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As
the
sole
result
of
official
investigations
,
two
bridges
across
the
Mississippi
,
belonging
to
smaller
railroads
,
were
condemned
.
One
of
the
railroads
went
out
of
business
;
the
other
closed
a
branch
line
,
tore
up
its
rail
and
laid
a
track
to
the
Mississippi
bridge
of
Taggart
Transcontinental
;
so
did
the
Atlantic
Southern
.
The
great
Taggart
Bridge
at
Bedford
,
Illinois
,
had
been
built
by
Nathaniel
Taggart
.
He
had
fought
the
government
for
years
,
because
the
courts
had
ruled
,
on
the
complaint
of
river
shippers
,
that
railroads
were
a
destructive
competition
to
shipping
and
thus
a
threat
to
the
public
welfare
,
and
that
railroad
bridges
across
the
Mississippi
were
to
be
forbidden
as
a
material
obstruction
;
the
courts
had
ordered
Nathaniel
Taggart
to
tear
down
his
bridge
and
to
carry
his
passengers
across
the
river
by
means
of
barges
.
He
had
won
that
battle
by
a
majority
of
one
voice
on
the
Supreme
Court
.
His
bridge
was
now
the
only
major
link
left
to
hold
the
continent
together
.
His
last
descendant
had
made
it
her
strictest
rule
that
whatever
else
was
neglected
,
the
Taggart
Bridge
would
always
be
maintained
in
flawless
shape
.
The
steel
shipped
across
the
Atlantic
by
the
Bureau
of
Global
Relief
had
not
reached
the
People
’
s
State
of
Germany
.
It
had
been
seized
by
Ragnar
Danneskjold
—
but
nobody
heard
of
it
outside
the
Bureau
,
because
the
newspapers
had
long
since
stopped
mentioning
the
activities
of
Ragnar
Danneskjold
.
It
was
not
until
the
public
began
to
notice
the
growing
shortage
,
then
the
disappearance
from
the
market
of
electric
irons
,
toasters
,
washing
machines
and
all
electrical
appliances
,
that
people
began
to
ask
questions
and
to
hear
whispers
.
They
heard
that
no
ship
loaded
with
d
’
Anconia
copper
was
able
to
reach
a
port
of
the
United
States
;
it
could
not
get
past
Ragnar
Danneskjold
.
In
the
foggy
winter
nights
,
on
the
waterfront
,
sailors
whispered
the
story
that
Ragnar
Danneskjold
always
seized
the
cargoes
of
relief
vessels
,
but
never
touched
the
copper
:
he
sank
the
d
’
Anconia
ships
with
their
loads
;
he
let
the
crews
escape
in
lifeboats
,
but
the
copper
went
to
the
bottom
of
the
ocean
.
They
whispered
it
as
a
dark
legend
beyond
men
’
s
power
to
explain
;
nobody
could
find
a
reason
why
Danneskjold
did
not
choose
to
take
the
copper
.
In
the
second
week
of
February
,
for
the
purpose
of
conserving
copper
wire
and
electric
power
,
a
directive
forbade
the
running
of
elevators
above
the
twenty
-
fifth
floor
.
The
upper
floors
of
the
buildings
had
to
be
vacated
,
and
partitions
of
unpainted
boards
went
up
to
cut
off
the
stairways
.
By
special
permit
,
exceptions
were
granted
—
on
the
grounds
of
"
essential
need
"
—
to
a
few
of
the
larger
business
enterprises
and
the
more
fashionable
hotels
.
The
tops
of
the
cities
were
cut
down
.
The
inhabitants
of
New
York
had
never
had
to
be
aware
of
the
weather
.
Storms
had
been
only
a
nuisance
that
slowed
the
traffic
and
made
puddles
in
the
doorways
of
brightly
lighted
shops
.
Stepping
against
the
wind
,
dressed
in
raincoats
,
furs
and
evening
slippers
,
people
had
felt
that
a
storm
was
an
intruder
within
the
city
.
Now
,
facing
the
gusts
of
snow
that
came
sweeping
down
the
narrow
streets
,
people
felt
in
dim
terror
that
they
were
the
temporary
intruders
and
that
the
wind
had
the
right
-
of
-
way
.
"
It
won
’
t
make
any
difference
to
us
now
,
forget
it
,
Hank
,
it
doesn
’
t
matter
,
"
said
Dagny
when
Rearden
told
her
that
he
would
not
be
able
to
deliver
the
rail
;
he
had
not
been
able
to
find
a
supplier
of
copper
.
"
Forget
it
,
Hank
.
"
He
did
not
answer
her
.
He
could
not
forget
the
first
failure
of
Rearden
Steel
.
