The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1880-11-12
ELECTION DAY AT MENTOR.
How President Garfield Received tn
News of His Election.
Mentor tohiol Cor. ohicago Trbun

| forward to the judges, rendered an open ballot,
and the name of J. A. Garfield was recorded on
| the poll-books. From the voting-place the
General and doctor drove to the cheese factory,
and, looking over the account of their dairy
| products for the past month and giving dlrec-
tions in regard to their winter butter, they re-
turned home again. Another batch of letters
| had arrived meanwhile, as also a dozen or more
| kilograms, and these were hastily examined.
AS early as o'clock this afternoon kilograms
from various parties began to come in, con-
graduating the General in advance upon his
| election.
Ii conversation the General said: 81 have
not allowed myself to make any definite opinion
IN regard to the result 1t will be close cleo
| tion. Things seem to be with us, and l hope
| for the bes, but we cannot tell till tomorrow.
About half an hour before the closing of the
/ polls the General sat himself down to answer
| the mportantletters that had come to hand dur
ing the day. The first letter read and answered
was from Vice President Wheeler. He said that
the votes were changing fast in New York,
| and prOphesled that the State would go for
Garfield. Then came an important summing
| of affairs in two letters from New HAMPSHIRE
! one from Gen. E. S. Myer and the other from
| w. E. Chandler. They called attention to the
exciting closeness of things there, and sail that
in case Indiana had gone Democratic there
would have been little chance for them to re-
|
fdent.
After having voted in their respective pre-
| cincts some of Gen. Garfields 0ld-tme friends
began to gather at his residence later in the day.
Hon. Harmon Austin, of Warren, who had al
| ways been at once father and brother to the
| General, had written him, some days before
that the greatest ambition of his life was to be
at Mentor on the night of election and
hear the news as it came. Capt. G.
E. Henry, of Cleveland, when asked by
your correspondent, yesterday, whether he
should be here, said eff 1 thought there was
possibility of the defeat of the Republican
ticket l should be there to console the General
but, as know he will be elected, there will be
enough to congratulate him."
A very interesting incident was given your
correspondent by Mr.. J. H. Rhodes. who is now
prominent attorney of Cleveland. He was
professor at Hiram when Gen. Garfield was
| President there, and afterward followed him to
Williams Mr.. Rhodes said:
81 well remember twenty years ago tonight,
and just what Gen. Garfield was doing then.
We we're together at Hiram. Garfield had JUS
| bought horse and buggy. He had, as l now
| well remember, run in debt for a considerable,
| portion of the pay. We were very much inter
ested at the result of the pending election :
| and after talking the matter over we went ovel
| to his house, and ourselves haTnessed the
horse to the buggy and drove to Ravenna. al
distance of fourteen miles, to await the news
We took our places at the Cleyel; nd and
Pittsburgh depot, where q small kno'
of the prominent politicians Of the county had
| already gathered, and there we atiently aw; IL
ed the arrival of news. 1t was past midnight
before anything satisfactory came. Finally 3
| dispatch was heard running over tie wires from
the Hon. William HI. Seward Ia, lincoln. saying
that New York had gone Republican. This We
| thought practically settled the thing and sc
| O1Ipb on hnOUxr md OF a1 Ia,
again. We arrived in Hiram at about O'Clock
in the morning, and were ready for or classes
the next day."
1t is not necessary to comment on the won.
| derfully changed situation of Gen. Garfield to-
day. Here he is in the place of Lincoln. and
he awaits the decisive dispatch from New YORK
which shall settle the question in this ne,
less decisive and important c.isis, after twent,
years of terribly evertful history has been
| written.
One of the most int, resting incidents of thu
day here was the bringing out of the eight oiG
men of the township, all over so years old.
