The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-10-09
LYONS GIVES UP THE FIGHT.
HIS PATIENT WAIT FAILS TO GET
HIM THE AUGUSTA PLUM.

without Complaining He Returns to-
AugWstR-President Mckinley and
the COIOFed Omce Seeker Gen.
smaIIs of Carolina Pleading His
Cause As Well As That of His SON
in-Law - Amusing Incident of the
Beaufort appointment.
Washington, Oct. S.-Judson Lyons, who
has been waiting around the white house
since the advent of the Mckinley admin
istraton, with the expectation of being
appointed postmaster at Augusta has
pulled up stakes and is going home with
out obtaining his anticipated reward for
his iidollty to Mckinley at St. Louis.
Although Lyons has waited long and
patiently for the recognition promised him,
he has not uttered a word of complaint
against the administration, nor has he
threatened to bolt the republican party
IL he Is not appointed. He has for sew.
eral months past acted as political ref
cree in connection with minor appoints
ments in Georgia, and he had had occa-
sion to confer with the President on sew
eral contested cases. He says the Au-
gusta postofiice has not been mentioned
during these interviews, and as there ap-
pears 10 be no prospect of an early solu-
ton of that problem, he proposes to go
home and look after his law practice.
which has been somewhat neglected dur
ing his protracted stay in Washington.
Lyons is far above the average colored
office seeker who comes up from the
southern states, and he insists that his ap-
pointment would not be Objectionable tn
the majority of the citizens of Augusta
Before leaving for home Lyons would not
admit that he had abandoned all hope OF
securing the Augusta postmastership, bue
while at the postofice department recon-
mending few fourth-class postmasters
for appointment, he remarked that he
could find out all he wanted to know
about other political matters in Georgia,
but he could not obtain any satisfactory
information concerning his own case
1t cannot be said that the President OBJ
jects to appointing colored men to federal
offices in the south Notwithstanding the
excitement occasioned by the recent shoot
ing of a colored postmaster at Hogansvllle,
Ga. Only last Wednesday. a oolored man
named Bampheld was appointed postmas-
ter at Beaufort. s. c., and not word OF
protest has been raised against him. Tho
Beaufort offices comes under the presiden-
tial grade, and pays nearly 5000 year.
| The Hogansville postofiice is Of the fourth-
| class, and the compensation of the post
master Is about 5000 per annum.
There Is an amusing incident in connec-
tion with the appointment of Bampfeld at
Beaufort. Bampfeld is the son-in-law OF
Gen. Robert Smalls, one of the colored
leaders in the Palmetto state, having serv-
ed several terms in congress from the
Beaufort district. Gen. Smalls has been in
Washington for several months seeking an
appointment as collector of customs for
the port Of Beaufort for himself, and at
the same time he has been urging the
claims Of his son-in-law to the Beaufort
postoffice Day after day Gen. Smalls has
haunted the white house, without getting
an opportunity to see the President In
the course of his frequent visits he has
managed on one or two occasions to reach
the Presidents Office and state his busi-
ness, He has figured more frequently
among those who did not get in. Last
Wednesday he made his usual call at the
executive mansion and was inform-
ed that the President was very
busy with members of his cabinet and,
therefore, would have to deny himself to-
many of the visitors in the waiting room,
Gen. Smalls was among the latter, and he
was not In very good humor over the
prospect of another turn-doWn by the
President. He was loud and emphatic in
his complaints against the exclusiveness
of the President, utterly unconscious that
a long line of postmasters had been ap-
pointed, and among the number was the
appointment of his son-in-law. In the
midst of his complaining some one called
Smalls' attention to the list of appoint
ments. He reluctantly took up the list
and read it, When he discovered the
name of his soh-in-law among the presi-
Dental appointees. his face would have
furnished an excellent subject for a car
toon, representing "SupSeIne Happiness"
The frown on his bushy brow unwrinkled.
his rather dim eyes twinkled, his copious
mouth opened and he gave vent to excla-
nations Of joy and satisfaction in his Pc
cullar dialect that convulsed all present.
Gen. Smalls hurried out of the executive
mansion sounding the praises of his SON.
in-law and commencing the President and
the Postmaster General for their wisdom
in selecting Bampfield.
There was an additional reason for
Smalls rejoicing over the outcome of the
Beaufort postofflce contest. He had sue
ceeded in throwing down his hated rival,
G. Washington Murray, also a colored
leader of an anti-Smalls faction in that
vicinity. Murray had vowed that Bamp-
field should not be appointed and had
strongly pressed the claims OF a white
applicant.
The Beaufort case has created little or
no comment, while the Hogansville incl
dent is still discussed and illustrated in
many newspapers.