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The Storyteller

THE FOREMAN AT BRAND'S

Caxon, owner, stepped from the dingy little room at the end of the long black building, dubbed office, and walked briskly to the door of the foundry division He liad come down from the cily that morning and was watch afternoon train. He took out his ' Longmore,' he called, ' Mr. Longmore.' A strongly-built youug man emerged from the grimy interior Caxon looked at him curiously. Six months before this fellow had come to him for won,, fresh from college, with kid gloves, and skin white and well cared for , and he had given him work more tlnough the promise of his well-knit figure than his recommendations winch stated that he had made a special study of iron ami its smelting. Thiee niontns as workman, however and he had been advanced to the position of foreman of the twenty or thirty men required to operate the small furnace and foundiy. Caxon was intensely practical with no use for the theory, and the boy in spite of his school-house beginning soon proved he was practical also. Caxon's grim face telaxed a little as he looked at him. He was fond of having his measures verified, and Longmore had done this. There was nothing about the boy now which hinted of college, of wellcared skin. His shirt was open at the neck and his sleeves lolled back to the elbows, and arms and neck and face were black from contact with iron ore in its first crude evolutions. Longmore, from the first, had not taken advantage of his position as foreman, and had worked as hard as the most steadfast of the men Caxon liked this, and even in his satisfaction at the piactical metamorphosis of the boy, his face clouded a little ai the necessity of dispensing with his services so soon. ' You will have this lot out by four o'clock, Lonemore, I think you said ? ' he inteuogated. ' Yes, sir.' ' Well, you may draw the fires then and have the men begin dealing up. Tin? lot you may send to tne Ball Machine Co., as you dul the last. Perhaps they can use it in some of their interior work. 1 shall not be down again.' In spite of its mask of iron black, Longmore's face expressed incredulous surprise. 1 Why, you don't mean that you intend to close the furnace, su ? ' he asked. ' I mean just that,' calmly. ' I have been experimenting tor two yeais, and losing money right along. The ore is 100 poor in quality for profitable working. \ou will find pay envelopes in my desk for the men up to next Saturday. Do not let them have the money before then, for some are shiftless enough to slip away You will need them that long to get things into condition to leave. Fortunately there is not much surplus of any kind on hand. I have been looking forward to this and preparing for it as well as I could. How much coal have we ? ' ' Forty or fifty tons, perhaps.' 1 Well, you Can veiy likely sell that to one of the factories in the town. The ore at the mouth of the mine you need not bother with, as it would be worthless. Clean the furnaces and tools, and leave everything looking as well as you can. I shall want to send some prospective purchasers or lessees down to look the plant over, and I shall want it to look as though busi. ness men have been running it. When all is done, come to my office in the city, and I will settle with you And I may add,' more afiably, ' that I am sincerely sorry to part with you, Longmore. You are young yet, but some day you will be a good manager of this kind of work. If there were an opening in my Lone Mountain Furnace, or in the one at home, I would foe glad to take you in, but they are fully supplied with superintendents and foremen who have been with me for years. Of pourse,' thoughtfully, •if you should care to commence again as an ordinary workman, we might—-' 'I do not wish to leave here, sir,' broke in Longmore impetuously. ' If—if jou wifl excuse me, I think you are making a big mistake in closing the furnace. The ore isn't so pure as at your other places, of course ; but it is good ore, and under the new processes I am introducing will pay a handsome profit. lam sure of it,' eagerly. ' Why, sir, only last month you said the loss had decreased more than half.' ' Yes, things have improved since you took charge, 1 conceded Caxon ; 'but you have not been able to eliminate the loss.' He look a letter from his pocket which he unfolded and passed to Longmore. ' That was sent to my office by the Ball. Machine Co., 1 he said, ' and was what brought me down here to-day. I

