The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1902-07-18
WHITMAN, CHRONIC CANDIDATE.
Lacks $50 to Enter His Sixth Race In
South Carolina.


Union, S. c., Dispatch to New York
Times.
The most picturesque of the many pic
turesque men who have of recent years
appealed to the voters of this State for
election to high official positions is miss
ing this year from the Gubernational
contest The man referred to is @. Walt
Whitman of this town, and the reason
he is not being heard at the various cam
paign meetings now being held through
out the State Is due to Col. Wiley Jones,
the chairman of the State Democratic
Executive Committee. G. Walt was ex-
tremely anxious to make the race for
Governor, but when the time came for him
to sign the pledge to abide by the result
of the primary, he was unable to raise
the $50 that all candidates for Governor
are required to pay into the treasury of
the campaign committee, in order to have
their names placed on the ballots.
In the campaign previous to this one
Whitman managed to raise the campaign
fee, and his name was duly filed as one
of the regular candidates. When the time
came, two years ago, to commence the
stamping of the state, he did not have
enough money to pay his railroad fare to
the different courthouses. Not to be out
done, he raked together what money he
could and bought a bicycle of ancient
make to make the circuit of the state. On
this clumsy machine, over bad roads
and South Carolina is full of bad roads
through dense forests, where the pine
leaves that covered the ground owing to
their sickness made his progress almost
impossible, he toiled along and managed,
Notwithstanding the handicap, to make
nearly every county in the state In time
for the campaign meetings.
His speeches were always out of the
ordinary. you people," he would say,
don't know what good Governor is
Don't you want to know? 1 don't believe
you do. for If you did, you would elect
me Governor. 1 have been running for
most constrained to believe that at last
you have come to your senses, and are
about to elect as Governor the one man
who can administer the laws made for
your benefit as can no other ever elect
ed to the office Of Governor
Whitman has an idea, and It Is sim
cere that Unless ssone day he becomes
Governor of South Caolina the state will
go to ruin. He has no faith in the other
and no argument can con-
vince him that he is not predestined to
be the Governor of people only about
one out of 10000 OF whom has ever cast
a vote for him.
Whitman conducts a small grocery
store here, and when Colonel Jones ruled
him out Of the primary he made a
speciality of selling Kerosene oil, and an
himself in the public prints as
an opponent of the Standard Oil Com
pany. In order to get his supply of the
fluid he hit upon an original idea. The
owners of the cotton factories hereabouts
all run stores In connection with their
plants, using as a medium of exchange
aluminium checks, which are taken at
the store in place of the money. OF
course. these checks are not good at the
and the factorymen often
iiIu themselves UNABLE TO get their Grams
for the simple reason that the dispen-
sary is state institution, and the state
will not extend credit to anyone. So
Whitman offered to redeem a dollars
worth of aluminium checks for so cents
in real money. The factorymen approved
of the idea, and he has been busy ever
since raking in the aluminium checks at
a profit of 20 per cent. With these checks
he goes to the factory store, where he
buys oil at the face value Of the checks.
He then disposes of it to his customers
at small profit.
The morning after Colonel Jones re-
fused to allow him to enter the primary
whitman inserted in one of the local pa
pers the following advertisement:
II sell Kerosene oil cheaper than the
standard OIL Trust am also in the
race for Governor until l die.
G. WALT WHITMAN"
All laughed when they read the 'ad.,''
but they all knew it was a true express
sion of the old mans intentions, and If
he continues to sell oil as fast as he has
since he hit upon the aluminum-check
idea, there is very little doubt that the
next time he rims for Governor he will
ride on railroad train and not a bicycle.