The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1901-07-20
THE STAFFORD
MEETING.
Exciting Scenes-Oemo-
cratic Primary Becomes
a COnglOmerated
Mixture.
GARNET WINS FROM BERREY.
Gubernaterial, Senatorial and Logit
lativo Delegates Chosen.

King George and Greene counties here
tuiorr have held the cake for high
time at political meetings. but they Will
have to surrender It To- the good old
State of Stafford. ' Wednesday was
the browning day in its political history
TmE FREE LNNcE had said there would
be- a "llot Time in Stafford, and TnE
FREE Lance made no false prediction. II
was named as court day. hut the court
was not in it except that the Judge in
his private capacity figured 'muchly. De-
cgates were To he named To three conven-
-Gubernatorial. Senatorial and
Legislative. and the County committee
was To be- rrorganizcd. The fight for the
delegates To the Legislative convention
was the chief bone of contention. and
the friends Of the two candidates, Hon.
II. Weldon Berrey, of Stafford, and Hon
II 4. Garnett, of King George, had been
active for weeks in marshaling their
forces for the fray The morning dawncd
bright and hot and at an early hour
horns blew. dogs banked. mules were
hitched. oxen yokcd. horses saddled. hi
cycles CREASED and shoes mcndcd ready
to start.
\ huglc blown 10y stalWart form in a
heavily loadcd six mule team whose bell
tinkled in the morning air announced the
approach of thclirst corners. In this par
tv of twenty was the famous Glce club oi
Stafford. who came in singing, There
Will be IA Hot Time in The old Town
Tonight" Next came the string band oi
Whitewater in wagon drawn 10y slN
horses: besides the band who was Vlgor
ously playing. We Won't Go Home l n
Ill Morning there wasapartyo i thirty
who made the woods rc-echoc with their
shouts Then came Jim BloNton with
the white Oak contingent IN three
wagons singing lierrcy Forever and
stand By The Stafford Man. and next
was the contingent in wagons buggics
dog-carts and ON bicycles from Hart
wood. with seventy-two men singing,
Wen Hang Weldon lerrey On Sour
Annie Tree 80 The Court house voters
came a-ioot with their coats over their
shoulders hopping the persplratlon rom
their brOws n they marched in. by II
o'clock all had arrived, and the crowd
numbered more than seven hundred.
Chairman y. W. lee. behind "A fast
team in campany with Mr. Fleming g..
Bailey. the owner OF Chatham. trottcd in
early. clad in dark trousers. brOad
farmers straw hat and pink shirtwaist
that showed his cOrpulency to the best
advantage. and said 10 Richard &. Mon
cure and ex-Sherih g. l.. Kennedy. who
is now ful-hedged Democrat, s." sce
they are all here boys These two gen
tlemen were managing Garnetts can
vass Hon T. ". Berrey in full suit OF
white duck which was a little the worse
for wear before the day was over. was
his own manager. Hon H. r. Garnett
was also present and with Hon. j. J..
.leffries Democratic candidate for Attor-
ney General of the State. watched the
proceedings from the shade Of huge oak
ON the court green.
At ll:lO the meeting was called and
there was n scramble for advantageous
positions in the courthouse. such tumb-
ling and rushing were never seen nj stat
ford before. In five minutes the building
was packed and two-thirds of the crowd
outside were pressing to get IN. II
was almost suiiocating when Chairman
Lee announced that the meeting would
be held outside Then there was rush
10 get out.
ON "A table under the big OAK, Chair
man ZEE called the meeting To order. \
dozen hands went mp for recognition.
Just then the Glec club struck up tamil
iar song nearby. the string band com
menced playing from the jail steps, this
mingled with the heated discussion OF
the adherents Of each candidate made
confusion worse cOnfOunded. Finally
order was restored, and Mr.. &. B. Wal
lace was recognized. He presented this
list Of delegates 10 the Gubernatorial
convention: r. +. Duvall Frank
Moncure. W. j.. Reamy DR.. q. NJ.
Wallace Capt. -. NJ Lee, Capt.
S. G. Peyton. y. +. Shacklett and I. ;.
Briggs, and moved they be elected. Mr..
Berrey strenuously opposed the motion
and amended it by the chair appointing
a committee of three from each Magiste-
rial district, who should present list
from their respective districts to he ratl-
fled by the meeting
Then pandemOnium reigned for twenty
minutes and the chairman stood like n
statue, great beads of perspiration on
his forehead waiting for the din to cease.
In fifteen minutes there was lull, ana
The vote was put and decided in favor ol
Wallace Berrey kicked at the decision,
and demanded n division The pulling
and hauling of the voters by the active
leaders of both candidates made n count
almost impossible, and Lee was almost
at his wits end when n happy thought
struck him. "ln the middle OF the road
he cried, "then we can count them, and
picking up n chair and throwing it over
his back he marched to the middle OF the
road opposite the jail. lie had hardly
mounted the chair before there was di-
version, two fights commenced, and this
stopped proceedings. Slight bruises were
the result, and the parties settled their
dispute with friendly drink. Then n
dozen pair of buggy reins were tied to-
gether and stretched along the road to
divide the adherents of each candidate
and have n count. This would not work,
M the pulling and hauling process began,
and no count could be had. Lee marched
back with his chair and called meeting
Of the County committee.
Berrey then mounted the jail steps and
proceeded to address the crowd. IL was
suggested that he go down the road fur
Their. where he could make n speech and
then form his line ready for action. John
"Reb" Waller was captain OF the host,
and the gymnast of the day.
lie drew fonr-ffths Of the crowd to
hear him, among whom was the chair
man, and the other friends of Garnett.
Berrey plead for Stafford representation
instead of King George, and gave an ac-
count OF his stewardship while he was in
the Legislature. Some very sharp re-
marks passed between Berrey, Lee and
Moncure, in regard TO the judgeship
fight between Ashton and Chichester. A
line of Berrey men was then formed two
abreast reaching far down theroad ready
to march up and have n vote. Berrey,
Garnett and Dr. Wallace were at this
juncture summoned before the County
committee for reconciliation. The line was
broken, and there was n general minglng.
Berrey gave a free dinner to his friends.
Stafford c. H. is n local option village,
but it was decidedly wet " Wednesday,
and hotties strewpd the rOads leading to