am sincerely sorry it is so, but I have definitely decided lliat Brand's Furnace can only be operated at a loss.' Longmore glanced at the let ler, which read : ' Dear Sir,— V\e shall have to make a heavy reduction in price allowed for your Biand's Furnace output, if, indeed, we aie able to use it at all. Though better than previous shipment, it is still very poor, and much inferior to what we aie getting elsewhere, oi even from your other furnaces. Ilitheito we have been able to use it in limited quantity in certain kinds of work ; but new processes are being intioduced into many furnaces, which improve the quality of the output, and of course we must use the best procurable in order to meet competition. We aie sony to write you this; but as friends we would advise the closing of the Brand's Furnace, and that you use \oui capital where the returns would be more assuied.' 1 The Ball Machine To. people are mistaken about the quality of our oie,' Longmore said fumly, as he passed back the letter. 'We have a published record here of the output of other furnaces, and twelve— yes six— months ago the aveiage quality was no better than that of Brand's. The letter intimates this when it mentions new pioeesses being introduced. These processes have improved the output of other furnaces, just as I am using them to nnpiove Brand's. But you will remember that I have had charge only thiee months, and that I had all the real practical work to demonstrate fiom my theoretical knowledge. In six months we can have Biand's Furnace yielding as good quality as the average. Your Lone Mountain and the ore in Ihe city aie supeiior , but you understand they aie exceptions and icprcsent a \ast amount of capital. They cannot be classed with the average. .And there is another thing,' earnestly 'Bi and s Furnace is light on the main line of a through laihoad, and tlie mouth of the mine, with an inexhaustible supply, is but a few lods fiom the furnace That m itself is of inestimable \alue. "\ ou aie giving up a valuable piopeity, sir If you will let me have six months— e\ en lluee months— l feel suie I can piove to you that I am light.' Caxon shook his head, though kindly. ' I can undei .stand your enthusiasm, Longmoie,' he answered. ' I was that way at your age. But iron is a plain, hard, piactical business. And this is yoin fust, command, so to speak.' He looked at his watch once moie ' Twenty minutes to tiam time, Longmoie Suppose we walk back to the office and wait until we heai the whistle You had hettei put the money in the safe and keep it tlieu- until tune to pay it out And oh, yes, should theie be any expenses 1 have not thought ot, you can pay them out of the money leceived for the coal. I shall en ti list e\ei} thing to you' ' But why sell the coal ' ' suggested Longmoie, us they walked slowly tow aid the ofhee. ' Whoever buys or leases the furnace will pay more for it than you can got outside ' Caxon looked at him with an odd smile ' Frankly,' he answcied, ' I do not expect to find any customers or lessees. That is mostly talk Of rourse I shall try to sell or lease, and doubtless theie will be a good many here to look the place over, so for my own peace of mind I shall want it m gooel condition. However, bcfoie making a deal, prospective customers will inquire into my leasons tor leaving and the quality of the output, ami then will take their money elsewhere. I have consideied the matter thoioughly, and realise that I am virtually abandoning the furnace.' 1 Then why do it '' ' quickly ' The piopeity is valuable, and will detcnoiate rapidly ' ' I know. But that will be less expensive than urn-, ning it as I have been doing. I would be glad to loase for a .nominal sum, nist to have somebody here. But of course no one would caie to operate the fuina.ee at a loss ' 'If I could — ' began Longmore. Then he stopper! abruptly. He was going 1o say if he could raise the money. But he could not , so what was the use of thinking about thai lie added instead : 'If I could have charge there would be no loss after the first few months.' Caxon's eyes twinkled. He liked the young man's belief in himself, and his determination, and he knew very well what the broken sentence had started out to say. They were in the ofiice now, and Caxon seat eel himself in the only chair it contained, motioning Longmore to a box. 1 You would take the plant yourself if you had the money,' he said thoughtfully. ' Well, in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred I would advise against it, for I'm positive that money put in here would be lost ; and yet, I'm not so sure in your case. Some of tlie greatest successes I have known were built upon failure — no, I will not say that, rather upon lack of initial success. Loss of money gave experience and caution, and a more dogged determination to succeed. But of course this would only hold t vue with strong nat-

