Chapter Seventy-Nine
Shiloh was glad she chose to leave the train with the children and Amalee. Once the children we're allowed to run free in what barely passed as a park, it was very obvious they had been feeling too cooped up. She was also glad she took them to the park last, because there was little to no grass. The children ended up quite dirty. Even so, Shiloh would happily bathe her children before bed. At the moment, she was content to watch them play while she took the time to write another letter to Adam. She would leave out the part about the Indians and concentrate on the lovely day they were having today. Her writing stopped for a moment as she remembered they would be in New York in only a few more days.
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Adam stood behind the courthouse, one arm crossing his chest, the opposite elbow resting on it, and fingers around his chin, looking at the ground up to the back foundation of the courthouse. Without saying a word, he walked around the building and went in, down the stairs and gave the back inside wall of the basement the same gaze.
Albert Kelley cleared his throat. "You should be looking the crack. That part of the wall could collapse any minute."
Giving him an annoyed look, Adam said, "Let it. It's demolition work we won't have to do."
Albert gave a quick nod, clasped his hands behind his back and stood quietly.
As Adam walked forward to look closely at the wall, he explained, "I'm more interested in saving the entire back wall. If we take down the corner, the rest of this wall could crack and fall. We can't put pressure on it from this side or from the bottom, so we'll have to be careful when we start undercutting it to remove the sand and add the rock strata."
"Strata. What do you mean by strata?" asked Bernard Hall, Albert's engineer. "We're not at a geological site."
"Ah, but we are," said Adam. "Earthquakes are geological functions. To understand how to beat them, we have to understand how they move, so we can build a foundation that will withstand a moderate quake."
"Shouldn't we be building to beat a more than moderate quake?" asked Bernard.
Looking him square in the eye, Adam asked, "And just how would you do that? A moderate quake would level more than half this city. The quakes we've been having are nothing compared to what we could see. Anything more than moderate will reclaim the parts of this city that was ocean only a few years ago. Whatever is left standing will burn because of broken gas lines."
Bernard walked up to Adam, standing next to him and looking up at the building above them. "So how do we begin?"
"Well, the first thing we do is dig out behind the building and stabilize the ground back here, so it doesn't slide. When we get to the building, we'll remove the dirt under half the back wall and install supports as we go, remove the other half and install supports, and continue to remove ground, increasing the space between the supports little by little until we've got the entire building excavated and supported. Then we'll replace the wooden supports with iron supports and start filling in with packed rock and dirt. As we move outward, we'll use bigger and bigger rocks and boulders and pack around them, then we'll build a wall to hold it all in. That will be the back wall that supports the back of the building," he said, tapping his fingers on the existing back wall. "After that, we'll build a wall further out and fill it in all the way up to the back of the building, so that what we've placed under the building can't move. And that way, there's nowhere for the building to slide. Then and only then will we tear down the corner and rebuild it." Adam headed to the front of the building, but kept speaking. "Al, I'll want mostly your men on this project. They need to learn what it takes to support buildings in this city. We'll use two of my foremen…two men who have done similar work. The same men will rebuild the back corner." Adam stopped and turned.
"Is that all right with you?" asked Adam.
"I want one of my foremen here as well. He'll benefit from this kind of work as much as the men who usually do the work," said Albert.
Adam smiled and scratched his nose. "It wouldn't hurt for you to participate in some of this as well."
"I was hoping I could work directly with you…when you work on a building," said Albert.
"Al, when's the last time you worked on one of your buildings?" asked Adam.
Al's eyes moved up. He took a deep breath before he answered, "It's been a while."
"Mm hm," said Adam as he turned and walked up the bank to the front of the building. "Let's get back to the office. We have some plans to draw."
"We?" asked Albert, hurrying to catch up.
Adam smiled and shook his head. "We."
Beau had followed them to the back of the building. He listened when Adam was going over what had to be done to support the building. When Adam discussed who would be doing the work and who would be foreman, Beau watched for Albert and Bernard's reactions. It was clear Bernard resented Adam's expertise. And it was just as obvious Albert had had no intention to do actual work in the beginning. It was also apparent Adam expected them to try to catch up to him.
Beau quietly followed them to the buggy and climbed into the back with Bernard while Adam and Albert sat in front and discussed the schedule for this job. Once at the office, he recused himself to the back room to look up Greek and Roman foundations.
After an hour in Adam's office, Bernard and Albert left to set up their own offices in the same building.
Adam went in search of Beau. "I didn't expect to find you back here," he said.
Beau's nose was buried in one of the books. "Why not? This is interesting reading."
Straightening, Adam smiled. "Oh. What's so interesting?"
"What they were able to accomplish without modern technics," answered Beau without looking up. "We can't even do some of this today."
"Well, we can with mathematics. The problem is that not many builders think about looking at the Greeks and Romans. If you haven't noticed, most of the construction described in these books is done with some type of rock and mortar. Men have found it easier…lighter… to use wood. It's more easily available. But wood burns, and it's not as strong as rock. You don't find many old ruins of wood. Most ancient ruins are stone."
Beau nodded. "That makes sense. I expect today it has a lot to do with time and money."
Laughing, Adam said, "You're right about that."
"Adam!" called Bart. He poked his head through the door. "There you are. There's a man here looking for you. He seems real upset."
Adam's brow furrowed as his lips drew into a frown. He closed the book he was flipping through and followed Bart out of the back room as the man approached him.
"Are you Adam Cartwright?"
"I am. Who are you?" Adam asked.
"I work for David Petrie. We have a furnace that's collapsed. There were a lot of men still inside chases. He sent me to get you."
"We don't have any expertise on furnaces that size," said Adam. "What's the problem?"
