Evening star., 1900-10-06


de and symmetry in which it ultimately
ood revealed He conceived at first only
e vague outline and worked in the de-
lis afterward as occasion served. But 1t
to him and not to Judge Barwood that
e credit of the Great Idea belongs.
Be it known that in the city of Cornville
Idge Barwood, before he went to Congress,
as the predecessor of Mayor Renshaw,
nd that in Major Barwood's day Ruderick
nd his clan held carnival and the Under
Torld was iniguitousy encouraged to ac-
uire vested interests in the city of Corn
lie. Therefore, there was honest indigna-
on in the Under World when Herbert Rem
haw, esq, became a candidate for mayor
gainst Mayor Barwood. The powers that
nle met as one man TO oppose his election.
There was a moment when it seemed that
hey might count on the individual assist
uce of the powers that prey. but fate de-.
ided otherwise. Fate was Ruderick and
he Great Ilea.
To the banner of reform Haunted by Her
ert Renshaw esq. flocked many adherents,
mong them his friend Edwin Cowles. a
Gentleman OF upright prejudices, and Rich
rd Englar who owned bank and con-
idered that all earthly matters should De
conducted with reference to that TACT
These three constituted themselves Il
bower and a party and drew up that which
hey miscalled a platform.
AL the Time fftEptEt IS-IlsHdW, tSq. Sih-
bounced himself candidate for the office
bf mayor OF Cornville there We're three bad
nen in the municipality who Travelled and
transacted business under the names or
Fritzie" Cannes, 'SOapy Wadlow and
.Frenchy'' Latane In the class beneath
Ruderick MCKIowd they were the greatest
and the most envied Under World ceiebri-
les living IN the community. FritZie
WAS a gamester from London, England who
betted when he knew beforehand that he
could not lose because he had fixed things
that way. 'Soapy' was a tool from
Frisco, who could reef leather in a
1riving rain and gale of wind. and
'Frenchy" was a stall from Quebec, who
was a crowd in himself and could create a
push and squeeze on an open prairie, II the
Victim marked for the dip should take
refuge there. He could arrange a frame
up and relieve 'Soapy' of the stolen
pocket book, after ''Soapy' had lifted it
from the victims pocket, with raplu-ey
that made his less practiced fellow stalls
proclaim him a wonderland.
Be IL known that the three bad men, with
the severe simplicity of taste that belongs
to an ariStocracy. detested pose" In the
event of Renshaws election as mayor the
three believed that Cornville would assume
a pose of rectitude which was the less
agreeable to them because it would hurt
Itheir business. Therefore, when RenShaw $
Nomination was announced they took coun-
ISel with them selves and with Ruderick for
1.-THE defeat of RenShaw and the better gov
Iernment of Cornville. 1t was Ruderick $
distinction in every community where he
happened to settle for any length of time
| Ito be asked for his view of all matters of
Importance TO the Under World. Speaking
generally, he did not give advice unless he
felt like it, and for the most part he did
not feel like it.. He looked upon chewing
the rag a vanity. useless before man
has done his job and ruinOuS afterward
more good guns talk themselves into the
stir in year, he said, than all the force
could cop out in a century He was by
far,, Ilyo
what he had to do professionally he liked
to do alone. and no questions asked and no
tales told. "A gun that works by himself
can never turn states evidence, and there 8
nobody to blame If the job turns bad. and
nobody to share with if it don't" was his
invariable reply 10 all suggestions that he
join a push
There were times however when Ruder-
lex saw points for his own hand in gen.
eral discussion. and ''Fritzie," "Soapy" and
"Frenchy" dropped in upon him at a time
when he was very seriously considering
what ards at the moment he held. He was
meditaUng the Great Idea.
'Fritzie was the spokesman of the trio
and he gave RuderiCk from the trio's point
of view. very conclusive arguments why
Herbert Renshaw, esq, should not be
elected mayor of Cornville. IF he's elect
ed 'Fritze" explained. it'll be the same
thing over again that We was up against
In York when that reform administration
was in office. You know yourself that all
known. and the outside talent that the
front office wasn't next to railroaded TO
town and cOpped out the coin. I've got my
stake in Barwood. an j think we ought to
elect him. He's crooked. Of course, but
blokes like US that are known can't do bus
iness where the mayor an police amt
crooked. Renshaw IL make some old rube
chief o police, an we'll all get the chilly
init.
There's reform administrations an
there's reform administrations said Ru-
derrick, after a pause which was rather ir
regular for such ar intimate cOncave. You
say BarwOCd's crooked, an that's jus what
! got agiu him. He's too -- crooked He
makes you an me cough up half what We
get. an yet he's maxim three times as
much as we are himself. That's the kind o
bloke / like to do. an I'm goin' TO do him
this election. He's the meanest CRATER in
this berg. an You know 1t an ! know il.
What you blokes don't know is that this
RenShaw push Is goin' to be easy to work
Any reform police force they put in offices
gCin' to be dead-dead. | tell you Rem
shaw an his gang don't know us from any
other four stiffs in town. He'll change the
whole force, thinkin' they're all crooked
an them that's turned out'n keep up under
cover out o spite. an then we get our
graft in an there amt no BarwoOd around
TO squeeze the profits out OF us. See? Yon
take my tip, an turn in an elect RenshaW"
These were his words. and the first expo
sition OF the Great Idea. What Ruderick
Mcklowd recommended with a take my
TIP HitthtF II was IN ork, in Chi
or in Cornville. usually went" so highly
did the Under World appraise him. And
thus 1t came about that in Cornvfne. the
Under World determined TO turn down Bar
wood and his following and help elect re-
form administration. WadIoW Cannes and
1-ataue were simple-minded men who went
about their business with a HOmeric direct
ness when once they had decided what was
10 be done. They got themselves constl-
tuted the official guardians of the ballot
box and judges Of the election In the nine
teenth ward, which had decided other cleo
tons, and would decide this one
Election day came and went Mayor Par
wood counted on the nineteenth ward
which had won the former election for hin,
The judges OF the election sat about the
stove in the polling booth behind locked
doors, smoked good cigars drank Scotch
highballs and received reports from time
TO time of how the other wards had gone
They made no efforts To count the votes
There was dispute in the thirteenth ward
In regard 10 the admissibility of certain
votes, which lasted all the night following
the close of the polls and the next day and
the night after that. There was under
stood 10 be dispute in the nineteenth
ward also In regard TO the admissibiity of
certain votes. At o'clock on the second
morning message arrived that the dis
pute In the thirteenth was settled: Bar
wood needed q majority of 5pO in the pipa-