ures. How much would you require ? ' abruptly—' I mean to carry the furnace on to what, you believe would be expense-making ? Could you raise the amount ? ' ' No, sir, in reply to the last question, Avhich also answered the first. lam still m debt for part of my college expenses, and have no inonied frienels to apply to for financial assistance. If 1 had the money I would not hesitate to pul it into Brand's Furnace, for I believe it would be the quickest way to pay the college debt and give me a substantial start. As it is, I can only hope that some one will buy or lease here and allow me to help piove it to be a profitable investment.' 1 ITm ! yes ' ' Caxon's lingers began to rap meditatively upon the desk, piesenlly coming together with a*quick, decisive click. ' Kver hear how I commenced, Longmore ? ' he asked. ' \"o, sir.' 1 U'm, 1 suppose not. I've never got into a biogiaphy yet. Well, 1 started out pietty early, without. any college oi much other education. At seventeen I was cocksure of a thing, as you are of Brand's Furnace now, and an old uncle let me have a thousand dollars—on my face, he said, not on the thing, for he was doubtful of that though he felt sine of me. I lost eveiy cent, and my time, but it made me grit my teeth and stnke out again, and in two yeais I had paid my uncle. Now I haven't any more faith in Biand's Furnace, and I believe any money put into it will be lost ; but if you like 1 will let you have a thousand dollars on your face or lather on the way you buckle down to work— and you can pay me back when you're able.' Longmore was on his feet, his eyes wide and looking grotesque in their rims of iron black. ' You don't mean this, Mi. Caxoti,' he gasped. 'Why, you hardly know me, and I have no reference. 1 "I've seen you woiiv,' coolly, ' and that's better. Do you want the money "' ' 'Of covuse, if you're willing And—' 'TheLe's the tiain whistle,' inteiiupted Caxon, rising ff 101111 0111 his chan and staiting tovvaid the door. 'You may el law on me foi the money as you need it, up to a thousand No moie. I will send you a cheque for the wages due you. And of eouise I wish you luck— which mean*, losing the money as i apidly as possible so you may become established in something permanent and substantial, (iood-hye Longinoic had followed him to the elooi, eager to say moie , but Caxon did not j;ive him an opportunity, and now, as the owners hand waved a goodlive lie was hall-way down the foundry division and Inn lying toward the lit tie platfoini where the train was already stopping. Longmoie watched him board (he tiain, then went hack into the office, his eyes bright, lie eliel not tell the men ot the change until the furnace had been emptied ami the bai s of crude pig iron shipped to the Ball Machine (o. That ended his duties as employee , foi of eouise A\ith himself as lessee, theie would be no need, at least for the present, of cleaning up the plant for inspection. Henceforth he was to be his own mastei , ami the thought, togethei with the responsibility of the new debt, made his face moie grave ami determined than usual. First, he made a caielul estimate of the coal, charging it against the piomised loan of a thousand elollars, and of the amount of oie at the mouth of the mine, estimating that at the cost of bringing out, then making a list of such other things as he could use and which belonged to the plant. Then he wrote to Caxon, ofleiing him one-half of the profits after he had brought the furnace to a paying basis, in the meantime incurring all expenses of running work and improvements himself. From what Caxon had said he knew this offer would be accepted. That done, he called the men and niaele them acquainted with the change. ' Mr. Caxon had a) ranged for you to leave Saturday night,' he said, ' and to stop work altogether. However, I am going to run the furnace myself a while, experimentally, but will close the foundry. I shall require but ten men, and they must be willing to work hard and accept long hours. We will begin at daylight, instead of seven, as we have been doing, and will have one hour for the noon meal and rest, and then work until dark. I will pay you one dollar and seventy-five cents instead of the one thirtyfive you have been receiving. It will be hard work, of course, but I will ask no one to work any harder than Ido myself. And I will add that Ido not. want any except trustworthy men who will do as well by 'me when I am absent as when I am with them. Those who feel they can meet these conditions and are willing to work for me may step forward. There were twenty-eight men in the group before him. Four of them stepped forward promptly. Most of the others looked doubtful. Two or three laughed openly and slouched away. Longmore watched them critically. He had been there long enough to know

