work until we can get word to " "Don't talk to me, hoy. I know my business. I tell jou I can Jack It back. Thai member's big enough and strong enough to hold up the world." "What aie jou going to Jack against?" Meade asked, and for the first time a little of Abbott's contempt appeared In the younger man's voice. Abbott rellected that there was noth ing linn enough to sere as a support for Jacks and said lather grudgingly, for It seemed like a concession to the jounger and Junior engineer: "Well, I can book on to the opposite truss and pull It buck with turn buckles." "That will damage the other truss too much, Abbott," Meade retorted pi omptly. "It Isn't possible." "Then I'll think up some other scheme," returned Abbott Indifferently, as If humoring the other. "Wo can't wait, we'e got to hurry It along. SSrB5 thing which to Abbott seemed useless and unnecessary, and the fact that subsequent ecnts had more often than not pi oved Meade's suggestions to be wot th while, had not put Abbott In al together the best mood toward his young colleague. Abbott never forgot that Meade had really no olllclal con nection with the building of the bridge, and that he was only there as a special representative of his father, and al though he could not help liking the ounger man, Abbott would hae been better pleased If he had been left alone. Meade had not gone about It In the right way to move u man of Abbott's temperament. He realized that as he lay awake on the sleeper speeding to New York. Abbott was a man who could not bo driven. He was a tre mendous driver himself anil naturally he could not tuke his own medicine. If Meade bad iccolvoil tho announcement more quietly mid If he had by some subtle suggestion put the Idea of dan ger Into Abbott's mind nil would have been well, for when he was not blind ed by prejudice, or his authority or his ability questioned, Abbott was a sen sible man thoroughly to bo depended upon. Hut the news had come to Meade with such suddenness, Abbott had only casually mentioned It lit the close of a lengthy conversation regarding the progress of the work as If It were a matter of no special moment, that the sudden shock had thrown Meade off his balance. Therefore he could see nothing but danger and the nocosIty for action. How he should handle his superior, or rather the bridge's superior, was the last thing In his mind. Aside from his natural pride In his father and In the bridge and his fear that lives would bo lost If It failed, unless ho could get tho men withdrawn, thero was tho complication of bis engagement to Helen llllngworth. Meade could not close his eyes, he could not sleep u moment on the train. Ills mind was In a turmoil. Prayers that he would get to his father and tho bridge people In time to stop work and present loss of life, schemes for taking up the dellectlon, strengthening the member, and completing tho bridge, and fears that ho would lose tho wom an, stuyed with him through the night. CHAPTER V. He Stopped, Feeling Suddenly III. There's going to be no penalty against us on account of me. I won't stop work a minute," he explained patronizingly. "There will he a bigger penalty If .vou don't do what I say, and paid In another way, In blond. And It will he jour fault." Now both men were angry and In their passion they confronted cat h other more lesolute and llerco than ever. "Look here," said Abbott, his fiery temper suddenly breaking fiom his control, "who aro you anyway? You're only a kid engineer. Your father ap prised of the plan of this bridge. I guess we can si mil to bank on his reputation lather than jours." "Well, he doesn't know of this." "Nobody is on the bildge now, and nobody Is going to be on there until tomonow moinlng. Wire him If jou like. He'll wlie llllugwoith down at Martlet and we'll get woul what to do." "You won't put any men at wotk on the bridge until" "Not until tomorrow morning," said Abbott decisively, "If I don't hear fiom .somebody at Martlet tomorrow morn ing the work goes on." "Hut If my father wires jou" "I take orders from tho Maitlet com pany aad no one else," was the slant answer with which Abbott turned away In Unalltj', so that the other realized tho Inters lew was oer. Meade wasted no more pleas on Ab bott. As ill luck would hae It some thing had happened to the telephone and telegiaph wires between the city and tho camp. Meade dressed himself, got a handcar, and was hurried to tho nearest town on the railroads main line. Prom thero he sent a telegram and tried to get connection with New York by telephone, but failed. Moved by a natural Impulse, In default of other means of conmiunlcatlon, he Jumped on tho midnight train for New York. He would go himself in person and attend to tho grao affair. Noth ing whatever could bo so Important. Thero had been some friction be tween Abbott and Meade before on oc casions, not serious, hut several times Meade hnd ventured to suggest some- The Death Message. Meade, Sr was an old man. Al though unlike Moses his eye was dim and his natural