The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1896-08-06

WIN tne magic Letter, Ever foiI.
ed to Become President, Except
When Opposed by Another Equally
Fortunate In its Possession.
Correspondence Charlotte Observer.)
Since it is difficult to arrive at any
very satisfactory conjecture as to who
should be elected President to enter
upon the duties Of that high Office with
the beginning Of its 1oo,h year
whether Bryan or Mckinley, all cal
culations being made from past rec
ords are more or less uncertain and
defective as indicating future results
Let US be more energetic Of resources
from whence to derive information
and consult the now more fortuitious
records of favorite and fortunate let.
| tiers.
OF the % men who have filled the
presidential Office since 1889 the
the names of ten of them have an" as
the final letter, to-wi,; Washington,
Jefferson, Madison, Van Buren,, Will
liam Henry Harrison, Buchanan, Lin
coin, Johnston aad Benjamin Harri-
son-these held the Office for s. years,
as against the other IS, to-wit: John
Adams, Monroe, J. Q. Adams, Tyler,
Polk, Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Grant,
Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland,
who on March 4th, 1897, will have
held the Office for fifty five years. No
candidate, the final letter of whose
name was ON" ever failed to reach
the presidential chair, either previous
or following defeat, except Dewitt
Clinton and Geo. B. Mcclellan, and
these were defeated by Madison and
Lincoln-two ems" contesting in
each case. Jefferson was defeated by
John Adams, who in turn was defeated
by Jefferson, the latter following his
discontinue by holding two terms.
w. H. Harrison was defeated by Van
Buren-another case OF two ms con-
testing. the former defeating Van Blu
rem for next term, and dying soon
after Inauguration in 1841. It's death
to beat an en-" disdaining to sport
with that event which was one of our
greatest national disasters, it follows
curiously enough that Lincoln was as
sassinated very soon after entering
upon the term for which he had de-
feated Mcclellan. Tilden, as is now
almost unanimously conceded, was
elected, though he did not enjoy the
office, and since which time we have
usually written "nation" with little
en-" and tru,hfully Hayes has con-
tinuously borne the opprobrium Of a
usurper.
Ofthe g Vice Presidents, 10 have
names ending with the lucky "N," to-
wit; Jefferson, Geo. Clinton, Calhoun,
Van Buren,, r. NJ. Johnson, Hamlin,
Andrew Johnson, Wilson, Morton and
Stevenson. These also serving as Vice
Presidents their respective chiefs whose
names were adorned by the final en-"
save Jefferson, who was Washington's
first Secretary of State, and Wilson
and Stevenson. with whom good for
tune has not fingered, since their
chiefs, Grant and Cleveland, however
great, did not bear the enchanted let
ter.
The foregoing historic facts might
we'll decide the high destiny Of our
Chicago nominee, though an adverse
omen in "letterology" (patent applied
for) appears in the somewhat Inflated
letter "B," but one candidate, Blu.
chanan, with that letter at the begin
ming of his name having succeeded.
Unless we compromise, now that COM
promises are made to order, and count
Van Buren, as a lucky 3d." making
two, by means of straddle that was
successful that is not needed to work
out and foretell the destiny OF Mr..
Bryan, since the name of his State be-
gins with "N"-Nebraska-and the
name of his city concludes with an"
Lincoln, Neb. This city, too,
named in honor of our greatest Presi-
dent. Jas. G. Birney, John Bell and
Black were defeated in their turn,
having no an" at the other end to
back them up as did Buchanan and
Van Buren, when they "took the cake. "
To make assurance doubly sure, no
| candidate was ever elected whose name
concluded with "Y," portentous for
Mckinley. Pinckney defeated twice,
each time by the mystic letter "N" in
the persons of Jefferson and Madison.
Clay was defeated thrice. Once by
Jackson, our heroic letter again assert
ing itself, and yet again in the defeat
of Birney by Harrison, and both Clay
and Birney finally retired by Polk
Need we refer to the fact that Greely
was not in it by large majority This
will be readily Granted. No Vice
President ever wrote his name with
final ct" This looks bad for Mr..
Hobart, though his odds are even
with Mr.. Sewall, since no Vice Presi
dent ever concluded his name with
l"L." Cleveland's victory over ths
mystic AN" in the last campaign rathe
argues against our forecast, but hi
name sounds as if it ended in the fate
full letter, although really closer, lik'
his career in the restless, me-servinl
brain of many, with big. big cd
Is one of these names an exception t
all rules of theories? And the curse
and Kisses that 60 cut after his nam
Ito damn his career will in the futur
of years be the boomerang Of curses
returning to damn his assailants, eve
Though their names conclude with an.
A mightier word concluding VIII
"N" suggests itself 10 their RESPECTIVE
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