Dec. 22, 1906.] 
FOREST AND STREAM 
979 
THE HOODOOS IN BANFF PARK. 
THE BANFF BUFFALO HERD. 
that he who is guilty, is catalogued next to sin¬ 
ners, as “shifless.” 
Just about the time that Bob’s reputation be¬ 
came fixed immovably in the minds of his neigh¬ 
bors, the Commercial Club was organized in 
Dobbstown Mr. Henry L. G. Phillips, proprietor 
of The Beehive Store, was elected president of 
the Club; Mr. G. W. Witherspoon, of the Central 
Meat Market, became vice-president after a close 
race with Mr. Horace Kissinger, of the Clothing 
Emporium, and Captain (title a relic of past ser¬ 
vices in .that official capacity with the volunteer 
fire department). William H. Wagoner, editor, 
publisher, and sole proprietor of The Bugle, was 
elected secretary. 
At the second meeting of the Commercial Club, 
it was decided that fifteen dollars should be ex¬ 
pended immediately for letter paper and enve¬ 
lopes bearing the insignia of the organization, an 
ear of corn supporting a leaning cog wheel, and 
the next day the young man in charge of the job 
printing department of The Bugle office, placed 
the completed printed matter in the hands of 
Captain Wagoner at 4:35 o’clock in the after¬ 
noon. and the work of flaunting to the world at 
large the advantages of Dobbs county and Dobbs¬ 
town as a location for large manufacturing in¬ 
terests, was well under way before supper time. 
While the seeds of commercial activity were 
being sown by Captain Wagoner and his col¬ 
leagues, Bob Mallory and a few friends were 
camped on Goose Island, six miles below town, 
supporting themselves largely by means of a 
trotline. The morning of July 5, however, saw 
their reluctant return to civilization. This same 
morning saw Captain Wagoner extract from his 
box at the post-office a yellow envelope addressed 
to the Dobbstown Commercial Club. Innocent as 
it may have appeared, this same epistle' w*s the 
cause of much excitement, as at the special meet¬ 
ing of the Commercial Club that evening, it was 
made known that the seeds of Dobbs county’s 
allurements, sown broadcast a few weeks before, 
had already sprouted, and Mr. Wendell Hamil¬ 
ton, president and manager of the Hamilton 
Churn and Cheesebox Company, located in a 
distant city, had written to Captain Wagoner, say¬ 
ing that he was considering the field of possi¬ 
bilities for a new location in some section where 
water power and cheap lumber were available, 
and that it was his belief that Dobbstown would 
about meet his requirements. As it was further 
stated that the Hamilton Churn and Cheesebox 
factory employed an average of forty hands, it 
did seem that opportunity was at Dobbstown’s 
door. After the reading of the letter, considera¬ 
tion was given to the subject of what should 
be done to encourage Mr. Wendell Hamilton’s 
belief that Dobbs county would meet his require¬ 
ments. and by vote it was decided that a letter 
should be written and signed by the officers of 
the Commercial Club, inviting Mr. Hamilton, as 
the guest of that organization, to visit Dobbs¬ 
town and see for himself the advantages of that 
city. Such a letter was carefully written, ad¬ 
dressed and mailed, and for one week Dobbstown 
lived in almost breathless anxiety; then the 
answer came, and three days after, Mr. Hamilton 
came himself. On the day of his arrival the wait¬ 
ing room at the railway “deepo” was crowded 
with people fully three quarters of a hour before 
the noon local was due, although no one had ever 
known the noon local to be on time. Mr. Hamil¬ 
ton was extended all possible privileges, and was 
apparently very favorably impressed until upon 
the third day of his stay, when he mentioned to 
the circle of expectant leading citizens, grouped 
about him in the parlor of the New Modern 
Hotel, that the only point which remained to be 
settled before announcing his decision was the 
question of a suitable site for his factory. The 
seeds of graft sprout quickly, and even in Dobbs¬ 
town the soil had been ready. Each man present 
had been waiting for days for an opportunity to 
call Mr. Hamilton’s attention to some certain 
location for the proposed factory, which in every 
case the leading citizen could dispose of, either 
as owner or temporary agent “at a very reasonable 
figure.” Therefore, when the question was brought 
up, the leading citizens rose as one man, and 
called the attention of Mr. Hamilton to as many 
different sites for the new industry as there were 
public spirited parties present. I-t can readily be 
imagined that such an avalanche of locations was 
somewhat confusing to a stranger. Mr. Hamilton 
raised his hand as a signal for silence, and aft- 
nounced that he had suddenly decided to give 
the whole matter more thought, and that he did 
not care to consider the question of location any 
further just them. 