force abated, tho evi dences of power were still apparent, especially to the observant. There rose the lit nail brow of the thinker. His power of Intense concentration wns ex pressed outwardly by a directness of gaze from the old eyes which, though faded, could Hash on occasion. Other facial characteristics of that snow crowned, leonlno head, which bespoke that Imaginative power without which a great engineer could not be In spite of all his sciential- exactitudes, had not been cut out of his countenance by the pruning knife of time. Ho was a great engineer and looked It, sitting alone In his olllce with the telegram crushed In his trembling hand, despite the fact that his gray face was the ery picture of unwonted weakness, of Impotenej', and abiding honor. The message had sttuck him a terrific blow. He had reeled under It and had sunk down In the chair In a state of nerous collapse. The telegram fairly burned the clammy palm of his hand. Ho would fain have dropped It yet he could not. Slowly he opened It once more. Ordl tinrlly. powerful glasses stimulated his lslon. Ho needed nothing to read It again. It Is doubtful whether his eyes saw It or not and there was not need, for the message was burned Into his hralu. He lead again the mysterious words: Ono nml threo-ciuiirtor-liicli camber In C-10-U. There could be no mistake. The name that was signed to It was the name of his son, the young engineer, the child of his father's old age. Tho boy, as the old man thought of him, had entured to dispute his father's llgutes, to question his father's design, hut the elder man had overborne him with his Mist expei lence, his great mi tliorlty. his etense learning, his high reputation. And now the boy wns right. Stiange to say some little thrill of pride came to tho old engineer at that moment. Ho tried to find out from the tele grant when It had been sent. That day was a holldaj- the birthday of ono of tho worthies of tho republic In somo of the United States, New ork and Pennsylvania among them, and only by chance had he come down to tho otllco that morning. The wlro was dated the night before. And ho recalled that the stato from which tho bridge ran did not observo that day as a holiday. They would bo working on the Interna tional as usual unless Ono and three-quarter Inches of de llectlon l No brldgo thnt was ever mado could stand with a bend llko that In the principal member of Its compres- il. nlinr.l 11U111 lK3 Rfl VIIRt II HtlMHV. turo as thnt which was to bpan tho greatest of rivers nnd to bring nation Into touch with nation. Ho ought to do something, but what was there to do? Presently, doubtless, his mind would clear. Hut on the Instant all he could think of wns the Impending ruin. The Uplift building, In which he had his ulllccs, was mainly deserted on ac count of the holiday. The banks were cloed and the olllces nnd most of the shops and stores. It was very still In the hall and, therefore, he heard dis tinctly the door of the single elevator In service open with an unusual crash, then the sound of rapid footsteps along tb rrlilor us of someone running. They stopped before the outer door of the suite which boio his name. In stantly he suspected a messenger of disaster. The door was opened, the of fice was crossed, a hand was on the Inner door. He sank back almost us one dead waiting the shock, the blow. "rather," exclaimed the newcomer. "You got my telegram?" The other silently exhibited the crumpled paper in ids band. "What have you done?" "It's a holiday, don't you know? I only got It a few moments ago. The bridge?" "Still stands." "Hut for how long?" "I can't say. The Martlet's resident engineer Is mad. I begged, threatened, implored. I tried to get hlni to stop work, to take the men off tho bridge, to withdraw tho traveler, but be won't do it. Said you designed it, you knew. I was only a cub." "Hut the camber?" "He said, 'I'll Jack it Into line again.' Llko every other engineer who sees a big thing before him It looks to him ns If it would last forever. I tried to get you on the telephone here and at tho house last night and failed. I wired you. Then I Jumped on the midnight express and " "Whut Is to be done?" asked tho old man. Meade, Sr., was thankful that the younger man had not said, "I told you so," as well he might. But really his father's condition was so pitiful that tho son bud not tho heart. "Telegraph tho Martlet Hrldgo com pany at once," ho unswered. "What shall wo say?" asked the old man, uncertainly. Tho young man shot a quick look at him, that question evidenced the vlo lenco of tho shock. Ills father was old, broken, helpless, dependent, nt last. . . . "Give me the blank," ho answered, "111 wire In your name." He repeated the telegram that he had sent to his father and added these words as he signed the old man's name to It: With out no more loud on tho brlduro. draw men and traveler. "I enn't understand why we don't hear," said the young engineer two hours later, walking up and down the room In his agitation. "Two