Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-07-04

~ so
Rex, King of the Carnival. 1t is an
honor most worthily bestowed. Nj
Franzheim some time & announced
his withdrawal from the race, and has
never publicly reconsidered his deter
mination, but TO his friends he has
given a reluctant consent TO serve If
elected.
The contest closed In the lobby OF
the Mcclure House. The committee
consisting of George W. Lutz, James b.
Mckee, Seaton Alexander, Clark HAM
ilton. James NJ. Collins. w. It. Shafer
and Il. Buchanan, were stationed on the
first landing of the marble stairway
leading from the lobby to the second
floor.
Ii was a picturesque and unusual
spectacle when the contest for Kin OF
the Carnival was brought to a close
The entire foor OF the lobby was
damned with excited and Interested
men, friends of the several candidates,
while upon the balconies were many
ladies, who took a deep interest In the
proceedings. City Clerk Thomas
O'Brien. Jr.. acted as exhorter, and IN
his ininitable style and with stento-
rian voice he urged the multitude con-
fronting him to cough up" And they
did, while the Opera House band on
the north balcony, played at intervals,
and as the witching hour of IL o'clock
drew near there were showers of en-
elopes. most of them bulky. and much
| applause as the sealed votes went in,
while the gentlemen of the committee,
stationed in the background. smiled
complaeently and carefully gathered in
everything that came their way.
When the big clock on the Office wall
marked ten minutes TO IL Mr.. OBrien
began to wax eloquent; when the FIVE
minute notch was reached he was In
sistent and vociferous, and when 1t got
to two minutes of the crucial hour his
demeanor took on a slight tinge of ex-
element. accentuated notably during
the next sixty seconds. When the time
was limited TO one minute he called to
Harry Mcclure to watch the clock, and
as 'sThree-quarters of a minute. Hail
a minute Quarter OF a minute were
successfully called out there was a rush
of votes. amid cries OF Turn back the
clock" and general excitement.
The last envelope was handed up
lust within a second or two Of II, the
polls we're declared closed, and then
there were guesses as TO whether
F%ranzheim, Schmidt, Brennan or
O'Brian mad won the coveted honor
and several men offered to lay wagers
upon the result. Mr.. O'Brien's final
announcements were. in imitation OF
pool room style and created much mer-
! riment.
Within the final half hour the excite
ment was intense. Mr.. O'Brien had
made a distinctly favorable impression
upon the audience, and an OBrien
boom started early in the evening
which came dangerously close to
s%natching the coveted honor for him
notwithstanding he was never an
avowed candidate. He received several
handsome votes from the lobby. Soon
after 10:3 80 a number OF his friends got
| together and pledged themselves to
raise $3.50. Then telephone communl-
cation was established with a wealthy
friend of Mr.. O'Brien, who said that
he would contribute So for each one
that was raised. A little later he was
informed that 5000 had been raised.
Then it Is said that he asked the other
friends of Mr.. O'Brien to raise $500 and
he would contribute a like amount to
the voting. Owing to the lateness of
the hour this was regarded as impos-
sible and none of the money went in.
Ifethe gentleman referred to had adj
hered to his original proposition, 5000
votes would have gone in for Mr.
O'Brien within the last half hour, and
he would have been elected with many
votes to spare. All this was done, how
ever, withou: Mr.. O'Brien's knowledge
or consent.
There was some excitement after
1890 o'clock, when a ballot box was
brought in from Wheeling Park. When
opened it was found to contain no votes.
Just four minutes after Harry Nc
Lures hand fell, announcing that the
contest had closed, a messenger boy
rushed in with a telegram giving If
teen votes to Brennan from a Grafton
friend. A sensational report was cir
culated to the effect that the vote was
1900 and was thrown out because, it
came too late.
The crowd was good-natureo, and
members of the committee were con-
graduated upon the success Of the vot-
ing contest, about 81 300 being raised
for Carnival purposes. Director Ben
son had estimated the amount at SILL
coo, and he was in excellent hunor
over the quarter hourly bulletins of the |
vote, announcing at 8 o'clock:
1