[The Shadow 95] • Death Rides the Skyway
![[The Shadow 95] • Death Rides the Skyway](/cover/BmqIbbfpn2gV0CCN/big/[The%20Shadow%2095]%20%e2%80%a2%20Death%20Rides%20the%20Skyway.jpg)
- Authors
- Grant, Maxwell
- Publisher
- Smith and Street
- Date
- 1936-02-01T00:00:00+00:00
- Size
- 0.15 MB
- Lang
- en
DEATH RIDES THE SKYWAY was originally published in the February 1, 1936 issue of The Shadow Magazine. The "Skyway" reference in the story title is the celebrated Pulaski Skyway, a recently-built (at the time), elevated freeway that leads from New Jersey into New York. And it's along this miles-long stretch of four-lane viaduct that death strikes. Can The Shadow prevent it from striking again and again? Our story opens in San Francisco as Miles Crofton, pilot and agent for The Shadow, has been in Chinatown meeting with Tam Sook. The character of Tam Sook, it may be remembered first appeared in the 1933 pulp novel "Six Men of Evil" and later in 1934 in "The Chinese Disks." This was Tam Sook's third and final appearance in The Shadow pulps. Technically, he doesn't appear; he is only referred to. Tam Sook has given Miles Crofton information about Seton Hylap, a wealthy San Francisco businessman. Tam Sook's knowledge far exceeds the confines of Chinatown, and he indicates that Seton Hylap is in danger. Mysterious figures watch in the darkness outside his house. Miles Crofton goes to investigate, but finds Seton Hylap gone. In an ensuing battle with unknown gunmen, The Shadow shows up to rescue Crofton. Seton Hylap's secretary, Danning, is mortally wounded, but gasps out that his master has secretly left for the East on the Typhoon, a new high-speed passenger train. Crofton pilots a plane out of San Francisco with The Shadow on board. They are racing eastward, in an attempt to intercept the train. They catch up with the train at the tiny town of Falko. The Shadow boards the train in the guise of Lamont Cranston, and Crofton remains behind with the plane. On board the train, The Shadow discovers that Seton Hylap is dead. Poisoned. Murdered! The reason for the murder, we soon discover, is that Seton Hylap was going to bail out the financially beleaguered K and R Railway. And someone doesn't want that to happen. Someone wants the K and R Railway to default on their loan so the company can be taken over by the Altamont Power Company. The deal could be worth many millions to the right man - the man responsible for Hylap's death. There's a thrilling encounter in the small town of Altamont, headquarters of the K and R Railway. The Shadow arrives shortly after Gifford Barbridge, President and general manager of the K and R, has been murdered. Dynamite charges set off a mammoth landslide deluging the office building, shattering the crude shack and burying it beneath an enormous mass of earth. Buried are Barbridge's body and all the evidence. The Shadow barely escapes his own death. All this happens in just the first six chapters. The action has just begun. The Shadow must track down the slim clues to find out who is behind the attempt to take over the K and R Railroad. Some ruthless figure will stop at nothing including murder - mass murder - to achieve his sinister ends. Certain wealthy men must have acquired a corner on Altamont Power. Which of them is behind these deadly schemes is something that only The Shadow can determine. Before his return to New York, The Shadow stops in Chicago to track down another possible lead. And in doing so, encounters death at the Coliseum Hotel. Then on to New York, where wealthy men are abducted and hidden away in an isolated country lodge in the Watchung Mountains in New Jersey. These men are shareholders in the Altamont Power Company, and are slated for death. A strange death on the Pulaski Skyway! Only The Shadow can save the lives of these innocents. Only The Shadow can reveal the true identity of the supercrook behind this diabolical scheme. And it will take all the cunning and stamina of The Shadow to fight off the cars full of gangsters and thugs who are out to protect that mastermind. The Shadow carries most of the action himself, with a little aid from his agents. Rutledge Mann shows up, assisting in tracking down names of stockholders in Altamont Power. Reporter Clyde Burke shows up at police headquarters and tips The Shadow off to the latest developments. Clever spotter Hawkeye and underworld denizen Cliff Marsland assist in the search for the thugs that The Shadow encountered in Chicago. Harry Vincent keeps an eye on suspected shareholders of Alamont Power who live in Manhattan. Moe Shrevnitz helps deliver the agents to the hot spots before the police arrive. Law enforcement officers who appear in this story are Acting Inspector Joe Cardona and Detective Sergeant Markham. Also some unnamed state police from New Jersey show up at the rousing climax. Commissioner Weston is mentioned, but doesn't actually appear in this story. Most of the time, The Shadow appears in his black garb. He does appear in the feigned guise of Lamont Cranston, millionaire globe-trotter, a passenger on the train rushing eastward. And he gets to don the disguise of Tony Pascini, a small-time hoodlum who hasn't been seen for nearly a year. It's always good to see our master of disguise get a chance to exercise his skill a bit. We get to visit the sanctum several times, and get to see The Shadow use the jet-black filing cabinet that contains his records. It doesn't get mention in too many of the pulp mysteries, so deserves mention, here. There is one derogatory term used for Mexicans in this story, and it's spoken by The Shadow. But he's in disguise as Tony Pascini when he speaks it, and I'm sure it was spoken only in order to stay in character. By today's standards, freeway speeds of sixty-five miles per hour are normal. So it was surprising to read that on the "high-speed" elevated highway known as the Pulaski Skyway, the maximum speed was forty miles per hour. Yes, forty miles per hour! And at one point, a character chaffs at having to slow down to thirty five. A four-lane super highway. It all goes to point out how much things have changed. During an early season of The Shadow's radio broadcasts, there was an episode with the same title as this novel. "Death Rides The Skyway" was broadcast on November 5, 1937, about a year and a half after this magazine story was published. The two plots had nothing in common, though. The radio drama used the term "skyway" to mean "air lanes," not the famed elevated freeway. It was the story of two foreign agents as they wreaked aerial havoc with their Vibro-Transmitter. The radio scriptwriter just appropriated the pulp title from the previous magazine issue. No mad scientists in this one. No ghosts. No megalomaniac trying to take over the world. Just a good solid crime adventure, with The Shadow in top form. A fun pulp to read.