these people wore naturally shiftless, and only inclined to work when necessity forced them. Their favorite way was to -work one or two days each week for enough to eat and then loaf for the rest of the time. 4 Well ?' said Longmore. ' It's pretty long hours,' complained one of the men. 'If yell let us have an' hour for breakfast an' supper, an' an hour'n' a half for dinner now. From daylight to dark is long enough for restin' spells.' ' Yes, you're right. It's pretty hard work— too hard for you,' said Longmore decidedly. ' Are there any others who don't thaik it too hard, who feel they are able to do as much work as I can myself ? Later, -if things go as I hope, there will "be a few good positions for somebody.' Several of the more energetic-looking men were talking among themselves. Longmore's eyes swept over them and over the rest of the group, singling out a face here and there that he thought looked promising. And from his previous knowledge of the men, he felt that he knew which were the more capable or willing workers, though even of these he did not wish any whose faces showed dissatisfaction. Presently he went among them, with a few earnest persuasive uords here and there, and in Ihe end he had ten men who promised to work as he desired. Monday morning he and two of the men descended into the furnace to make some changes, remaining there until near the middle of the afternoon. When they came out, Longmore went to the mine to see how the work of getting out the ore was progressing. He wished to make a special selection of ore for the next day's charge of the furnace, and hoped that it would cairy some of his theories toward the practical results he was striving for. As he appioached the moul h of the mine, he listened for the sounds of work, but could only hear the regular strokes of a single pick. Then, as he turned a spur, he saw the reason. Three of the men weie lying on. the ground in front of the opening, apparently asleep , two weie tossing pebbles at each other, and the rest were lying about in various attitudes of listless ease. Nor did they seem in the least distrubetl at his approach. 1 Got the furnace job done ? ' asked a stalwart young fellow as he aiose, yawning, to a sitting positure. ' Yes. Why aie you not at work ? ' ' Got tned an' thought we'd rebt a spell. 'Sides, one of the men 'lowed theie wasn't much show for our get tin' paid, an' that ye had only what ye'd earned as boss. So we 'lowed ■we'd keep on restin' till ye got lound, on' find out. I s'pose it's all right, though,' lazily, ' an' if ye say 't is we'll start in agin after wo lie a spell.' ' Yes,' quietly, ' thai pai t is all light. You can have your money any time you want it. Who is that working in the mine "' ' ' Billy Biooks,' contemptuously. ' 110 don't know enough to rest when he's tired. That man'll wear out an' drop down dead 'fore he knows, an' nobody'll be to blame 'cept himself — an' mebbe the man who drives him on to such work,' looking at Longmore sideways. 'Ye see, the feller's a crank, an 1 don't know any more'n to do jest like he's told, an'— But Longmore had pa&scd on to the mouth of the mine. Ten minutes later he came back. The men wore stretching themselves preparatory to resuming work. ' Now you can come to the office and get your pay, men,' he said briskly. There will be less than half a day coming to you, for Brooks says you rested two hours or more this forenoon, and that you have been here about two hours now. I shall pay you for just the time you work.' 1 Oh, we don't want any pay yet if it's all right,' answered the young man sullenly. ' But it's been three-" quarters of a day. Folks have got to rest, en' if Billy Brooks don't look out he'll—' Stop right there,' requested Longmore with a'sudden ring in his voice. ' Mr. Brooks will be your foreman after this, in my absence, and will keep an exact account of the time you work.' ' Foreman ! ' angrily. ' Billy Brooks ! Why he don't know any more about mmm' than I do— not so much. I d make a better foreman than he any day.' ' Perhaps. But Mr. Biooks seems to have been the only man faithful to my interests so far, and he will be my foreman with an advance in wages. Now, you may come and get your money and leave my employ, or you can go to work, just as you ehoosc. But remember, every, hour you idle away like this will be taken from your pay, and you will obey Mr. Brooks. If you do not care to work I will send away and get men.' He went on toward the office, without looking; toward them. The men hesitated a moment, .then tkrec

