New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-01-17
THE FAIR CANDIDATE.
A STORY OF WESTERN POLITICS.

horses Of
sion. and the manufacture Of slate io' '"e
,,a.,o, ~ tho county convention was In
progress. Everything had been settled w''"ou'
f-;c,ion I'm 70 a certain point. but here the max
inc ~ candidates came to a full stop. Sonic oie
must be selected TO run for superintendent VI
scboo,s and some one else must be fouhd WIZ
was disinterested enough TO stand TOT the p'a'e
OF County Surveyor. with the nomlhai e'no'"
ments pertaining thereto. THIS latter p'o
was settled after a brief discussion oy 'ne i'
ers insisting that AL Wood. the houi"''
who was present, must stand for re-e'eo''
whether he liked II or not; but duiv qua''"'
candidate for Superintendent OF Schoos was i'o'
81 easily found. The man who mad heio ',a'
nosition for two years past had the bad taste u
ciya IN his office and his grasp on life at the
same time. only two weeks before mus ieaN'"s
his marty in a ouandary for a candidate to sue
coed him OF course. there were plenty oi
asnirants for the nomination, but most OF them
,ra-o unavailable for reasons political. and the
candidate must be person VINO was popO'"'
With the voters Of the country
"Jinn,ie'' Van Vert, the handsome young as
saver of the Spread Eagle Mill had been sitting
in a dark corner Of the Office i'll whlch the coh-
ference was being held, smoking quietly anu say
ing very little until now: but he finally put III
his oar long enough to suggest that professor
Ct-,rer the Young principal of the local school,
would make a good man for the ONCE.
"ya-as." assented Judge Bullock. the veneer
able Justice of the Peace, but they doh kho"
him out in tn kentry. an we got have some
TELLER th't en- ketch tn aoutside vote Now
Jimmie look we're What's tn matter with you
r,,nnin rr superintendent yrseif?
Don't get me mixed in on a deal ike 'ha''
calculated Van Vert. ferventy. i doh want
NOV
any old office I've got troubles enough no"'
Rut Judge Bullock's suggestion met with
unanimous approval on the part OF all the o'he's
present. and very much against his Will, MT
Van Vert was slated for the nomination. anu
duly placed in nomination by the convention
,. dave later II was two weeks before he
found out what sort of opponent he was 10
have. and then much to his disgust. ne learned
that the other party had nominated a girl.
This was almost enough TO make him thro"
IN the canvass The idea of the other fellows
thinking that he could he beaten by a "oi'ah'
Then he consoled himself with the rei1ectoh 'ha'
perhaps they knew they couldn't beat him. ana
had merely put up this Miss Smith to act as a
for,orn hone Thenccforth he did not put much
activity into his canvass. but attended to busl-
ness pretty much usual, serene In the penel
that the voters of Butte County were not yet
arrived at the stage of progression when they
WOul1 a
this time be it known this heretofore unknown
and mysterious Miss Smith was becoming known
70 the voters Of the county, and. what was more
che was winning a good deal Of support from
sources upon which Van Vert confidently
counted
II lacked only about ten days Of Election Day
uhen Van Vert with sudden shock. came to
his senses Two or three things had occurred
70 detract from his over-confdence Among
these was the ayowal on the part of several per-
snnal and political friends Of their intention TO
surport Miss Smith. giving as their reasons
that she had a GOOD record as an educator, and
was without doubt we'll qualified for he office:
that sne wanted the Office and was making
hard fight for il: and that Van vert dldh
want il and didn't need ii. On top OF this ne
was informed that his opponent had been out
IN the Cow districts" and had the cowboy vote
rretty we'll "cinched" This cheering announce
rnent came from two or three of the bosses"
who called on him to see If he didn't think 1t
worth while TO get out and save his political
scalp by "rustling' like the rest Of the candi-
dates We'll have the committee fix some
dates for you to speak. and you've got TO fill
'ern. Jimmie; if you don't you're gone goose"
said they.
So. with the inward fear that he might. after
effort TO save himself. He did not care for the
office, but he dreaded defeat at the hands Of
woman, being one Of the kind Of men who do
not believe the gentler sex has any business in
politics He pictured Miss Smith big, gaunt.
led haired, self assertive person. with large red
hands and snappy way Of speaking-and was
quite surprised TO learn that she really a
very ladylike young woman. tipping the beam
at about 10 pounds.
1t lacked but four days of Election Day. and
the various candidates putting In every
hour possible in making speeches and seeing
their constituents and other people. Van Vert
had put in some very telling work in several
places where II would do the most good. but In
two or three precincts ii found that
strong sentiment in favor OF his opponent had
developed and must be overcome by some
means II he hoped to win. Unfortunately he
was worried, and his actions showed it;
or two occasions while speaking he had given
way to puerile bursts Of temper that by no
means enhanced his chances for success. Some
of the older heads had warned him that by
making slurring remarks about his opponent he
would only hurt himself. to which he responded
by the childlike query: well. IL a woman
doesn't want to get herself talked about she'd
better keep out OF politics"
This he practically repeated to a mixed crowd
at Conover's Schoolhouse. in Of the strong
Cow districts" on Friday night before election
adding: Il cannot believe that parents inter-
ested in the future welfare Of their children are
willing to intrust their early training to the
hands and the methods of who so far for
gets her womanhood to stand as a candidate
for public office" OF course he regretted the
remark almost ii uttered and
recognized that the silence with which II was
received the silence Of a disappfoval too
strong to find expression in words But it was
too late for regrets and ne expressed none.
The next afternoon came a brief but pointed
note from Miss Smith, in which she gently re-
minded him that his youth had evidently led