telegrams and now we can't get u telephone con nection, or at least any answer after our repeated calls." "It's a holiday there us well as here," said the older man. "Theie Is no one In the olllce at Martlet." "I'll try the telephone again. Some one may come In at any time." He sat down at the desk, and after live minutes of feverish and excited waiting he llnally did get tho olllce of the Martlet Hrhlge companj'. Hy a happy fortune It appeared that some one happened to come into the olllce Just at that moment. "This Is Meade." began the young man, "the consulting engineer of the International bridge. Well, at ten- I in I -p 1 cr ?., i j? jgr?m&wj2gjU?WB&7Z tflf PlBKIa f o Hi SBlKrsl the lm- All He Could Think of Was pending Ruin. thirty this morning I sent n telegram to Colonel llllngworth nnd mi hour later I sent another. Whnt's that? Hnth tnlecrams aro on tho desk? Give mo your name Johnson you're ono of tho clerks thero? Well, telephone Colonel llllngworth nt his home what ' lie Isn't at homo? is tne vice pros' i nt there tho superintendent iinjbody? How far away ate they? Twenty miles' There's no telephone? Now, listen, Johnson, this Is what jou must do. Get a car, the strongest and fastest you can rent and the boldest chauffeur, and a couple of men on horses too, and send up to that place wherever they me. and tell Colonel llllngworth that he must telephone me and come to his olllce at once. There are telegrams there that mean life or death and the safety of the bridge. You understand? Good, lie says he'll do It. father. We've done all we can," he added. He bung up the re ceiver, sprang to his feet, looked at his watch. "It's so important that I'll go down there mjself. 1 can catch the two o'clock train, and that will get mo there In two hours. You stay quietly here In the olllce and wait until I gut In touch with those people. I mean, I want to know where I can reach jou instantly." "I'll stay right here, my boj Go, and God bless jou." As usual when In n great hurry then were unexpected delajs and the clock on the tower above the big struc until shop was striking live when it rickety station wagon, drawn by an ex hausted horse, which bad been driven iiuspmlnglj', drew up before the olllce door, rilnglng the money at the driver, Meade sprang down from his seat and dashed up the steps. He threw open the door end confronted Johnson. "Did you get hlni?" be cried "He Isn't here yet. I sent an nuto inohlle and two men on hoisebacl: and" The next minute the faint note of an automobile horn sounded far down the vallej-. "I hope to God that Is he." cried the young engineer, running to the win dow. "That's the car I sent." said John son, peering over his shoulder. "And there are people In It. It's coming this way." "Johnson." said Meade, "you have acted well In this oil-Is and I will see that the Hrl Ige company remembers It." "Would you mind telling me what the matter In Mr. Meade?" "Matter! The International" "Hert," exclaimed a Joyous voice, as Helen llllngworth, smiling In delighted surprise, stepped through the open door and stood expectant with out stretched hands. Young Johnson was as discreet as he was prompt and roatlj. He walked to the window out of which ho stared, with his back ostentatiously turned to ward them. After a quick glance at the other man, Meade swept the girl to his heart and held her there a mo ment. He did not kiss her before be released her. The woman's passionate look at hlni was caress enough nnd his own adoring gliince fairly enveloped her with emotion. Johnson coughed and turned ns the two separated. It was the woman who recovered her poise quicker. "What were you saying about our bridge when I came Into the room?" she began, nnd Meade fully understood the slight but unmistakable emphasis In the pronoun our bridge, Indeed "I was lying down this nfteinoon. but when I nw akened my maid told me about your urgent calls for father," she ran on, realizing that some trouble portended and seeking to help her lover by giving hlni time. "I knew something must be wrong, so I came here. I didn't expect to see you. Oh, what Is It?" she broke off, suddenly realizing from the mental strain In her lover's face, whloh the sudden sight of her had caused hlni to conceal for a moment, that something terribly seri ous had happened, and she turned a little pale herself as she asked the question, not dreaming what the an swer would be. "Helen," said the young man, step plug toward her nnd taking her hands again, "we're In awful trouble." "If It Is any trouble I can share, Hert," said the girl, Hashing lit hlni a look which set his pulses bounding at least she was to be depended on "you know jou can count on me." "I know I can," he exclaimed gratefully. "Now tell me." "The International bridge Is nhout to fall." The color canio to her face again. Was that all? came Into her mind. That was serious enough, of course, but It would not matter In tho long run. Helen realized the awful gravltj', the terrible seriousness, of the situa tion of