The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1898-09-13
A DULL ROMANCE
BY REV. HAL AVER
Populist Campaign Handbook
Out Today.
SOME : CHOICE TALES
SOME y CHOICE
THE NEGRO SUFFRAGE BIG
BOO DESTROYED.
H0LT0N WON'T BE MAD A LITTLE BIT
Some Selections Showing the Rev. Atmos
phere's Literary Style and his Long cared
Political Sense >He Joins the
Manure Pile Parasites.

Peoples Party Handbook of Facts.
Campaign of 1898, by Hal. W.
Aver, State Auditor. Issued by the
State Executive Committee of the
Peoples Party of North Carolina.
Barnes Bros, State Printers and
Binders, Raleigh. n. G..
The object of this charming little vol
ume, the advance sheets of which now
lies, yes lie, before us. fresh from the
press, is to fill long-felt want i'll Ameri-
can fiction. There is nothing else like
it I'm heaven above or in the earth be-
meath, or in the water under the earth.
1t is a gem of purest ray, is this hand
book.
1t needed the audacity of genius and
the authority of success to compass such
an undertaking. But the Rev. Halle
lujah Whangdoodle Atmosphere, State
Auditor, was equal to the task. Indeed,
for the like of it-a very reyel of ro-
nance, bright flashes of wit, and be-
wildering caprices of humor, all CLOSED
over with delightful irony-one must
go back to Munchausen and Cervautes
and Annanias. 1t is a combination of all
three.
AG DUuIDOH DeulOlIdlSs W uU tHNSC
many years, have been trying to capture
and hold the voter in their partisan
hands, will tell you, as they sniff the air
disdainfully, that this book is no book at
all, worth speaking of, and that the Rev.
Air is a liar of the first water. Now
that is a most uncharitbe view to take
or the matter, and spoils all the fun in
this pretty little publication, which lies
before us.
There are many amusing things in the
pamphlet, but you have to know the dis
position of its author to know how funny
it really is. You must know enough not
to take the Rev. Air seriously, though he
believes himself to be very serious and
intensely in earnest. Hear him in his
opening spasm
1.-THE pamphlet viii establish the fact
that the Democratic machine Is IN
qualifiedly dishonest in its practice. 1t
will show that the accession to power Of
the Democratic party. as at present or
ganized, managed and controlled, is
fraugllt with danger, dishonUr and de-
graduation to the people of the State. and
VIII convince every honest citizen
that it is his duty TO bend his efforts and
energies in every honorable and legiti-
mate way 10 save TIE S9ldlt IEolh sutH
disastrous conditions"
Now the playful humor of this simple
introduction of the reader to the book
lying before him is most charming. It's
assurance is exceeded only by the au
thor's asinne vanity. | know of nothing
comparable to it, unless it be DIR. Ram
sey's Zeke Biikins in the Distressiye
Farmer.
Continuing in this playful strain the
Rev. Atmosphere has this to say about
the press of the State:
THE masses of voters have
always been deceived !. in two
ways, viz: The failure of the Demo-
cratic press to tell the truth, and its per-
sistency in inyenting and circulating the
most outrageous and villainous lies that
the genius of an organized liar can in
vent. There has never been an adequate
means in North Carolina for exposing its
general. fraudulent, lying character"
Which proves that our author and au-
ditor can be as severe as he is vain, when
he tries. When it comes to the use Of
picturesque language, of an abusive taste
and sulphurous smell, the Rev. Air is
something of a third-rate Brann. Since
the editor of the Iconocast fIug his real
" brilliant billingsgate at Baylor Univer-
sity and its surrounding neighborhood,
this scribbling charlatan on the fringes
of politics has been deluging us with
spurious ware of this sort. | can almost
see the Rev. Hallelujah Whandoodle is
he wrote the above He is caressng his
thin mustache with his left hand; he
pushes out his thick lips as he thinks he
is thinking thought. And he writes:
THE fraud dishonesty and low scoun-
drelism of this machine are what deserve
denunciation
Now this is as admirable a bit Of
sarcasm as | have seen in many a day.
Could the author have said more in few
or words? Low scoundrelism'' is really
Il note of genius.
1t is the Rev.'s breadth of thought and
bullock-like force of expression that |
a .mire most. It is characteristic of his
writings. Ii you see such marks Of
genius as ''liar" low scoundrel'' "vil-
lain" and fraud" you need not go furth-
or to seek the author. Could any one
ditor in one of his happiest moods,
penned the following inspired lines:
This [Democraticl party
has undertaken to incite lawless-
ness and riot by cowardly.
sneaky, secret procedure of hiring indi-
viduals or set of individuals to begin
such riots
Warming to his subject the Rev. Hal
lejah Whandoodlefjoins the two Manure
Pile defenders, DIR. Ramsey and Hill f..
King, in saying the Democrats hired the
Wilmington negro editor to write his re-
cent editorial about poor white women,
and adds
at is safe to say there has never been
in the State of North Carolina an in
stance Of racial antagonism, unless il
was at the instigation of some
low. venaI. white wretch, acting as
tool of the Democratic wire-pullers"
The gentle reader will observe from
these simple lines that not only are oiIr
worthy auditors periods graceful. but
his charges are sweeping and his facts rs
few and far between as are his moments
of lucidity. Sentences like the above