The delivery of this ultimatum had the desired 
effect, but as the leaders filed out of the room 
a certain coldness seemed to exist among them, 
a feeling singularly out of place among those 
laboring for the public good. During the after¬ 
noon Mr. Hamilton was quietly called upon at 
different times by each gentleman who had been 
present at the meeting and the same ground cov¬ 
ered again, individually. In every case, the “site” 
spoken of was “most advantageous,” and the 
price quoted “was made very reasonable, out of 
a desire to have the factory located in Dobbs¬ 
town.” The last caller left -Mr. Hamilton in 
the frame of mind commonly described as “sore,” 
and bearing the awful news that the factory 
owner had decided to locate, not in Dobbstown, 
but at Berwick, just over the line in the next 
county, and intended to drive over there the next 
morning. The announcement caused a shock in 
Dobbstown, but the Commercial Club rose 
grandly to the occasion, and the officers and lead¬ 
ing members called upon Mr. Hamilton at io 
o’clock that evening, carrying the message that 
it was their desire that he should leave their 
town knowing that the best wishes of that com¬ 
munity went with him, and that they, as repre¬ 
sentatives of that community, should have the 
honor of accompanying him on his farewell jour¬ 
ney. Mr. Hamilton accepted the offer graciously, 
and the three-seated carryall was ordered from 
the livery barn to be ready to start at 6 o'clock 
the following morning. 
To those who never knew Dobbstown and 
Dobbs county, much of the foregoing may seem 
tiresome, but it is necessary that you should 
know all of this that you may better understand 
the real character of Bob Mallory. All the while 
that the factory excitement had held almost 
everyone in Dobbstown in its grasp, be had not 
been down-town and was not in the least in¬ 
terested in any of the proceedings. If Bob had 
been a public spirited citizen, he might have fol¬ 
lowed the popular .fashion of calling upon Mr. 
Hamilton and offering to supply him with a site 
for the proposed factory, for Bob owned a five- 
acre patch of land just at the outskirts of the 
town, which served no better purpose than pasture 
for a Jersey cow which had been the milk supply 
for the Mallory family for many years. The 
milking of this same cow was a duty which had 
devolved upon Bob since the day she became the 
property of his father, and the question, “Who 
will milk Jersey?” had stood in the way of many 
a hunting or fishing expedition. On this'account, 
it may be correctly imagined, Bob did not value 
a private milk supply very highly. His sister, Mrs. 
Pettegrew, however, was the cow’s supporter in 
all controversies, and the keen business sense 
which she possessed and Bob did not, would 
never permit the cow to be disposed of while the 
bit of pasture land along the river remained in 
the possession of anyone of the family. There¬ 
fore, it may be seen that Bob’s “shif’lessness” 
was here' a barrier before him. 
Mr. Hamilton had noticed the bit of pasture 
land, during a drive in that direction, and had 
even gone so far as to inquire if it was for sale, 
but he was told that “The feller who owned it 
was a sort of a shif’less character who never 
showed any public spirit, an’ he probably would 
want two or three prices for it.” As the Mallory 
cow pasture was the only vacant piece of ground 
within a mile of the village which had not been 
offered for sale to Mr. Hamilton, and possessed 
every advantage, from water power to pure_ air, 
the mere novelty of the thing may have 
•had something to do with influencing Mr. Hamil¬ 
ton, but at any rate he was really favorably im¬ 
pressed with the Mallory property and probably 
would have looked up the owner had not the on¬ 
slaught of offers at the hotel so influenced him 
against Dobbstown that in his anxiety to leave 
that place the little cow pasture along the river 
was entirely forgotten. 
Under ordinary circumstances, the drive from 
Dobbstown to Berwick is a pleasant one, but even 
the efforts of his five companions to appear jovial 
did not lighten Mr. Hamilton’s spirits perceptibly 
as the party drove along the winding road 
