Free Gump & Co. by Winston Groom Page A

me into the blockhouse just before dark, where there is a big heap of machinery with a bunch of pipes an dials an gauges, an he begun to explain to us how the thing works.
    ‘First,’ he says, ‘the methane gas is released from the mine shaft through this pipe, an a flame ignites it here.’ He points to what look like a big ole hot water heater. ‘Then,’ he says, ‘the condenser gets the steam compressed an it turns this generator, which makes electricity that moves out through these wires, and that’s where the power comes from.’ He stands back, grinnin from ear to ear.
    ‘This is wonderful!’ cries Mister McGivver. ‘Edison,Fulton, Whitney, Einstein – none of them have done better!’
    Little Forrest suddenly begun turnin valves an handles an thowin switches, an pretty soon the needles on the pressure gauges begun to climb an the meters on the wall begun to turn around. All of a sudden, lights flickered on in the blockhouse an we is all jumpin for joy. Mister McGivver rushes outside an begun to holler – all the lights in the house an barns be on, bright as day, an in the distance we can see lights comin on in Coalville, too.
    ‘Eureeka!’ shouts Mister McGivver. ‘We have turned a sow’s ear into a silk purse, an we are now eatin high on the hog!’
    Anyhow, next day little Forrest got me back into the blockhouse an begun showin me how the operation ran. He explained all the valves an gauges an meters, an after a while, they didn’t seem so hard to understand. I just had to check it all once a day an make sure that one or two of the gauges was not registerin more than they should be, an that this or that valve was turned on or off. I guess Mister McGivver was right, even a idiot like me could run this thing.
    ‘There is somethin else I been thinkin about,’ little Forrest says at supper that night.
    ‘What is that, my brilliant lad?’ says Mister McGivver.
    ‘Well, I been thinking. You said you were having to slow down the breeding a little bit cause there are just so many hogs you can sell in Wheeling and the other places around here.’
    ‘That is correct.’
    ‘So what I’m thinking is, why not ship the hogs overseas? South America, Europe – even China?’
    ‘Ah, well, my boy,’ says Mister McGivver, ‘that is another fine idea. The problem is, it costs so much to ship hogs that it becomes uneconomical. I mean, timeyou get em to some foreign port, the shipping costs eat up your profit.’
    ‘That’s what I been thinkin about,’ he says, an he pulls out the little composition book, an damned if they ain’t another whole section of sketches he’s drawn.
    ‘Fantastic! Unbelievable! Terrific!’ Mister McGivver cries, leaping up. ‘Why you should be in the Congress or something!’
    Little Forrest has been at it again. He has done sketched a model of a hog transport ship. I did not understand all of it exactly, but the gist of it is this: Inside the ship the hogs is kept in layers from top to bottom. The flooring is nothin but heavy mesh steel, an so when the hogs on the top layer shit, it drops on the second layer an the second on the third an so on, until finally all the hog shit winds up in the bottom of the boat, where there is a machine like we have made here that runs the entire ship.
    ‘So the energy costs are virtually nil!’ Mister McGivver roars. ‘Why, think of the possibilities! Shipping hogs for less than half the normal cost! This is simply amazing! Whole fleets of ships powered by shit! And it doesn’t have to stop there, either! Think of it – trains, planes, airplanes! All of it! Even washers and dryers and television sets! Screw atomic energy. This may usher in a whole new era!’ He is so excited he is now wavin his hands, an for a minute I worry he is gonna have a fit or somethin.
    ‘I’m gonna turn this over to somebody first thing in the mornin,’ Mister McGivver says. ‘But first, I want to make an announcement. Gump, you have been so helpful around