Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1882-09-26
Readjuster Speaking.

Readjuster Speaking.
Thursday night was one of elemental turbu-
ence and terrene discord added. AS darkness
threw her sable drapery DER the city to the
music Of muttering thunder. the discordant
wailing of the Red Leaf Band, which Oft ana
anon vexes the sensitive ears of our afnicted |
taught us that there was polltlcs I
abroad as well as thunder and lightning, ana
rumor spread the news that Johnee wise was
going to deliver himself of one OF his chaste |
and impassioned efforts from the front portico
of the Virginia Hotel. Hither went the Red
Leaf blowing with patriotic vigor, each ana
every member playing in distinct and sepa.
rate kew as 1t became Liberals to do, and sat
irizing with terrific effect the very name OF
music Johnnie and select circle OF admirers
were waiting on the porch, and as the last
hoarse and cracked blast Of the asthmatic
band trembIed into a wished-for silence, Mr..
VIM. E. Craig lifted up his tuneful voice,
and on the heels Of far-away and rumbling
thunder peal, announced to the crowd that
he had the honor to present to them the
distinguished orator and champion, Mr.. John
8. Wise. Mr.. Wise then opened fire with vo-
cal power and resonance and far-reaching vol
ume that would have made the enduring for
tune of thousand auctioneers. Intermittent
peals of thunder, which had for brief time
struggled with the Red Leaf, now fell into
full retreat, and with few remote mutterings
sullenly surrendered the night to this below
ing champion of Liberalism, (so-called).
It was hard to follow the line Of the cham
pion's address. He said he was proud of his
party and its cause. That its sublime mission
was to relieve Virginia from the influence of
Bourbonism. Denied that he had gone back
on the Confederate soldier-(he didn't say the
other leaders had not); but said he would so
and weep on decoration day over the graves of
the boys. Laid down as a cardinal principle
Of the Readjuster party that it stood in with
the party in power, and ran with the machine
that pays best. Referred to the Horace Greeley
nomination by Democrats as one of the causes
Of his alienation and that Of others. but ne
elected to state how their abandonment hung
fire SO long. He was very bitter towards Maj.
J. w. Daniel, and denounced Massey as hypo-
critic, an arostate, a liar, and other choice cpl
thets, which contemporary Republican Read
juster organs assert is the peculiar phraseology
tuition Of the whipping-post as a malign crea-
and excavations of his few followers were loud
and cantankerous, and naturally suggested that
many of them had enjoyed too intimate
acquaintance with that retributive column !;
for
No thief e'er felt the halter draw
With good opinion Of the law.
His announcement Gan incorrect one, of
course) that it had been abolished by the Re-
adjuster party-and he ought to have added, as
a recognized party neoessity-was greeted with
every demonstration Of delight. It was no.
ticeable, however, that the great volume Of
commentator came from the immediate
neighborhood Of the orator, as the faithful had
aggregated on the porch, and the applause be-
low was mainly limited to semi-hysterical
and isolated screech, ending in a suspicious
hiccough from a few of the scattered brethren,
in conjunction with abdominal groans. char
acteristic Of ''de cullud votah' when aroused
by "reminiscences OF the whipping-post and its
connection with minor offences. The cham
pion interspersed his 'chaste and mastery
presentation of the subject with sundry an
ecdotes untitled for the drawing-room and sui
phurous with the most energetic profanity.
ANY casual visitor to that quarter of the city
when the champion was at his full pace, would
have concluded this to be maritime town
with a select coterie of Greek pirates.on shore
leave.
The splenetic vigor with which he burst his
gall-bladder and effused the contents over the
gallant Daniel and John E. Massey, shows how
the candidate for Congress-at-large feels the
sharp contest OF the Parson. and how already
he borrows from the future the bitterness of
defeat. QUEEN dfi vuN perdere-whom the gods
wish to destroy they nrst make mad-and how
ripe Johnnie Wise is for the sacrifice every man
who stood within quarter OF a mile of the
Virginia Hotel last Thursday night can dis
Germ. Many men who, with no sympathy for
his views, had been inclined to regard him as
an able man, came away disappointed even in
the view of talents misdirected, and all won
der how his organ-the Vfr0fnian-who saw
in the stately and dignified sentences of John
W. Daniel at Harrisonburg the "coarse asper-
sion and impassioned ribaldry' which made
that virtuous journal sad to think that one
SO gifted in speech should peryert its use in
such an unworthy manner" will say of the
profanity, the disjointed billingsgate, and utter
absence Of either consistency or logic that
made up the burden OF Its champions talk on
last Thursday night. II Maj. Daniels speeches
"show the desperation of a cause that demands
such coarse aspersion to sustain it, for the
sake of common consistency point out to any
man who is not a fool the fitness of the speech
es made by this Readjuster candidate for Con-
gress-at-large. A TRADE against Massey and a
reference to Maj. Daniel "as q purifying po-
1itical corpse. dead and purifying for years.
was the glittering peroration Of this apostle Of
liberalism, and having exhausted his wind,
while the admiring Red Leaves were renewing
theirs, crash of inharmonious tumult was q
fitting climax to the evening. and the few edi-
fed faithful went to their respective lairs.
Just before the dispersion of the very few
IA tthful. however, common cry went up for q
speech from Mr.. Peters. who, it seems, was a
nom adic member of the party present by ac-
ciden. of his migratory life and he replied that
he would harrangue the crowd with pleasure
If Lawyer Craig did not desire to effervesce.
Mr.. Craig declined to say anything, but for
some unexplained reason, brother Peters was
hustled off the porch, and the few loiterers fol-
lowed on after the screeching Red Leaf.
Grass Cloth 35 inches wide at cents yard
at GrADKE,s may2.t1