The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-26
HUNTER, M. D., OF KENTUCKY.
CROSSROADS PRACTITIONER AND
REPUBLICAN BOSS.


Neither Smokes, chews, Drinks.
Swears Nor Plays Cards.
From the New York Sun
Frankfort, KY, Feb. 2l-The senatorial
contest In this state has brought 10 the
front at least one new man. Whether W.
Godfrey Hunter be chosen TO succeed Jo-
seph c. S. Blackburn or not, he has been
made a marked figure far beyond the bor-
ders of his adopted state.
The strife between Hunter and Black
burn is a singular one, and has been more
interesting because of the widely differ
ent personalities of the men. Blackburn
is a Kentuckian. with all the faults and
many of the virtues Of natives of the
state. He is handsome. an orator. a tax
er, lover of race horses a judge of whis-
Ky and of poker. ever ready TO make
speech or TO join a eoaVlvial crowd Hun
ter is naturalized Irishlman. and. al
though his birth ought to make him
thoroughbred Kentuckian. he is in most
respects the exact opposite Of his rival.
He is a handsome, well-dressed man of
. affable manners, but there all likeness
stops He talks but little in public or in
private; he neither drinks. smokes, nor
chews; he never swears, nor plays cards,
nor patronizes horse races, and he is an
elder in the Presbyterian church.
He does not come from the blue grass
region, as did the late James b. Beck,
but from an obscure little hamlet in the
southern part of the state, forty miles
world by a ridge of the Cumberland
Mountains. He is not a lawyer, but
physician, and, considering his tastes and
manner of life, he ought 10 be an I'M
known practitioner instead of the leader
of the dominant party in the common
wealth and a competitor for succession
to the place once filled by men like Clay
and Beck. However, Hunter is the most
adroit politician in the state He did as
much as Gov. Bradley TO wrest Kentucky
from democratic rule, and If he should
win the senatorial fight he would be the
real master of the party. He cannot be
the Beck of the republicans, for he has
not the burly Scots breadth Of mind and
vast store of information, but he might
easily become the Matthew 5. quay of
the south. He possesses marvellous skill
as a political organizer. which gu tie
makes up for his lack Of oratorical abili-
ty. When occasion demands 1t he can
make a fair stump speech, but he is not
eloquent nor forceful, and he realizes it..
DIR. Hunter first became known in poll
tics in 1880 when he was elected to the
legislature from Cumberland county. He
served three terms in the general assem-
bly, and easily established himself as the
leader of his party there. At that time
the republicans had great deal of ag-
EreSSiNeQeSS, ana ulQeT hunters Skill
full guidance they made politics very live
| ly. Then, as now, he was quiet and re-
| served, never making a speech, but hold
| ing always a. conspicuous place among the
| lawmakers. He came near going to con-
| gress then, but the state was gerryman-
| dered and, although he made a gallant
race, he abandoned the field to invest his
| money in silver mines in New Mexico
| Upon his return he was elected to con-
| gress, but he was defeated when he ran
| for reelection, and he retired into the
hrsa "a on Vrhn "a
was elected again.
Dr. Hunter foresaw clearly the revulsion
in political sentiment in this state in 1894,
and when the campaign of 1895 began he
| had himself made chairman of the re-
/ publican executive committee. At that
| time it was the fixed belief of William O..
| Bradley and his friends that Bradley
could be elected governor and perhaps the
| remainder of the state ticket could be
| pulled through. None dared to aspire to
Of tfg pd lfSzagrfh WV II yaSt PRR a,sr s
| paid no attention to the protests that
legislative tickets might defeat the state
candidates, but insisted on contrasting
every county.
Choosing George Todd of Louisville for
| his assistant, he established secret head
| quarters in this city and, making each
! common school district the basis, he or
ganized the party as neither that party
| nor the democratic party had been or
ganized. The work was done SO quietly
| that the existence of their headquarters
was known only to the members of the
republican executive committee. and a ste
| nographer Hunter was the man who
realized the benefits of an alliance with
| the secret order of the American Pro-
| tective Association. He is an Irishman,
| and an Orangeman, and he easily arrang-
ed the coalition which triumphed in Louis
| vile and materially aided the republi-
| cans elsewhere In the state. he had his
| eye upon the senatorship from the start,
and when the astounding Victory of his
| party was announced he took the nomi-
nation without an effort and almost with
| out opposition. Two men made a feeble
| effort to thwart him, Both We're from
Louisville, and one Of them was Con-
| gresham Walter Evans, who has been
| the gubernatorial nominee, and was Pres
ident Arthur's internal revenue commits
sioner; yet Hunter received the solid sup
| port of the Louisville delegation in the
| legislature. He has held his forces well
together ever since against the fiercest
| assaults from within, and without the
| party ranks. 1t is well known that Gov.
| Bradley entertains no liking for him, in
deed is openly jealo9nls5 Of ms leasdersh,lp,
| candidacy.
| DIR. Hunters reserve has been regarded
as a freak of nature by the voluble Ken
| tuckians. A man who lwill neither talk,
drink, smoke, swear play cards.. nor bet
on horses naturally has been looked upon
| with suspicious by the conservative ele-
ment in the state. Gov. Bradley is as
| much of a thoroughbred as Joe Blackburn.
| Hunters foreign birth does not account
for his eccentric manners, Tor an Irishman
| is usually at home in the Blue Grass
| state, and Jamie Beck could outdrink the
best man in Lexington, was a capital judge
! of a horse, and could outswear Henry
| Clay himself DR. Hunters taciturnity
/ and sedate habits have been used against
| him with some success. He has been charg-
| ed with being political fugitive and with
\ having neglected to be naturahzed. In
1 stead of making a speech to denounce
the authors of these stories or rushing into
| print, the mysterious doctor has paid nc
| attention to them Stimulated by this con-
| duct the Courier Journal went so far as
to send a reporter to New Castle, Pa, tc
| trace up his early history. The reporter
| learned there that Godfrey Hunter had
come to New Castle directly from County
Derry, ireland, in 1858. He filed the declar-
alton of his intention to apply for citizen
ship in 1859 and in 1865 was naturalized