The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-02-05

man who was about to take his life.
Their anger was renewed when Colonel
Sanford's widow went crazy and was
tncarcerated in a private asylum.
TWELVE YEARS IN POLITICS.
About twelve years ago Mr.. Goebel
entered politics. Circuit Clerk. Wilson
of Kenton county induced him to make
the race for state senator from that
county. He was elected and has served
continuously. One of the first bills
he made a, law was that which made
gambling a felony He had seen the evil
effects of gaming, and he believed the
young men of the state ought to be pro-
tected from gambling and the influence
of gamblers, and he worked very hard
to have the bill become a law. Sew
eraI efforts have been made to repeal
the felony clause. but the senator al
ways fought against it, and was sue
cessful. Knowing the value of books
for the poor, he caused to be passed
bill empowering cities of the second
class to establish and maintain free
public libraries, and Lexington has
been the first city in the state to take
advantage of this law.
He has always stood for the people
against the classes and combines of
wealth, and in his capacity of senator
has caused many bills looking to the
amelioration of the condition of the
poor to become laws It was in this
spirit that he supported what is known
as the McChord railroad bill and the
Chinn schoolbook bill. He believed the
railroads ought to base their rates on
the amount of work done and not on
the competition that centers around
large shipping and river points. He
thought the children of the state ought
not to be made to pay more for their
schoolbooks than they are worth, nor
more than is charged in other states.
When he opened his campaign for
governor he made a powerful speech at
Lebanon in which he said he was OPP
posed by all the corporations in the
to-, Nv In har7 lis nd Nv f.lU
all the newspapers, but he intended to
win the contest despite the efforts of
these great powers against him. How
well he succeeded is now history. No
man ever had a harder fight. He went
into the convention with only small
portion of the delegates pledged to him,
but by his superior generalship he won
the nomination after struggle lasting
eight days and seven nights.
His manag cement of this convention
gives an insight into his cool and cal
culating character. Knowing the me-
cessity of keeping posted as to the
changes in the balloting, he secured the
services of a boOkmaker's Sheet-Writer
Of Chicago, and this individual kept &
tally on the balloting in a manner SIM
liar to the way he keeps his bets in the
bookmaker's box. AS a result, Mr. Goe-
bel could tell at a glance at any time
Just how he stood and just how his
opponents stood. 1t was this valuable
information which caused him to be at
all times master of the situation, and
to refuse to listen to his friends when
they wanted him to withdraw. He
knew all the details of the convention,
and knew the standing of every dele
gate. He sat on the stage behind the
secretary. with his coat off and his
legs crossed. He appeared as cool as
a piece Of ice. He never allowed him
self to be disturbed by the exciting
scenes with which the convention
abounded, and at no time did he feel
TO-
Toward the end of the convention the
gigantic Ollie James, a Stone man,
rushed up to Mr.. Goebel, and, with his
whole frame shaking with excitement,
and in a voice of thunder, exclaimed:
You must withdraw or we will nOmi-
nate Hardin!' James was the recOg-
nized leader of the Stone forces, and he
| expected this wild declaration would
| move the kenton county man, Mr.
| Goebel never budged. He simply said,
| in that quiet tone so we'll known to
him: "All right, if you can stand it
can
That was all; he never argued the
| question, he did not ask why. It was
such a surprising answer that James
was completely nOnplussed, and he re-
| tired from the stage without another
word. 1t was the same way when some
| of Mr.. GOebeIs friends came to him Ia
/ ter and begged him to withdraw, saying
| he could never be nominated. He lis
| tened to them calmly, and then said in
| in the fight to stay and win"
In communicating with the chairmen
| of the different delegations. Mr.. Goebel
| adopted a new method never used in a
| Kentucky convention before. Instead
| of having runners, as is the custom, he
| had a human chain, composed of truSty
| followers. One end was near Mr.. GOebel
| and the other reached out into the audi
| tOrium. A system of signs was also
| perfected, and when Mr.. Goebel want
/ ed to communicate with a certain
| chairman he told the man next to him
| what to say, and the message was re-
| peated and repeated until the man
nearest the chairman in question got 1t,
| and he either used signs or went to the
| chairman in person and delivered the
message. In this way he threw his OPP
| ponents completely off the track. They
| delegates was done at his suggestion,
| but they could not tell for their lives
| how he got the word to the different
| delegations. His followers had such i'm
/ plicit confidence in him that his every
| order was obeyed at once. Nobody
| asked why a certain thing should be
| done. 1t was enough to know that Mr..
| Goebel wanted it done, and the act was
accomplished.
! Mr.. GOebel was unmarried. Unlike the
| average Kentucky politician, he neith-
| er used tobacco nor liquor He was alb
solutely clean in his private life Out
| of his earnings as a lawyer he educated
| one brother and assisted the other one
| to engage in a lucrative business. His
| mother, who has been dead for a num-
| Der Of years, was a devoted church
| member and, although he was an ag-
| nostic, he kept her membership in her
| church alive, and paid her dues as reg
| ularly as the quarters rolled around.
| During his recent campaign one of his
| opponents tried to make capital out OF