The Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1885-1886, 1886-09-07
W. III. Gest Receives the Nomination
ON the Fourteenth Ballot
THE FORLORN HOPE.

THE FORLoRN HOPE.
MONMOUTH, H., Sept. Especial /
Every train arriving in the city last even.
ing, brought delegations to the republic
an congressional convention of the Elev.
enth district. which was held here today.
The Rock Island delegates with several
outside strikers. struck the town at 6:55
p. IN. aud they lost no time in getting to
the Baldwin house, the chief hosiery of
the city, and storing away substantial
supper They found several candidates
already on the field, who with Messrs.
W. H. Gest and A P Petrie, who ar
rived on the Rock Island train. made
quite formidable array of aspirants.
There was DO particular wire>pulling
during the evening, but the delegates spent
the time in an earnest discussion of the
situation. Each and every republican,
however, delegate or not. was unani
nous on one point, and that vas that
something should be done to
DOWN BILL NEECE,'
as the expression went. But when the
convention meets this afternoon. we pre-
dict that hair pulling extraordinary will
be INDUCED in, and the selection will
not be made with reference to special fit
ness or strength, but viii depend upon
who is the best wire-puller There is a
surplus of gentlemen who have the con-
gressional fever badly, and each alone
thinks he is peculiarly adapted to make
things lively for the democratic. nominee.
Commencing with Rock Island, we have
Gest. who has suffered defeat at two cons
veutious, but bob. up in this as pleasant
as summer morn. No one will deny
but that Gest has all the persistency and
hope of natural born politician, and if
he does not succeed this time, it will be
no fault of his own, nor of his friends
Notwithstanding the crushing defeat he
received two years ago, Mercer county
still holds
FARMER PETRIE's
banner aiOft. and will urge his nOmlna-
ton again. The general opinion is that
Petrie will cut no figure in the race, but
still his lightning rod may prove more
magnetic than anticipated. Warren
county will cast her fourteen votes tor J.
L. Dryden. McDonough county has two
candidates-Dr. Blaisdell, who has been
ambitious for some time, and Alexander
McLain. who is regarded as dark horse.
HANCOCK will present E. E. Lane, ex
consul to England, although it is UNDER
stood that Mr. Gest will get one or two
stray votes from there. Schuyler will
90 for Henry Craske. The only modest
and unassumilg county in the district
from a republican standpoint, seems to be
Henderson, and her delegates stand
chance TO be
TALKED TO DEATH.
They are the bone Of contention, and the
candidate who gets them will have quite
start IN the race. While everything
was quiet and harmonious last night,
with the exception of a little painting"
not by the Rock Island delegates
early this morning the notes of war com
menced to grow distinct and by noon the
atmosphere in the neighborhood of head
convention will be turbulent and the con
test fierce. no one will deny. 1t will be
fight to the finish, and although the
Marsh McClaughry fight has been settled,
the present will open wide breach somes
where in the grand old party in this dis
trict. The Rock Island delegates are I'M
compromisingly for Gest, and if he is
not nominated it would be difficult to
find madder lot of men, This is his
THIRD AND LAST CHANCE,
and the delegates are alive to the desper-
atenessof the occasion The honor of pre-
senting his name to the convention has
been rendered to the Hon Patrick O'Mara,
the son of democracy who went astray just
as the fattcd calf was to be killed. The
caucus last evening considered his name
with that of Parson Morgan, but the lat
ter was hot considered magnetic or per-
suasivc enough for the occasion, so
O'Mara was pressed into service. The
Rock Island delegates present the matter
in this light: Their county is the
KEY TO THE
situation. With Gest as the standard
bearer, Rock Island will poll from 900
to 200 votes for the republican nomi
nee than is possible if the nominee is
taken from a:.y other county. These
votes represent the labor element, and
they constitute the balance of power. He
will poll the tull party strength in the re-
remainder of the district, which would
assure his election.
This deduction is correct, admitted that
Mr. Gest would get the labor vote, but
when il is considered that not Mr.. Gest
nor any other republican can secure that
vote this year, Gest's strength is mythical
1t is absurd to suppose that the working
men of Rock Island county will support
the republican congressional ticket, when