The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-11-11
PIN KERT0N
He's w anted to
Beat Dodge,
OR ANY OTHER MAN
Who Is Able to Serve Anti
Dodge Crowd.

Anybody to beat Mayor Rufus B.
Dodge, Jr., for reelection.
This is the slogan of the anti-Dodge
men in the present municipal cam
paign, and the pot which has been
simmering all through the state cam
paign is fiercely boiling now.
Broken promises and pledges are
charged against the city's chief execut-
i've, and combine to give the opposition
their ground for action.
Just now the enemies of the mayor
are ashore for the proper timber with
which to build their anti-Dodge craft.
Several names have been mentioned. but
the men who are considered strong
enough to make the running against
Dodge in the caucuses are not disposed
to accept the heavy responsibility. But
the hunt is active, and there is little
doubt but that an opposition candidate
VIII be brought out in the municipal
caucuses.
The most probable man at this time
as Mayor Dodge's opponent in the eau
cuses is Hon. Alfred S. Pinlserton, for
mer state senator. and the Worcester
Odd Fellow who has just been elevated
to the office of the grand sire Of the
Odd Fellows of the country.
Mr.. Pinketron has been besieged by
numerous friends and urged to make
the running. He admitted to The Spy
man last night that his political friends
had called on him very frequently of
late, at his office and at his house. and
| had asked him to allow the use Of his
name as a candidate for the republican
nomination for the mayoralty in the
municipal convention.
| Up to the present time Mr. Pinkerton
has discouraged them But this is not
the end. meeting of the anti-Dodge
men, within day or two, is looked for,
and then formal request will be made
Of the north end man. Whether he re-
fuses this as positively as he has re-
| fused the informal requests already
made remains to be seen.
There is a peculiar phase in the anti
Dodge movement. 1t is engineered by
the very men, with one or two excep-
tions, who were most prominent last
year in obtaining his nomination and
| election to the Office he now holds
Of course there wasn't much trouble
in securing Mr.. Dodges nomination,
last year, for he had a clear field in the
caucuses. But a little diplomacy was
used in clearing the field, for there
|
sidered before the hour of the prima-
ries arrived. One of these men was
Alderman Burton w. Potter, whose
Withdrawal from the canvass left a
clear field for the present mayor
| But after the caucuses and the repub-
| lican convention there was plenty Of
work necessary, and not a little money
needed A committee of Is was
organized and by this committee near
ly all of the funds used during the city
campaign were raised
| This fall not less than 20 members of
this same committee are opposed to
Mayor Dodge's reelection, and the men
prominent on last years committee are
the most prominent men of the Dodge
opposition
| One Of the larger crimes laid at the
door of the mayor during his present
administration is his failure to appoint
Capt. James K. Churchill as a member
| of the board of registrars of voters. 1t
| is alleged that his promise to do this
was made to one of the members of the
committee of 25, and when he appointed
another democrat to the place, there
was weeping and wailing and gnashing
of teeth among the faithful Dodge men
of 1897, and wrath unconfined in the
bosom of the particular sponsor for
Capt. Churchill.
! This was one bitter pill for the origi-
nal Dodge men and their friends, and
according to reliable information, the
pill is still in the threats of the Dodge
| committee 1t won't down.
Another member of last years Dodge
COMMITTEES is said to be sore because
of the mayors alleged failure to keep
an alleged promise and turn over
certain amount of work to his partdcu-
lar friend. There We're other men in
the city engaged in the same business
as this Dodge man, and when hf found
that things didn't come his way, as ne
was led to suppose they Woulu ddili atta7
ately after election, there was another
hot anti-Dodge chicken Matched for the
present compaign.
These are the two crimes on ilist In
portance There are others TOO numel-
| ous TO mention and too lnsignlncant TO
notice were it not for their asssocla-
ton with these crimes OF the lrst mag
nitude. .....,.,,
to both of the greater charges, and s.ty
I.that all of the others admit or SAILS
factory explanation as well.
Rut with regard to the appointment
| of Cant. Churchill as a member OF the
board Of registrars of voters. lie was
a democrat, according to the claims OF
| his friends, but the democrats Oh the
| CITY wouldn't have it that way. They
went to Mayor Dodge and declared
| that, in the event of the appointment
/ of Capt. Churchill, they would carry
the matter to the supreme court. they
| challenged his democracy and called
the attention of the mayor TO the fact
that several years ago he had been
read out of the democratic party.
This was quite a nut for his honor
to crack and in his most serious mo-
ments he decided to crack it oeliber-
ateIy. He was bound by the statutes
to appoint democrat to the vacancy,
for there was already the full num-
Der of republicans on the board He
finally concluded to take 40 chances
with the democracy, and so appointed
1 LAWYER Charles ]. O'Hara.
! AS to the contract for certain work,
that another member of the general
committee of % so much wanted, Mayor
Dodge's friends say that he couldn't
give the contract or the work 10 any
particular man, for the competitors of
the gentleman in the same business
would have at once made fuss.
There was quite a STIR, too, when The
appointment of Corwih NJ. Thayer as
successor to the late Edwin d. Me-
Farland as tax collector, was made.
There were more Dodge men of the or
iginal stamp alleged to have bsen
! crossed. and several additional knives