The General sent his carriage with his white
team to bring them to the polls and some one
| else contributed another team, thus making {
| four-in-hand. The campaign cavalry of the
village accompanied them, and they cast eight
straight Republican votes The Oldest of these
men was over 100. He is hale and hearty, and
giving three cheers for Garfield, said lie ex-
pected to live to vote for him four years hence
In the evening carly the reports began to
| come in. The first bulletin from New YORK
said that the city would only give Hancock
$4,000. "Well have the State, then, sure, l.
the city only gives that much, said the Gen
eral Before he was through speaking another
bulletin said there would be only As, 900 AM
the audience cheered The General, near the
principal operator, himself read the t6legl ans
as they came in. The little office at the rear OF
| fho ,ryn1 xTifl. frfn Il,
neighbors, who appreciated the good
news as it came, and discussed it with
intelligence. The first Dispatch of interest
came from Secretary Dorsey, and read: ''This
city gives about 40, 900 for Hancock The ma
jority for you in the State will be 10000. The
news from Maine and Jersey is good"
Soon came one from Senator Blaine, which
read, "Maine has given handsome majority
over all. Will send Details"
At 1854 p. m. came the following from New
York, which the General passed over to friend
| to read
IA. GARFIELD: We reverently hail you as the
twentieth President OF the United States
j. G. HOWARD,
WM, MAYER,
| g. ". HOOKER.
cit is too early for that" said the General,
modesty, but his friends insisted that it was all
right, and might as well come now.
At o'clock dispatch was received from G.
lie
whom the General explained was a beloved
classmate It said: 'The thing is done, and
done magnifcently. New York is good for over
10000 majority. The solid North sends hearth
est congratulations to you, sincerest gratitude
to the American people, and to the Oliver OF all
good"
Here is a report from old Portage county, -"
said the General, as he read the following
"Thirty-fve gain over October. Outrageous
| detraction rebuked."
By this time the kilograms came in every
minute, and the operators were exceedingly
busy. At 10 o'clock the General. with paper
in his hand on which he had been figuring,
said: awe have not heard from the Pacific
| States at all. If we have New York, as it seems
that we have, we can give the Pacific States,
New Jersey, Connecticut, and the solid South,
and still beat them"
Several of his friends remarked that they
were not going to have it so close as that.
The Generals little boys, who had made
themselves very busy all the evening in carry
| ing chairs from the house and looking after the
| guests. at about o'clock brought IN pail OF
line apples, at the Generals suggestion, and
| passed them around.
At length, after it was pretty well settled how
! New York was going, the General remarked !:
"The drift of things this evening seems to me
| TO mean the people of this country have de-
| cided to stand by first, the nationality of this
| Government; second, the honest administra-
ton of affairs and hone st financial legislation /;
third, nothing that shall narrow and disgrace
national politics by a campaign of personal
| abuse"
1t was universally remarked all through the
evening that Gen. Garfield was the coolest man
| IN the room.
spoke to him on this subject, and he said !:
sit is much different with me from the man
who feels like rejoicing over the general result,
and then knows that his responsibility ends 1
see before me the great responsibility of the
Office in case l am elected, and it makes me
! feel truly solemn. / rejoice at the success OF
the party, while tremble at what it means to
! me-"
Finally, the General asked if any one had
| thought of what wonderful thing this matter
| of voting is "Every time the pendulum has
/ swung to-day about 200 ballots have been
| dropped that is Il, 900 a minute, and 100000
| an hour. What grand aggregation of intelli-
gent will would each one of these convey the
| Honest convictions of him who casts it !"
Among some of the more interesting dis
patches that we're received, the following may
/ be quoted:
| CINc1NNATI, O.-Draw on Hamilton county for
! 1929 majority, and we will honor the draft.
| t. CARSON.
| PA1SEsvILLE, O-Now is the winter of our dis
| content made glorious summer by the Of Orange
| A. L. TINKER.
verses and 7. Family sends congratulations
FRANK C. BURT.
| FREMONT, O.-My heartiest congratulations. God
| bless you. R. B. HAYES
At 1918 the following was received from