course. The bildge meant much to her even If In quite a different wnj It was there he had saved her from the awful fall. It was there that he had told her that he loved her. Tho brldgo might fall, but It was ns eternal as her affection In her memory. Their en gagement, or their marriage, had been made dependent upon the successful coinnletlon of the bridge. What of that? The proviso meant nothing to her when she looked lit the white-faced agonized man to whom she had given herself. "It Is terrible, of course," she said quietly. "Hut you can do nothing?" "If I could, do j-ou think I'd let tho bridge, and you, go without" "I'm not going with the bridge," was her quick and decisive Interruption. They had both forgotten tho pres ence of young Johnson, who wns not only decidedly uncomfortable, but des perately anxious. Ho was about to speak when, Into this ulrendy broken scene, cntno another interruption. Thero was a rush of wheels on tho driveway outride, tho roar of a motor. Hofore Monde could answer tho state ment, into tho room burst Colonel ll llngworth. Ho was covered with dust, his fnco was white, his eyes filled with uuxletj'. Tho character of tho sum- vice president, nnd Curtis", ihe chlei engineer. "Meade, what of Uie bridge?" ho burst out, with a quick nod to his daughter. Colonel llllngworth bad not stopped to hunt for a wajslde tele phone. The automobile driven madly, recklessly through the hills and over the rough roads, had brought him di rectly to the olllce In the shortest pos sible time. "There Is a deflection one Inch nnd three-quarters deep In one of the com pression members, C-10-It," was the prompt and terrible answer. Colonel llllngworth had not been president of the Martlet Hrldge com pany for so long without learning some thing of practical construction. Ho was easily enough of an engineer to realize Instantly what that statement meant. "When did you discover It?" ho snapped out. "Last night." "Is the bildge gone?" "Not jet" "Why didn't jou let us know?" "I telegraphed father and, not hear ing from hint. I came down on the mid- Into the Room Durst Colonel lllington. night train. It Is a holiday in New York as well as here. I Just happened to moot father lu the olllce. He sent a telegram to jou and not healing from you, duplicated it an hour later. I tried half u dozen times to get you on the telephone nnd llnally, by a happy chance, got hold of young Johnson." "Where are your father's tele grams?" "Here." Colonel llllngworth tore the first open with trembling fingers. "Why didn't you tell Abbott?" asked tho chief engineer. "Yoir know Abbott. He said tho bridge would stand until the world caved In. Said he could jack the mem ber Into line. He wouldn't do n thing except on direct orders from here." "Your father wires, 'put no moro weight on the bridge.' V.'hnt shall wo do?" Interposed Colonel llllngworth. "Telegraph Abbott at once." "If the bridge goes It moans ruin to tho companj'," said the agitated vice president, who was the financial mem ber of the firm and who could ensily bo pardoned for a natural exaggeration under the terrible circumstances. "Yes, but If It goes with the men on, It means Johnson, lire you a telegraph operator?" "Yes, sir." "Take the key," said tho colonel, who, having been a soldier, thought first of the men. Johnson sat down at the table whero the direct wire ran from the brldgo company to the telegraph olllce. Ho reached his hand out and laid his lingers on the key. P.ofore he could give the faintest pressure to the Instru ment, it suddenly clicked of Its own motion. Kvorjbody In the room stood silent. "It Is u message from Wllehlngs, tho chief of construction foreman of," Johnson paused a moment, listening to the i apld click "the International " he said lu an nwestruck whisper. It had come! "Head It, man ! Read It, for God's sake!" cried tho chief engineer. "The bridge Is In tno river," faltered Johnson slowlj', word hy word, trans lating tho fearful message on tho wire. "Abbott and ono hundred and fifty men with It." What happens after the crash is told In the next Installment. What hnppenB to tho Meadea and llllngworths, and the vast trouble stirred up, makes thrill ing chapters. mons hn disquieted him beyond meas ure, Uuck of hlni ciimo Scverence, tho (TO I11J CONT1NUUD.) Beware the Loaded Gun. The mail who returns from hunting and sets his loaded gun In the corner or hangs It an the wall Is, In reality, setting u death-trap. Yet It Is surpris ing how often this Is done. Tho gun wo "didn't know was loaded," is an old, old storj. says Farmer's Guide. You cannot bo too cautious. Tho londed gun you may keep on tho wall to shoot crows with when they get In tho corn Is liable to ciiuso you moro loss than a million crows cnu. It takes only a second to put u cartrldgo In a gun when tho time Is nt hnnd. It tukes no longer to take It out. Blossom Remains. IJncon "Crlmsonbeak suys his wife keeps his noso to the grindstone." Kg. hert "Well, It doesn't seem to wear tho red off of it." I t & N -r""T V,