St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-02-22
HIS GREAT SPEECH.


II
tion Of His Candidate.
81 saw Tom Fitch in town the othel
day. said the man with the wart on his
red. red nose, as he gazcd out to where.
IN the blue, unruffled expanse, . peli-
car with prominent lip was making life
precariously lively for school Of fish,
land every time l see him I am re-
minded of his great speech in the Los
Angeles convention when he secured the
nomination "a Attorney-General for W..
n. IL. Hart. now attorney for Florence
Blythe. Hart really hadn't the ghost Of
. show. Thomas l.. Carothers, of Mem
docino, was the slate candidate, with
George A. blanchard. Of Colusa, Rob
bert II. Devlin and Carroll Cook
al showing some strength. Hart hadn't
over three votes to 60 in on, with no
county behind him. Fitch wasn't .
delegate to the convention, but agreed to
place Hart in nomination il he could
get proxy. One of Hart's friends went to
Boss Bill Higgins and asked him to:givo
Fitch a proxy and let him nominate
Hart Higgins was for Carothers first,
last and all the time, but said to tho
pleader: Yes, let Fitch go in and talk
II he wants to. 1t won't do any harm.
Hart hasn't the remOtest chance In the
world. Toms talk will please the
boys
$50 Fitch was given a proxy. and
~hen the time came took the floor in
Hart's behalf. Blanchard, Cook. Devlin
and Carothers had already been placed
in nomination, and the knowing ones
were all ready to cheer when Carothers
should be declared tho choice of the
convention. Fitch took up Hart's war
record, and went with him into the hat
tie Of Cold Harbor. In his vivid word
painting he told how Hart, then a mere
boy, was sent for during the thick of tho
fight and given dispatches for a brigade
commander. IN the carrying and de-
livery of these dispatches hung the fort
unes OF the day. 1t became necessary
to take them through the enemy's lines
and Hart began his perilous trip.
suddenly it was noticed that the
noisy convention was still. The dele.
gates sat as motionless as rows Of
stones. Their mouths were open.
Their eyes hung out on stems. They
were interested in that story of mag.
nificent heroism SO magnificently told.
"Hart lodged here, crept there: cut
mis- way in one place. bribed it in an
other. About him hell was kissing and
death hurtling along the gale. Ex-
hausted, dust covered, Iowder-burned,
wounded. the gallant boy at last reach-
ed the commander whom he sought,
presented the dispatches, and saved the
day.
"'This boy was W. II. ii. Hart. whom
4 now present to your consideration for
the nomination of Attorney-General,'
concluded Fitch
AT once the convention broke out in
70 the widest applause. Every body
was up shrieking like mailman. Hats
we're tossed; canes broken. In the en-
fhusiasm of the moment Sam Short
ridge, Carothers man. moved that the
of Hart he made by acclama-
ion. His wild motion would have gone
through had it been put. Carroll Cook
Jumped to his feet, his face radiant, and
withdrew in favor Of the hero of Cold
Harbor. The balloting had hardly be-
run amid the wild confusion when
Blanchard withdrew. Then Deylin
'ulled out Carothers held on. hoping
hat the slate would hold together not
outstanding Fitch's eloquent assault
3ut the slate was smashed into
Before half the counties
we're called Carothers had his name
and Hart was unanimously
nominated. The convention had been
tampeded by the magic Of one mans
'oice.
'.And the joke Of it all was that Hart
rasn't in the battle of Cold Harbor at
ll."-San Francisco Examiner.