Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1897-02-27
.HE "machine" Of one Of the polIt.

hE muCuIue VI Oue VI INC pV"S
icai parties Of Butte County was
l. at work. The wheel.horses Of
the orga nixmtlOn were In executive SEES
sion and the manufacture Of . slate"
for the ratification Of the county con.
ventlon was In progress. Everything
had been settled without friction up to
Q certain point. but here the making OF
candidates came to q full stop. Some
enc must be selected to run for Super
intendcnt Of Schools. and some one else
must be found who was disinterestcd
enough to stand for the place Of County
surveyor, with the nominal emolu-
menx pertaining thereto. This latter
problem was settled. after brief dis.
cusslon, by the powers insisting that Al
Wood, the incumbent, who was present.
must stand for reelection, whether he
liked It or not: but duly qualified can
didate for superintendent Of Schools
was not 40 easily found. The man who
had held that position for two years
past had the bad taste to give up his
Office and bis grasp on life at the same
time. only two weeks before. thus leav-
ing his party In quandary for candi.
date to succeed him. OF course. there
were plenty Of asprants for the nom.
1natlOn, but most OF them were unavail-
able for reasons political. and the can.
didate must be- q person who was pop.
ular with the voters Of the county.
Jimmie" Van Vert. the handsome
young assayer Of the Spread Eagle
Mil. had been sitting In dark corner
Of the ONCE In which the conference
was being held. smoking quietly and
saying very little until now; but he
finally put In his oar long enough to
suggest that Professor Striker, the
young principal OF the local school,
would make good man for the Office.
"Ya-as." assented Judge Bullock, the
venerable Justice OF the Peace. but
they don't know him out In tn kentry.
an we got Z have some Teller th't en-
ketch tn aoutside vote. Now, Jimmie.
look ycre. WHATS tn matter with you
runnln' f'r Superintendent y'rselfY"
Don't get me mixed In on q deal
like thatw calculated Van Vert, fer.
vently. II don't want any old Office.
I've got troubles enough now"
But Judge Buiiock's suggestion met
with unanimous approval on the part
OF oil the others present. and. very
much against his will. Mr.. Van Vert
was slated for the nomination. and
du = placed In nomintIon by the conven.
tiol few days later. 1t was two
week. before he found out what sort
OF al .,pOncnt he was to have, ana
then, much to his disgust. he learned
that the other party had nominated q
girl.
This was almost enough to make him
throw NJ the canvass. The Idea Of the
other fellows thinking that he could he
beaten by u woman. Then he cOnsOled
himself with the reflection that perhaps
they knew they couldn't beat him. aud
had merely put up this Miss Smith 10
act a. u fOrlOrn hope. ThencefOrtll he
did not pu, much activity Into Ills can.
vass. but attended to business pretty
much as usual. serene In the belief that
the voters Of Butte County were not
yet arrived ut the stage OF progression
when they would permit woman to
hold Office. And all this time. he It
mysterious Miss Smith was becoming
known to the voters Ut the county. and.
what was more. she was winning q
good deal OF support from sources upon
which Van Vert confidently counted.
1t lacked only about ten days Of clec.
ton day when Van Vert. with a sud.
den shock. came to bis senses. Two or
three things had occurred to detract
from his 0verc0nfidence. Among these
was tho avOwal on the part OF several
personal and political friends OF their
Intention to support Miss Smith, giving
a. their reasons that she had good
record as an educator aud was without
doubt well qualified for the office; that
she wanted the office. and was making
a hard light for It; and that Van Vert
didn't want 1t and didn't need II. On
top Of this he was Informed that his
opponent had been out In the Cow dis.
trlcts," and had the cowboy vote pretty
we'll "cinched." This cheering an.
nouncement came from two or three OF
the "bOsses" who called on him to see
II be didn't think II worth while to &c,
out aud save his political scalp by rus,
ting" like the rest OF the candidates
We'll have the committee az some
dates Tor you to speak. aud you've g0i
TO OH 'em. Jimmie: II you don't you're
u gone goose" said they.
10. with the Inward fear that BIZ
might. after all. be defeated. Van Wert
began In earnest the effort to save him
self. He did not care for the Office, bu,
be dreaded defeat at the hands OF Z
woman. being one OF the kind Of meu
who do not believe the gentler sex has
any business In politics. He pictured
Miss Smith a. big, gaunt. red-haired
self-assertive person. with large red
hands and snappy way OF speaking
and was quite surprised to learn thai
she was really very ladylike youns
woman, tipping the beam at about III
pounds.
1t lacked but four days of election
day, and the various candidates wert
putting In every hour possible In max
ing speeches and seeing their constit
uents and other people. Van Vert haG
put In some very telling work In severa
places where It would do the most good
but In two or three precincts It wal
found that . strong sentiment In favol