"I told you, the chases collapsed. Mr. Petrie looked at it and asked for you. That's all I know."
Adam looked back at Beau and nodded toward the door, then asked the man, "Where we going?" He heard "Donahue Foundry" just as the man walked through the door.
When they arrived at the foundry, Adam could see where the stacks near the furnace had collapsed. "Stay here," he said to Beau.
Looking at the intensity on Adam's face, he asked, "Can't I help?"
"I don't know that anyone can help." Turning back toward Beau, Adam moved his hands to Beau's arms and squeezed. "Stay back here. Don't come any closer." With that, Adam trotted down the side of the building and ducked into a door.
Beau wasn't about to stand there without either finding out what was wrong or going back to the office for Robert Slater. Twisting his mouth, he thought about the repercussions if he disobeyed that kind of a warning from his father. As he thought, his feet were already moving slowly backward. His brain finally caught up with his feet when his body turned, and in unison with his feet, he tore out for the office.
Robert had arrived just a few moments before Beau ran through the doorway. "Mr. Slater," Beau said almost out of breath. "My father was called to the foundry because the chases collapsed. When we got there, he went in and told me not to follow him. By the look on his face, I'm worried he might not be coming out."
"With good reason," said Robert. "You did what you should've. Now, show me where he went in." Robert stopped Beau at the door as he turned back. "Bart, Terry, go find one of our foremen…Stephens would be best. Send him to the foundry with some of his men."
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As they walked back to the train, Shiloh holding each little hand on either side of her, she thought how happy her children seemed at the moment. Especially Anna who hadn't disagreed about anything all day. Her smile changed to a frown when Aaron stopped and tugged on her hand.
"What is it, Aaron? Do you have stone in your shoe?" asked Shiloh.
Aaron shook his head and pointed at a man who had been near them all day. "He…he…here aw day."
Shiloh stopped walking, stooped down and pulled both children in front of her. "That man is Douglas Allen. He's with Pinkerton's who has been hired to take care of us until we get to New York. His job is to follow us to make sure we're safe. Do you understand?"
"But Da make safe," Aaron said quietly.
"Your father will make us safe when he gets to New York," said Shiloh as she ruffled Aaron's hair. "But while he's in San Francisco, the Pinkerton's make sure we're safe."
At the beginning of the conversation, Anna bowed her head remembering her father wasn't with them and began to softly cry.
Pulling her into a hug, Shiloh kissed the top of her head, the only place that wasn't covered with dirt, and whispered, "We'll be in New York in a few days, and then Daddy won't be far behind." She pulled Aaron to her as well and kissed him. "Now, we need to get back to the train, and once you two have had a bath, we can have some dinner. After that, you both can draw a picture to send to your father. How does that sound?"
Both children nodded solemnly as Shiloh stood. She reached down for their hands and continued their short walk back to the train. While Amalee took the children on board, Shiloh waited for Mr. Allen to catch up. "Would you be so kind as to post this letter?" asked Shiloh. Looking up at the sky, she added, "I do hope I haven't waited too late."
Allen held out his hand. "I'm sure I can make it before the post office closes."
Giving him a wide smile, she thanked him before she turned to board the train.
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Robert, his foreman, Jude Stephens, and eight Slater and Cartwright men entered Donahue's Foundry through the same door Beau had seen Adam enter through.
"Adam Cartwright!" yelled Robert as he looked up at what remained of the stacks that sent smoke from the furnace up and out of the roof of the building. Along side the stacks were chases where the men who supervised each pour could move up and down along side to ensure there were no blockages in the spout of the bucket that could cause a stray column of hot molten iron falling to the floor of the foundry outside of the mold. The stacks had fallen along with a large part of the room. The chase had fallen as well, each level sandwiched on top of the lower level. The mold had cracked and hot iron was leaking dangerously close to the chase.
Robert and Stephens moved closer to the chase. "Adam!"
"Mister, you need to stay back. That chase could collapse at any moment, and the only way it can fall is on top of the mold."
"I'm Robert Slater…Slater and Cartwright. I'm looking for our engineer."
"Mr. Cartwright is in the chase surveying how to get the men out without collapsing it. We have five men trapped further down in the chase."
At that moment, Robert heard Adam's voice. "We need to get cables over the stable supports up top. Then we have to weave them down through the chase to expand it enough to get those men out."
"Adam! I'm here with Stephens and some of his men. Where do you want them?" yelled Robert.
Looking down from the roof, Adam yelled. "Send Jude and five of his men up the stairs on the other side of the building to the roof. Tell them to bring up the ropes at the foot of the stairs!"
"What else do you need?" yelled Robert.
"Donahue's headed toward the main entrance. There's a crowd growing. You need to be standing next to him to explain what's happening."
"I'm on my way!" yelled Robert before he turned back toward the door he entered through. He knew it would take less time to go down the sidewalk to the front of the building. It would be a straight shot as opposed to dodging equipment and fallen stacks to get there.
When Robert arrived, Donahue immediately recognized him, extending his hand and pulling him to his side through those surrounding him. "What's happening?" he asked.
"They're moving the cables up over the supports in the roof. They'll be weaving them down through the supports in the chases to expand them so they can get your men out. I brought one of our foremen and some men to help."
Even as Donahue held Robert's hand, his other hand went to Robert's other arm and squeezed. "I knew I could count on you and Cartwright to know what to do. He's a good man to have around."
"They're not out of danger yet," said Robert. "That mold is cracked, so some of the molten metal is leaking. It's too close to the chases to use water to cool it. The steam will cook those men alive, so your men are trying to dam it up before it gets close enough to the chases to start a fire."
