The record-union., 1897-03-21
TIE FAIR CANDIDATE.
A Story of western Politics.

| parties or Butte County was at Work.
| The wheelhorses of the organization
were in executive session, and the man.
ufacture Of "slate" for the ratifica-
ton of the county convention was in
progress. Everything had been settled
without friction up to a certain point,
but here the making of candidates
came to a full stop. Some one must be
selected to run for Superintendent of
Schools, and some one else must be
found who was disinterested enough to
stand for the place of County Surveyor,
with the nominal emolumentS pertain
| ing thereto. This latter problem was
settled, after a brief discussion, by the
powers insisting that Al Wood, the in
cumbent, who was present, must stand
| for reelection, whether he liked 1t or
not; but a duly qualified candidate for
| Superintendent of Schools was not so
easily found. The man who had held
that position for two years past had
| the bad taste to give up his office and
his grasp on life at the same time, only
two weeks before, thus leaving his
party in quandary for a candidate to
succeed him. OF course, there were
plenty of aspirants for the nomination,
1 49,
reasons political, and the candidate
| must be a person who was popular
with the voters of the country.
| Jimmie Van Vert, the handsome
young assayer of the Spread Eagle
Mill, had been sitting in a dark corner
Of the Office 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 a 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 t have some Teller
th't en- ketch tn aoutside vote. Now,
Jimmie, look yere. What's tn matter
with you runnin' FIR super intend mt
y'rself?"
Don't get me mixed in on a deal like
that" calculated Van Vert, fervently.
Il don't want any old office. I've got
troubles enough, now
But Judge Bullock's suggestion met
with unanimous approval on the part
| of all the others present, and. very
much against his will, Mr.. Van Vert
was slated for the nomination, and duly
placed in nomination by the conven-
| lion a few days later. 1t was two
| weeks before he found out what sort
of an opponent he was to have, and
| then, much to his disgust, he learned
that the other party had nominated a
girl
This was almost enough to make him.
throw up the canvass. The idea of the
other fellows thinking that he could be
beaten by a woman. Then he consoled
himself with the reflection that per-
haps they knew they couldn't beat him,
and had merely put up this Miss Smith
to act as a forlorn hope. Thenceforth
he did not put much activity into his
canvass, but attended to business pref
ty much as usual, serene in the belief
that the voters of Butte County were
not yet arrived at the stage of pro-
gression when they would permit a
woman to hold office. And all this time,
be it known, this heretofore unknown
and mysterious Miss Smith was becom-
ing known to the voters of the county,
and, what was more, she was winning
a good deal of support from sources
| upon which Van Vert confidently
counted.
1t lacked only about ten days of
election day when Van Vert, with a
sudden shock, came to his senses. Two
or three things had occurred to de-
tract from his over-confidence. Among
| these was the avowal on the part of
several persons and political friends Of
| their intention to support Miss Smith,
| giving as their reasons that she had a
good record as an educator, and was
without doubt well qualified for the Of
flee; that she wanted the office, and
was making a hard fight for it; and
| that Van Vert didn't want it and
didn't need it. On top of this he was
| informed that his opponent had been
out in the Cow districts" and had the
cowboy vote pretty well 'cinched."
This cheering announcement came from
two or three of the bosses who called
on him to see if he didn't think it worth
while to get out and save his political
scalp by ''rustling" like the rest of the
candidates. well have the committee
fix some dates for you to speak, and
you've got to fill 'em, Jimmie; if you
don't you're a gone goose" said they.
So, with the inward fear that he
| I
began in earnest the effort to save him.
self. He did not care for the office,
but he dreaded defeat at the hands of
a woman, being one of the kind of mon
who do not believe the gentler sex has
any business in politics. He pictured
Miss Smith as big, gaunt, ed-haired,
self-assertive person, with large red
hands and a snappy way of speaking.
and was quite surprised to learn that
she was really a very ladylike young
woman, tipping the beam at about lilo
pounds.
1t lacked but four days of election
day, and the various candidates We're
putting in every hour possible in MAX
| ing speeches and seeing their constit-
uents and other people. Van Vert had
put in some very telling work in sew
eral places where it would do the most
| good, but in two or three precincts it
was found that a strong sentiment in
favor Of his opponent had developed,
and must be overcome by some means
if he hoped to win. Unfortunately he
was worried and his actions showed it :;
| on one 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 inquiry:
We'll, If 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 one of the strong Cow districts" on