The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-08-30
Raises a Great Storm of Demo-
cratic Enthusiasm.
SPEAKS AT STATESVILLE
Senator Pritchard Declares His
Conversion to Gold.
REPLIES TO HIS sPeEcH
Some Fifteen Hundred People Froue
lredelI and the Surrounding Coun--
ties Heard the Democratic
Candidate.

Candidate.
5tatesyille, y. c., Aug. CO. (SpeciaIg
1T is Cyclone Cy. now The people of
Statesville have said it. The effect OF
the speech of the great campaigner-
here to-day suggested it. The terrific
force with which he sWayed and scat
tered the oppositiol4 made it appropri-
ate. The way he turned shower of
lredell Bepublicanjsm into storm of
raging, irresistible Democracy ustainss
it.
To-day has been political red letter
day i'm Statesvile, and the grand old
Piedmont town has been bubbling over
with politics since early morning. The
Republican county convention met to-
day, which brought a large number of
Republicans to town. Senator Pritch-
ard had been invited to address the
convention. and that part brought still
greater numbers. 1t was expected
that NJ. L. Mott would be here, but he
failed to get here, but Moody, of Hay
wood, and Zigzag l. nney, We're present
This was the shower Of Republicans
The Democratic storm b, gan early IN
the morning, when the Democrats OF
Iredel, Rowan Alexander and other
adjoining counties rolled into town.
'Cy. Watson had been billed to speak at
Statesville. The people wanted to hear
him. Democrats, Po@ul' SITS and Repub-
licans wanted to hear the campaign
successor to the great Vance, aud they
came 800 strong. They came to lis
ten, and they listened. Five hundred of
them listened to Prtchard i'm the court
house before dinner, and to short
speeches by Moody and Linney. but the
great mass, solid acre of people gath
cred on the court house gIeen sgt
o'clock TO hear Watson,
Pritchard had talked tariff for nearly
two hours, and, as gentleman remark
ed, had made a very ingenious aud ,efs..
fectiye speech, if he had been ta4siDc-
to an entirely ignorant and unohaer,
want crowd. He wound up with few
back-handed licks at his old friend, the
silver dollar
PRITCHARD DECLARES FOR GO6hf5 2
On this great question he said that:
he had been elected to the Senate as a.
silver man, by silver votes that he
had voted for silver and remained a sill
yer man until his convention spoke at
1t. Louis. Now the more he thought
about it, the more he was convinced
that his party was right and he was
wrong,
His crowd listened and few times
cheered him, but it took awful hard
work for the erstwAile silver Sen
ator to push t~ stale oI6
tariff chestnut down the throats
OF his crowd. These people live in q
chestnut country and they know when
q chestnut is old, stale and wormy, and
they did not relish Pritchards.
At o'lock Mr.. Watson appeared
in stand erected in the court house
grove. Mighty cheers went skyward
through the canopied oaks and elms
from fifteen hundred throats, some of
them still somewhat Iacerated from the
efforts of Pritchard' TO cram the tariff
hestnut down them.
Mr.. Watson had heard Senator
speech and he lit right in
20 perfectly annihilate the Senator and
his stale argument. Within thirty
the cyclone had swept both
from the deck and a clear field had
been opened for an argument of the
great issues of the campaign.
1T WAS \ GREAT SPEECH.
StateSville was anxious to hear Wat
''h' II Shtll county was ANXIOUS To
hear him and they heard him. They
heard him for two hours and twenty
in what Mr.. j. L. Scales. Mr..
B. F. Long, Mr.. II. j. Allison and
others say was the biggest speech to
which they had ever listened. The
speech that Mr.. Watson had heard ON
the other side had famed him into
a devouring flame of powerful argu--
nent and almost unequaled eloquence.
only repeat what every man (
poke to after the speaking said, when
say that it was one of the most power -
1ul and telling speeches that was ever
delivered in Statesville. 1t sohdified
the lredell Democracy, it convinced
the Populists and confused the Repub--
llcans. The big general of RepubIf--
canism was present, but whether he
saw it or not, his heutenants could
see that there was CONSERVATION in
their ranks, and the hopes that Pritch-
ard had inspired had taken wings
and been waited before the cyclone
from Forsyth. After the speech
hearty congratulations were showered
upon the speaker. Democrats, sound
money" men and silver men, several
leading Populists and even Repubh-
cans Hooked to his room and with
one accord extended earnest congrat-
ulatons and the hearty endorsements
OF the speaker and the speech.
F. B. ARENDELL,