The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-05-03
hard, but they seem to be united here, and
determined to stand together.

hard, but they seem to be united here, and
determined to stand together.
To-day the fight waxed hot. and tonight
everything is at fever heat. The ehieiIc0n-
test is over the Craftsmanship, and when
that is lost and won the fight Will be prac-
tically over. So bitter has been the strug-
gle thus far that all other matters have
been lost sight Of to a great extent, aud
those most interested have almost forgotten
TO mention the question of delegates. They
are all holding their breath and waiting for
something to drop, but the thud has nottyet
been heard.
Rea came in this afternoon. He has
quarters ct the Yosemite. and is going
along In his usual happy-go-lucky style.
He seems to look at the whole affair as
huge Joke and shows not the least sign of
nervousness or anxiety. He lounges about
his rooms as If lie had no care en- his mind
and laughs over the battle as if he was not
an interested party. | saw him tonight in
bis private room and he seemed in the best
Of spirits A bottle of whisky was his only
argument, and as ne lighted cigarette he
said:
Pm all right. If the railroad company
will keep their hands off | can win. but
they seem 10 be for the other fellow. OF
course | never took the trouble TO consult
them when got into this thing, but was
of the opinion that they would not oppose
me. 1t now looks as if l had made a mis-
take. Well, Sacramento and Alameda are
against me almost to man and you know
what that means. Yes, think | will win"
A different view of the matter is taken
point to the fact that the only
man in Sacramento who has been hard
TO hold Is Grove L. johnson, and that
Willis, the managing editor of the Record
Union; is here with his coat off for Rea
Steve Gage. however, is preserving a dis
Greet silence and, with ScOnchin Maloney
without saving a Hpv
Gage will keep still is one of the questions
most frequently asked and never ans wered,
His silence is considered ominous.
One thing that is being discussed with
great interests the cause which actuated
Rea TO get into the contest. He says he
wants an Endorsement. The chairmanship,
in his opinion is kind Of playthng to be
thrown aside like broken toy, but he feels
that he has claims to that and also that he
has been misunderstood. The press, he as
serts, has not given him fair show, and has
studlously opposed him without reason. He
wants TO show the Quill-drivers that he is
not as black as painted, and that the party
is with him. The contract, he has the
frankness to admit, is big, but he thinks lie
can get away with it by the grace Of
Kelly and Crimmins aud other patriots OF
that ilk.
Kelly is with Rea to stay. and Rea means
De Young. The latter is not here. but his
henchmen are working like beavers. Frank
Stone, who is managing the fight for the
journalistic bugabo0, has a room adjoining
that occupied by Rea and imparts courage
to his followers from black bottle similar
to that passed out by the former. Stone
spends the greater portion of his time in eX-
planning why ii is that he is for Mike, who
fought Sargent for years. His story, when
boiled down. is that De Young kicked him
four times and did it openly instead of on
the sneak His explanation is lame, but it
seems to satisfy the verbose Frank,
Stone seems to think that De Young has
a walkOyer. Burns thinks otherwise and
does not hesitate to so express himself. He
has had all sorts of offers to-day from Mike,
but has ignored them all. He Is simply
working for Neff aud Estee and incidentally.
for those who are with him IN the Neff
contest.
To show that Mike is anxious, it need
only be said that he has even gone so far
as to solicit Estet's help. This, too, he
failed to secure. Burns, who claims to be
against De Young at all hazards, wired EStee
at Napa this afternoon. 1t was to the effect
that Mike would stand in for EStee if the
Napa man would return the compliment.
Estee promptly fluttered back the tidingS
that he would rather lose than 10 win with
the aid of De Young This ne reiterated
later in the evening when Mike became
persistent.
There is every Indication tonight that
Mike Is out of il. He has seemingly played
his last card and lost and Will remain at
home while the Minneapolis Convention is
in progress. His fight has been we'll man.
aged from first to last, but his unpopularity
is such that he cannot walk over as he did
four years ago. The inferior counties are
so bitter in their opposition TO him that moth
ing but the rem0teSt political eXpediency can
overcome it. There are few delegates
who talk, of course, about holding him in
line for the campaign by throwing out a
bait TO him at the present time, but they are
so scarce that they could be counted on the
fingers of a mans hand The truth is that
Mike Is so unpopular that many OF the rural
counties are almost in open revolt against
him, and refuse even to discuss him as
possibility.
The whole face of affairs may change be-
fore morning. but as 1t now stands the dele
gates-at-large from the State are likely TO
be NJ. NJ. EStee Of Napa, Senator felGon,
w. Ii. l.. Barnes and E.. Z. Spence OF Los
ling fight and may succeed In pulling
through, in which case Barnes would give
way perforce 10 Estee. Tie latter is an
easy winner as it looks now. and his friends
have not the slightest concern.
Spence has harder row to hoe, and in his
region strong forces are combining against
him. 1t is true that lie was indorsed by the
Los Angeles County convention by vote
Of 16S TO l35 over Northan, but the latter is
disgruntled, and says he will not rest con-.
tent with the verdict of his own
county. He is kicker in politics,
to be sure. but he has certain
strength which cannot be overlooked.
as he is working it for all it is worth:
he claims he has majority of the dele
gates from each Of the counties in his Con-
gressional district, but this is probably
mere talk. Spence is man Of unQuestioned
popularity and before the people he has
great strength. Moreover, he is supported
by tine best people of his section, almost to
a man, aid Is almost sure to win.