Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-08-09
rom the Daily of Friday.

From the Daily of Friday
The Morrissey Reform Club.
Last night those Reformers, Sitting
B. Evans, Major Ballingall, Jim Haw-
ley, Jno. o. Briscoe, Uncle Dan, 10
kiser, a few other sachems, and a
fair sprinkling of the rank and file,
met at their new headquarters on
Main ST., for the purpose of dedica-
ting the aforesaid hall. The room is
profusely decorated with colored It's
sue paper, cheap prints and toy flags
in accordance with the taste of that
executive committee, and looks like a
country school-house prepared for a
4th fully Grafton.
o. D. Tisdale, that great and nota-
BILE reformer, who has attempted to
reform every political party that ever
had any existence i'm this country
since he was born, called the meeting
to order.
Major Ballingall arose i'm his place,
and commenced speech that was Pc
culiar only to himself He said the
Democracy did not propose to carry
the election in this State this Fall, but
they wanted to show the Republicans
that they were on their muscle, and
proposed to fight them bitterly. He
made an apology for being Demo.
crat, although he said he was proud
OF the party. They now had place
of meeting Of their own to which
there was no back door and only one
pair of stairs. The hall was good
enough, but if the Republicans got
one as good he would get better one
if it took all summer.
The bloody shirt bothered this
great soldier and patriot and he tore
its CORY, tattered fragments all to
pieces and finished his speech by say.
ing that the Republicans had gone
South to fight enemies, and Demo.
Gratis had been compelled to fight
their friends. 1t was rambling dis
jointed speech, abundantly inter-
spersed with Shakespeare and Scrip
ture mixed, and pathetic in the ex-
treme. He finished four or five
times and finally quit talking.
The Mayor, Hon. O'Dan, then re-
sumed the thread of the Majors re.
marks and endeavored to infuse some
enthusiasm into the funeral. He
prefaced his remarks by requesting
the permission of swearing anew his
allegiance to the party of patriotic
reformers, slobbered all over the Ma.
jor about the decorations of the
Hall, told few stories, and paid his
respects to the COURIER reporter per-
sonally, as usual. He directed the
audience to go forth into the streets
and inform the Republicans that the
Morrissey Reformers proposed to
make that little spot the hottest place
on earth, and that every nail in the
building, before the campaign was
over would be a Democratic Jews
harp.
Hawley was called on for speech
but as usual when he did not want to
say anything got out of it by one of
his quiet lodges that was passed by
without notice.
Briscoe was called out and in a
short speech settled the election
business for this fall by tell
ing the hearers that the DEM
ocrats were going to carry the
county without doubt. That last fall
they had divided honors with their
and to Center township
alone, belonged all that honor.
Some other gentlemen were called
for but they had had speaking enough
and Briscoe supplemented his speech
with motion to appoint commit
tee to draft a constitution and bylaws
to report at the next meeting. They
will hereafter meet on Thursday
night, at which time this committee
of Briscoe, Hawley, Evans,
McCue and Durfee are to report
They adopted uniform, which is to
be Continental hat, of black oil cloth
bound with white, with feather
from a ganders wing for plume
The cape is also Of black oil cloth,
trimmed with white, and white col
lar turned back.
Sitting Il. set back in his quarters
and directed all the movements from
his council tent without exposing
to ridicule or danger. The
meeting was barren of results and
had more the appearance of child's
play than anything else.
Thus the Morrissey Reform Club
was inaugurated last night and Major
Ballingall was as happy as pullet over
Its first egg. That egg will hatch out
. president about the same time that
: crazy old goose in the upper end of
town prodaces a gosling from an old
white porcelain door knob, on which
the has been faithfully setting all
summer.
L. Q. G. Lamar, of Mississippi, who
eft his seat in Congress to 90 into