The age-herald., 1898-01-21
Fight Began Early and the Candidates
 Were Numerous.
NOW WHO WILL BE CHAIRMAN ?
Likely To Be a Meeting Tonight When the Selection Will Be Made Another Va- cancy Will Occur Shortly on
 the Commission.


 the vacancies on the police commission have been filled, and John McCartin and David Fox are the men.
 The appointment of these gentlemen was predicted exclusively in The Age Herald, and the verifcation came last night in the shape of telegram from the governors office in Montgomery.
 Both Messrs. McCartin and Fox have long been prominent in municipal affairs. John M. McCartin- served longer on the board of aldermen than any one who has ever been elected. He is fireman in the government building, and at the time of his resignation from the board of alder men was chairman of the street commit tee, position which exacted much ardu- ous labor.
 David Fox is one of Birmingham's fore most and most successful business men. He served one term as mayor, J. A. Van Hoose succeeding him. The friends of MT. Fox are proud of his record as the chief executive of the city.
 When the Fight Began.
 The vacancies on the commission oc- cured Jan. 1, when the terms of Chair man A. H. Stevens and M. c. Reynolds expired. Both had served one term each and neither desired to succeed himself. MT. Reynolds is the president of the M. c. Reynolds Lumber company, and MT. Ste- vens the agent of the Central Rail- road of Georgia in this city, Both gentlemen are popular, and their work on the commission has never been questioned. Messrs. Emil Lesser w. c. Garrett and A. o. Lane are the mem- bers of the commission whose terms did not expire.
 The scramble for the appointments be- gan before the vacancies occurred, and has formed one of the most exciting con- tests in the history of Birmingham af- fairs. Not until a few days before the ap- pointments were made but few had any idea who the appointees would be. Both Messrs. McCartin and Fox ran rather as dark horses until few weeks ago. It was said that McCartin did not desire the office, and this was generally credited un- til he rendered his resignation as alderman from the Eighth ward. Webb Crawford was prominently mentioned in connection with McCartin after the latter resigned, but he declared he did not seek the position and threw his influence in favor of Fox. MT. Fox's stock went up phenomenally in the past few days, and yesterday The Age-Herald announced that he would be the man.
 Mr. Stevens was also mentioned, but :: is also claimed that he retired from the race voluntarily. MT. Reynolds said in the beginning that he would not accept the office if tendered him. The labor unions also entered the battle, and Mike McGcv- ern, an employe of the Birminghasa reis- ingx mills, was endorsed by the Trades council and the Union Label league. John H. Cox an engineer on the Louisville and Nashville railroad was also an applicant and had quite strong following among railroad men. There were others working in quiet way, among them W. M. New ton.
 The Governor Worried. There has been no little wire pulling for the different candidates. The mails to the chief executive have been ladened with ap- plications and endorsements and when he visited Birmingham he was deluged with visits from friends of the opposing can- z didates. In fact, the campaign has been so persistent that when an Age-Herald reporter mentioned the question to Cover [, nor Johnston few days ago, he replied with some weariness, "I am tired of that subject and he quickly changed the topic of conversation.
 Some of the members of the commission declared that they would not attend a meeting until the appointments were made This has been demonstrated by the faci that more than one attempt to get quo rum ended in failure. I is thought now that meeting will be held Friday night A chairman for the present year will be chosen and now the speculation as to who he will be is started.
 There will be another vacancy on the commission in the near future when A. o. Lane retires to enter the contest for pro- bate judge