The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1882-09-12
Quincy Herald. Septemher sth.]
TWO REPUBLICAN CONVENTIONS.
"I'se Been lghtln' for Freedom for 4 Years
and Is now Sold Oat BY Brudder Wither.
spO0n.e

tickets Of admission. This excited The general
comment of The Leon county delegation, head
ed by Postmaster Stewart. that Conover was at
some of his old trick~ Members Of that dele
gallon sail that the ex-senator had picked up
some men on the streets. had chartered special
train the night before. and had come to The
Convention representing themselves to be the
regularly accredited delrg CATION. hard fight
was bal for temporary chaismaRs- resulting in
Mr. John Eagan, of Escamba, taking The chair,
defeating his opponent, Mr.. NJ Martin, hy a
few votes. This was done through much
wrangling al different times, many delegates
trying 10 yet the floor. rising to speak. to get
information, and To points of order
The question then came up as to the manner
of the appointment of a committee on creien-
tials Parson Witherspoon AMI parsnn R,berts
advocated committee Of or To be appoint
ed by The chair. U. y Surveyor General Martin
and John Wallace, of Leon, wanted one from
each county represented. This opened up red
hot discussion defining somew hat the In lcpend
ent " and "slraightout strength. and the many
speakers took occasion to bring in consider
able amount of outside argument pertaining 10
individuals and the Republican party All this
time Conover could be seen busy in moving
from point TO point and talking To some of The
speakers The excitement ran up pretty high,
and Postmaster Stewart, who had already eyi.
dcnced some violent expressions OF ANNOYANCE
rose up from his seat as one frenZctl. seized the
Chair in which Secretary Thompson was sitting
wbiIled il about over his head and arounl him.
and finally lay down on the long table used by
members of The bar, kicking his feet and using
his arm similar to the movements of black
bull-fiog in lis expiring moments, mutterinQ
mysterious things. AS he left his seat The name
oi Conovcr" came from his lips, and as he
started The coat tails of that individual could be
at The door level enough for game Oi
marbles, and very muchly" he skipped down
the steps OF the stairway. During the scene there
seemed general free fight about 10 lake place.
Many people got AS small as they Could possibly
d" on their seats, many looked at The door and
windows, some got out OF the windows some al
the door, while there was noise enough Ia rival
HE Jericho rams horn. great many rushed
from The square Ia get in The Court house Ia see
what WAS going on. After order was restored il
was agreed tO hear Stewau's delegation, and
then COnOvrrs, each Ia he allowed an hour in
open convention, and The former Was seated
unanimously. ConOver was sent tur 10 repre-
some one SAID he sent "A message iO The chair
man Ia stand firm" and another one said, lie
took "A seat in Cox baT-ronm and ran the con-
vertion through messengers As il seemed To
be understood that this was the only contest, the
temporary organization Was continued perma-
nenl, Gen. NJ Marlin declining to run for presi-
dent in favor Of Mr.. John Eagan whose rulings,
he thought were very fair.
Pirson X. Meacham offered a resolution en-
doIsing ID. Il. MckinnOn, the Independent can
dldate, supporting it at length. One Of his re-
marks ~aS the Democratic party would give
5000 in gold not 10 have him endorsed by that
Convention. Wallace of Leon, Robinson, Ot
jackson, Mcknight, of Levy, and Parson Stew
art followed for The resolution, and ParsOn Rich
ART Roberts, S. c. COBB and Parson WiIherspoon
against il. Wallace spoke we'll, and had nOie
book, the appearance OF which was the signal
for lur flying. Ii seemed 10 contain history OF
all the speakers, and he used it un-parinyly.
He warned The Convention not TO adjourn until
a nomination was decided, as it woul give The
SIraig gh0uts an opportunity TO buy off the
" Independents" Parson Stewart explained
thai his disorlerly conduct had arisen from great
excitement II the wrong that was trying 10 be
done by Conpver in putting up bogus delega-
ton. He had spat with Wiiherspoon, who
said he had Obtained for him The appointment oI
postmaster at Tallahassee He replied il as in
return tor the hard work he had done Tor him.
Nothing from nothing and nothing remains. F"
Parsun Richard Roberts, of Escambia made q
strong speech, aud referred 10 his purity as Re-
publican. He Vas told to his face that he had
accepted Il bribe. General NJ. Martin made a
speech for The lndel endents. Mr. 5. G. Cobb
ha ju>t returned from Washington, and had
long interviews with Chandler, Secretary of the
Navy, and he mentioned long list OF distn-
guished United States t,tlcials with whom he
hal talked on The subject of the action of the
Convention, and they all wanted Straight
out" lie went on Ia say that il was best for
the Republicans in Congress, and had q great
deal II say about Pensacola and its prospects.
He made HE remarkable statement that the
Democratic Stale administration was responsible
for the yellow fever now prevalent al Pensacola.
Wallace pulled the notebook on hlm. There
were cuts and thrusts, sharp and lncisive, and
raking questions, and strong personalities. The
Mahnne movement in Virginia was discussed,
and then Wallace made one Of his points In re-
ply TO Cobb If Arthur and all his Cabinet
should be in favor of a Slraightout,' what did
il amount to if opposed To- the Independenl"
movement? Did the National Administration
give any support TO MahOney On the contrary,
t"pposed him.
But the hero of the Convention was George
w. WihtrspOOn, who made the best speeches
and the hardest hits. Where is your plat
form - he cried out TO the independents He
appealed for a denomination, said il was dre
him, AS il was given To Finley and Bisbee in the
Second District, and strongly replied TO the
charge of his want of ability in cnnIestng the
seat Of Colonel Davidson. Sail he would go
into The campaign with $1,000 IN his pocket,
which had heen paid him by the government on
account, and That he vas to get another 81 900
at the end of The contest. He replied 10 the
charge that he was violating his word Of honor,
gentleman, in going back on his Quincy
conference SPEECH, that his friends were " knii-
ing" him. They shouted roll call" on him
for minuirs at u time, but could not drown his
voice Undismayrd he held the floor, and d.
nally, alter seven hours wrangle and discussion,
The Convention having refused TO adjourn srve-
raj times. according tO The warning Of Wallace,
he nominated Emory F. Skinner. Of Escambia,
" n man with plenty OF money, goOd Repubii-
can and one who cDud make a contest for his
seat with his own money" Lor bress me-"
said delegate, "Pse never heard his name
aiOre"
There was a wranglng about The proper pal
Elementary proceeding as the endorsement Nc
kinnOn resolution was pendiug, and the chair
man ruled that the Convention must vote for
Skinner or McKinnOn. During the progress Of
the ballotng there was the greatest quiet but
much delay.
There was watching and apprehension of
Irickery When Lon county was called and
voted sOlidly for McKinnon. though nothing had
been said, there was Q hesitation. ParsOn
Meacham hallOOed Out mOTe thsn once, "who
0Ljrctsy y Afler little while the roll OF The
Leon county delegates was called, and when The
name of Z. O. Weeks was called he responded
Skinner" A rOlOnged "ah greeted him.
Several delegates voted fur Witherspoon, and Il
was hard iO tell who was ahead. About then the
delegates who had voled far Wiiherspo0n COM
menced changing to Skinner. Another wild
-