of them followed him. The rest returned to the mine After that there was little trouble with them as lone: as they were not left to themselves. Evidently they had thought to over-awe the young foreman in his untried position as employer ; but he had proved too firm. The next few days he passed for the most part at the mouth of the furnace, helping and overlooking the ore as it w;\s poured in. Bui in spite of his care and watchfulness the result was not satisfactory, and the newly made pig iron was carried round and cast back into the furnace to be once more melted. Again and again was this done, and though the results were often improvements on the preceding ones, they were not what he hoped and was working for. The markets were demanding a better and yet a better qualityt which the more progressive furnaces were supplying ; and for him to send an inferior grade would be to hurt and perhaps destroy altogether his chance tor future sales. So he worked and experimented, refraining from hiring new men a.s. the moie shiftless of the old ones dropped away, until at the end of three months his working force had dwindled to four men and himself, and his money to less than a hundred dollars. I>uring the last weeks but little time had been given to sleep. Through the day he worked with the men, silent, watchful, untiring, and most of the nights were given to study and the devising of mw experiments. Something was lacking, some little point which he had missed and which the other furnaces he knew of did not need. * Perhaps it was in the ore, perhaps in the furnace, perhaps in some application of the new process which he had overlookedhe did not know. Only, he had missed it. And yet the secret was hovering at his very finger tips ; he was sure of that. The four men remaining to him were the pick of the neighborhood, in whom he was every day growing to repose more confidence. They weie all hard-working, and tried to meet his wishes, and in a way they were beginning to understand that he was passing through a crisis of his life. One evening, after an unusually hard day, as Longmore almost staggered toward his office, Brooks followed him, laying a detaining hand upon his shoulder. ' Look here, Mr. Longmoic,' he said anxiously, 'you jest leave that ofliee alone to night an' go into your room to bed. You're runnin' yourself out. ' An—a n, hesitating a little, ' if you don't mind, me an' the men have been talking about you some lately. We've been workin' pretty stiddy an' ain't a bit hard up now-, so if it'll be any— any easier you might let our pay lie for a month or two. We don't mind, an—' Longmoie swung around and grasped his hand. ' Thank you for this, Brooks,' he exclaimed huskily, Ins eyes moist ; ' you don't know how 1 appreciate it just now. Tt-11 the men so. But I shall not take advantage of jour kindness. It has been something of a sliain with me lately, 1 don't mind admitting that. But another day or two will decide the matter, one way or another. I was up all las.t night, working and thinking, and am going to make cine last trial, a bolder one. I sent my last fifty dollars away this morning v^and the things will be here on the tiain to-morrow 'morning. The next day will decide whether we keep on or close.' The nexi morning he was on the little platform when the train came and took his package stiaight to the office. Soon after he went to the mouth of the furnace, where the men were th lowing in ore, the package under his arm. All day he worked there with them, feverishly ; but the next day when he went below to watch the lesult, when the molt on iion was released he was calm. But as he watched, a strange light hegan to glow in his eyes. As soon as the bars were sufficiently cool he took several of them- to the platform, addressing them to Mr. Caxon. Then he went to the office and wrote a long letter. Two days, later the letter was answered by Caxon in person. His face seemed unusually excited as he swung to the platform, even before the train stopped. 4 Are those bars fair samples ? ' were his first words as he grasped Longmore's hand. ' Yes, sir.' ' Well, well, well ' I'd ncvor have believed it — never in this world. They're equal to my Lone Mountain Furnace in every way. But I can't accept your proposition, Longmore, to take over the plant with you again as foreman. No, no. We'll let it go on as it is now. I'll take half profits, but I'll furnish the capital against your services. You'll want a superintendent now, Longmore, and foremen for the different departments. You'd better hire them at once.' 4 They're already at hand, sir, four men on whom I can depend, and who will make our interests their own.' 4 Good ! That's the kind we want. Now, let's go to the office and consider plans for the increase. Why * explosively, ' it's the queerest thing I ever heard of. I'd never have believed it— never in this world.'—' Donahoe's.'

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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZT19060816.2.2

Bibliographic details

New Zealand Tablet, 16 August 1906, Page 3

Word Count
4,405

The Storyteller THE FOREMAN AT BRAND'S New Zealand Tablet, 16 August 1906, Page 3

The Storyteller THE FOREMAN AT BRAND'S New Zealand Tablet, 16 August 1906, Page 3

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