Birmingham state herald., 1896-04-19
ED RUSSELL GAVE A TREAT.
LOVE FEAST OF DEMOCRATS IN MOBILE
Congressman Clarke Pleasantly Commended and Asked to Run Again for Congress
 From the First District

Mobile April S.-(Special)-Hon E. L. , Russell solicitor of the Mobile and Ohio
 railroad, gave a very pleasant dinner to-
 night to a number of prominent citizens
 of Mobile, friends of both Hon. R. H.
 Clarke and Hon. J. F. Johnston. The
 table was set in the west side of the din-
 ing hall and was ornamented with a pro- fusion of rare and beautiful flowers. The
 supper was all that Klosky could provide in the way of meats, vegetables and side dishes, backed by plenty of good wine. MT. Russell presided, with MT. Clarke on | his right hand and Col. J. C. Clark on his l left. There were seated in the order 1 named: Hon. D. P. Bestor, MT. Winston
 Jones, Mr. Erwin Craighead, MT. J. Pol
 lock, MT. R. V. Taylor, Hon. Erwin Led
 yard, Hon. Price Williams, Col. D. D. | Huger, MT. Eyre Damer, Maj. J. k Glen
 non, Hon. A S. Lyons, Col. Joseph Hodg-
 son, Capt. J. ". Black, MT. Ferdinand
 Forchemer, pr. H. T. Inge, Maj. s. T. | Prince Capt. c. l.. Huger, Maj. F.. o. | Zadek, MT. A. s. Benn, MT. D. R. Burges | and Dr. Rhett Goode at the foot of the | table. Letters of regret were received | from Mayor C. l.. Lavretta, MT. W. H. | Mcintosh, Hon. J. c. Rich, Capt. Murray
 Wheeler, Mr. c. s. Clarke, Mr. James | Phillips, Mir G. l.. Smith, MT. Henry Ia l con and MT. N. R. Clarke.
 Mr. Russell, after briefly alluding to l the fact that this is the day of material | things, and to the further fact that men who contribute to the material prosperity | of the people are the really great and | deserving men, declared that on his right and on his left were two such men, He | toasted Hon. R. H. Clarke and Col J. c. | Clark Of Mir. Clarke he said the district | would surely have further need of his | services. | Hon. R. H. Clarke replied by thanking hoe md hxra cg;p h ,,Iao | in being associated in sentiment of this | sort with so distinguished a man as 1 Colonel Clark. He then spoke of the ma | terial development of Mobile. He de- | Veloped the thought that the harbor work | has been we'll done, and that what is
 most important now is to utilize the | channel for the development of com | merce. This can best be done by open ing the Warrior river and improving the Bigbee so that feet of water all the year around can be obtained. Mobilians should unite in an effort to get this ac- compllshed by having the river work put on the continuing contract plan. Mr Clarke spoke at considerable length. He said that he could not in good faith re- verse his decision as announced when he became candidate for governor.
 Col J. c. Clark, upon being called for | by MT. Russell, made speech. He was particularly for the Mobile, Jackson and | Kansas City road for it would make Mo- | bile rich and make the Mobile and Ohio 1 rich. He was for the harbor improve | ments, the river improvements and, above all, for Hon. R. H. Clarke. He | differed with Mr. Clarke upon the ques- | tion of national finances, but in nothing else. In all else he was one of the great | est admirers of that talented congress-
 man. and he wanted him to return to | congress. He expressed many practical | ideas, and expressed them in a telling | manner, and every sentence was punctu- ated with applause.
 His tribute to MT. Clarke was one of
 the best conceived and most warmly ex- pressed.
 Different gentlemen present were called | on as the humor seized the assembly, and | all had something to say. With but a few exceptions the topic that came up- permost in the speech of each was the
 wish for the candidacy of MT. Clarke, he being importuned in a variety of ways to consent to run again. Among the warm- est in urging him to reconsider his de- termination were Colonel Clark, Colonel | Hodgson, MT. Damer and others who had fought against him in this last contest and who said that Mobile was, above everything, with them, and Mobiles in terests demanded that MT. Clarke should continue to serve the district in congress.
 Mr. Clarke said in conclusion, however that his first decision must remain un- changed. He was profoundly grateful for the expressions of good will and con
 fdence. No one could be insensible to
 the compliment coming from such rep resentative assembly as this one was. Neither could he let himself be nomi- mated, as some one had suggested.
 The meeting was very pleasant. and the
 host Hon. E. l.. Russell, was congratu-
 lated on all sides for his laudable effort
 to bring together the elements of democ-
 racy which were divided in the recent
 campaign.
 Natatorum News. a.