The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-08-23
Thc california Iloodlum.

The California Hoodlum.
The Metropolitan press still continue
to give Dennis Kearnney the benei! Of
their columns in the way Of free adver-
tisement. Their comments are but the
evidsuce that the great California agita-
tor, projected from the slumS Of San
FfanciscO into the political heavens oil
the Western Slope, with all the whizzing
and whirring Of an ascending rocket,
dazzling the eyes Of his compeers with
d suffering brilliuncy, is fast making his
descent upon the Eastern Slope in the
shape Of a very ordinary stick.
Undcr the caption "out Of his Own
Place" the Chicago Times talks thus Of
the Swearing Communist who has essay.
ed in the Eas. to be a practical expOunder
Ofthe principles OF the cOckeyed Navarro
Of Massachusetts.
ain every small circle OF society there
il usually found some one person who 10
tacitly recognized as leader, or looked
upon by the Lesser ones as the "big toad
in tie puddle" His greatness is in the
inverse degree Of the littlene4s oil the
other toAds. Thus il generally happens,
when the other toads are so small as to
be hardly visible to persons at 4 distance,
that the big toad appears 10 them much
larger than be really Is. Hearing no
other voice but his, and seeing that be Is
the recognized boss toad In that puddle
people are prone TO think oil him as
colossal batrachian. But enlarge his OF.
bit, place him in alarger community, and
the mirage OF his greatness diminishes
until il is discovered that he is very
common croskcr. :,
So with the San Francisco "hoodlum,"
the proiane blaCkguard called Dennis
Kearney. Among the peculiar rntbans
and black guards that thrive in Califor'
MIA this fellow gained great influence
and repule as a leader. lie appears to
have been pretty we'll fitted by nature
and education 10 inllams q mob Of ig.
norant wild Irishmen against "heathens"
who work for low wages, live on rice and
say their prayers to hideous wooden i'm
ages. All the conditions in California
we're favorable 10 the development OF
this material fitness to enthuse rabble
Of ignorant, superstitious and intolerant
blacEguards. The result was the deyel.
opment OF the blSCkguard Kearney from
II respectable drayman into disreputa'
bic chief OF political "hoodlums."
Looking at him from the eastern side
Of the Rocky Mountains, this blather.
skite chief Of California "hoodlums"
seemed to loom up tremendously. The
press magnitied his greatness, as 1t Ia apt
10 do. The communists and labor dem
agogues hailed him aiar of as deliver
er, and invited him TO come over and
play Muses. for them on this side OF the
mountains. That the head OF the hood.
lum blatherskite was turned by the I'm.
looked for discovery Of his own greatness
there can be no doubt. He would not
else have committed the blunder OF &C
cepting the invitation. As he crossed the
Rocky Mountains, the shadow Of This sup
posed greatness oyerspresd the land even
TO the shore Of the Atlantic. But no
sooner had he arrived there than those
who expected to greer political Goliath
began to perceive that the great "labor
reform" agilAlor Of the Pacific slope was
nothing but londmouthed San Francis.
co "ho0dlum," whose only strong point
waa declnmatory blackguardism.
The progress Of this vehement blather-
Ikite from Boston TO indianapolis has
been marked by series Of disappointed
great expectations. Every harangue be
has delivered has had the effect OF dis
pelliDg Some part Of the popular delusion
which pictured him as puissant leader
in great social agitation. The portent.
ouS shadow Of the notoriety which pre-
ceeded him from the Pacific coast has
grown "smsll by degrees and beautifully
less The ridiculous failure Of his
Indianapolis demonstration last Sunday
seem, to have reduced the foul mouthed
"hoodlum" 10 the status Of contemplate
ity even among those who were strongly
prejudlced in his favor. sActual contact
with the supposed giant proved him TO be
ridiculous dwarf, remarkable only for
the violence OF his blaspbemous TRADE.
"The speech was 4 ish woman effort in
every respect" says one nearer, and the
proof Of the statement furnished by 4
report Of the senseless haraugue is sim.
pie.
II Is evident that in leaving California
to exploit himself in wider field this
hoodlum hero made the greatest mistake
OF his life. Had he staid in California,
the mirage Of an unenyiable greatness
might surround the fellow still. But In
vsnIuring out OF his own. place he has
given al opportunity for measurement
10 prove that lie is only another contempt.
ible humbug made great by the glamour
Of an unenyiAble local notoriety."