Page:Upbuilders by Lincoln Steffens.djvu/284



his father’s employees. Sticks, stones, tools, were thrown in among the parts, which were broken, of course. Watching, the boy caught the vandals and learned that they were bribed by agents of the Trust to do what they did!

He saw, in the morning, pans of sugar spoiled during the night. Staying up one night, the boy tried to find out who was to blame, but he saw no workman neglect his duty. Nevertheless, in the morning there was the same old trouble with the vacuum pans. Rudolph discharged the night superintendent, and, taking the place himself, filled it for four to six months, and he did the work well or, at any rate, honestly. No more sugar was spoiled at night.

In the course of this fight, it became manifest that the Trust knew the secrets of their rivals’ business. They seemed to have each day the exact condition of the independent’s stock, orders and finances. There was a period of mystery till suspicion settled upon the chief accountant. Shadowing him, they saw him copy the figures and take them to a certain cigar-dealer, who carried them in the morning to the Trust.

Thus it was that before he was twenty years old, Rudolph Spreckels learned at first-hand that capital “throws bricks”; that it “destroys property” and “hurts business”; and that it