The Lion and the Mouse; a Story of an American Life

nihaz - Charles Klein

Le téléchargement nécessite un accès à la bibliothèque YouScribe
Tout savoir sur nos offres

380 pages

English

Le téléchargement nécessite un accès à la bibliothèque YouScribe
Tout savoir sur nos offres

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

Informations

Publié par	nihaz
Publié le	08 décembre 2010
Nombre de lectures	42
Langue	English

Extrait

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lion and the
Mouse, by Charles Klein
Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be
sure to check the copyright laws for your country
before downloading or redistributing this or any
other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when
viewing this Project Gutenberg file. Please do not
remove it. Do not change or edit the header
without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other
information about the eBook and Project
Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and
restrictions in how the file may be used. You can
also find out about how to make a donation to
Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla
Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By
Computers, Since 1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands
of Volunteers!*****
Title: The Lion and the Mouse A Story of an
American LifeAuthor: Charles Klein
Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5119]
[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of
schedule] [This file was first posted on May 4,
2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG
EBOOK THE LION AND THE MOUSE ***
Produced by Charles Franks and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team.
The Lion and the Mouse
by
Charles Klein
A Story of an American LifeNovelized from the play by
Arthur Hornblow
"Judges and Senates have been bought for gold;
Love and esteem have never been sold."
POPE
CONTENTS
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIIIChapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVITHE LION AND THE MOUSE
CHAPTER I
There was unwonted bustle in the usually sleepy
and dignified New York offices of the Southern and
Transcontinental Railroad Company in lower
Broadway. The supercilious, well-groomed clerks
who, on ordinary days, are far too preoccupied with
their own personal affairs to betray the slightest
interest in anything not immediately concerning
them, now condescended to bestir themselves
and, gathered in little groups, conversed in
subdued, eager tones. The slim, nervous fingers of
half a dozen haughty stenographers, representing
as many different types of business femininity,
were busily rattling the keys of clicking typewriters,
each of their owners intent on reducing with all
possible despatch the mass of letters which lay
piled up in front of her. Through the heavy plate-
glass swinging doors, leading to the elevators and
thence to the street, came and went an army of
messengers and telegraph boys, noisy and
insolent. Through the open windows the hoarse
shouting of news-venders, the rushing of elevated
trains, the clanging of street cars, with the
occasional feverish dash of an ambulance—all
these familiar noises of a great city had the far-
away sound peculiar to top floors of the modern
sky-scraper. The day was warm and sticky, as is
not uncommon in early May, and the overcast skyand a distant rumbling of thunder promised rain
before night.
The big express elevators, running smoothly and
swiftly, unloaded every few moments a number of
prosperous-looking men who, chatting volubly and
affably, made their way immediately through the
outer offices towards another and larger inner
office on the glass door of which was the legend
"Directors Room. Private." Each comer gave a
patronizing nod in recognition of the deferential
salutation of the clerks. Earlier arrivals had
preceded them, and as they opened the door there
issued from the Directors Room a confused
murmur of voices, each different in pitch and tone,
some deep and deliberate, others shrill and
nervous, but all talking earnestly and with
animation as men do when the subject under
discussion is of common interest. Now and again a
voice was heard high above the others, denoting
anger in the speaker, followed by the pleading
accents of the peace-maker, who was arguing his
irate colleague into calmness. At intervals the door
opened to admit other arrivals, and through the
crack was caught a glimpse of a dozen directors,
some seated, some standing near a long table
covered with green baize.
It was the regular quarterly meeting of the directors
of the Southern and Transcontinental Railroad
Company, but it was something more than mere
routine that had called out a quorum of such
strength and which made to-day's gathering one of
extraordinary importance in the history of the road.That the business on hand was of the greatest
significance was easily to be inferred from the
concerned and anxious expression on the
directors' faces and the eagerness of the employes
as they plied each other with questions.
"Suppose the injunction is sustained?" asked a
clerk in a whisper.
"Is not the road rich enough to bear the loss?"
The man he addressed turned impatiently to the
questioner: "That's all you know about railroading.
Don't you understand that this suit we have lost will
be the entering wedge for hundreds of others. The
very existence of the road may be at stake. And
between you and me," he added in a lower key,
"with Judge Rossmore on the bench we never
stood much show. It's Judge Rossmore that scares
'em, not the injunction. They've found it easy to
corrupt most of the Supreme Court judges, but
Judge Rossmore is one too many for them. You
could no more bribe him than you could have
bribed Abraham Lincoln."
"But the newspapers say that he, too, has been
caught accepting $50,000 worth of stock for that
decision he rendered in the Great Northwestern
case."
"Lies! All those stories are lies," replied the other
emphatically. Then looking cautiously around to
make sure no one overheard, he added
contemptuously, "The big interests fear him, and
they're inventing these lies to try and injure him.They might as well try to blow up Gibraltar. The
fact is the public is seriously aroused this time and
the railroads are in a panic."
It was true. The railroad, which heretofore had
considered itself superior to law, had found itself
checked in its career of outlawry and oppression.
The railroad, this modern octopus of steam and
steel which stretches its greedy tentacles out over
the land, had at last been brought to book.
At first, when the country was in the earlier stages
of its development, the railroad appeared in the
guise of a public benefactor. It brought to the
markets of the East the produce of the South and
West. It opened up new and inaccessible territory
and made oases of waste places. It brought to the
city coal, lumber, food and other prime necessaries
of life, taking back to the farmer and the
woodsman in exchange, clothes and other
manufactured goods. Thus, little by little, the
railroad wormed itself into the affections of the
people and gradually became an indispensable part
of the life it had itself created. Tear up the railroad
and life itself is extinguished.
So when the railroad found it could not be
dispensed with, it grew dissatisfied with the size of
its earnings. Legitimate profits were not enough. Its
directors cried out for bigger dividends, and from
then on the railroad became a conscienceless
tyrant, fawning on those it feared and crushing
without mercy those who were defenceless. It
raised its rates for hauling freight, discriminatingagainst certain localities without reason or justice,
and favouring other points where its own interests
lay. By corrupting government officials and other
unlawful methods it appropriated lands, and there
was no escape from its exactions and brigandage.
Other roads were built, and for a brief period there
was held out the hope of relief that invariably
comes from honest competition. But the railroad
either absorbed its rivals or pooled interests with
them, and thereafter there were several masters
instead of one.
Soon the railroads began to war among
themselves, and in a mad scramble to secure
business at any price they cut each other's rates
and unlawfully entered into secret compacts with
certain big shippers, permitting the latter to enjoy
lower freight rates than their competitors. The
smaller shippers were soon crushed out of
existence in this way. Competition was throttled
and prices went up, making the railroad barons
richer and the people poorer. That was the
beginning of the giant Trusts, the greatest evil
American civilization has yet produced, and one
which, unless checked, will inevitably drag this
country into the throes of civil strife.
From out of this quagmire of corruption and
rascality emerged the Colossus, a man so
stupendously rich and with such unlimited powers
for evil that the world has never looked upon his
like. The famous Croesus, whose fortune was
estimated at only eight millions in our money, was
a pauper compared with John Burkett