The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-03-22

Cathey published all these letters ant
lspeeches and did his best through the
columns of his paper to stay the ebb-tid,
of a confused and bewildered if not dis
organized Democracy.
In the latter part of '95 he sold hi,
paper and engaged in other pursuits
meantime he retained his interest in the
success of the Democracy. Silver was
| the paramount theme Of the Democratic
party. State and National. He purchased
at his own expense 1000 copies of Coins
| Financial School and distributed them
gratis among the voters of Swain county.
| The Fusion of the Republican and Popu-
! list parties under the shrcwd manage
ment of the Hon. Joshua Franks was inn
minent if not a fixed fact. The election
| of 1896 was at hand and in this acknowl-
| edged crisis the Democrats began to cast
/ about for a man for the Legislature.
Franks was the foregone nominee of the
! Fusionists committee of the leading
| Democrats of the county waited upon
Cathey and after a careful review of the
situation he agreed to accept if noml-
mated The convention met and he was
nominated He stumped the entire coun-
ty against Franks and to the surprise and
ioy of the Democrats was elected by u
handsome margin over his able and
adroit and experienced opponent.
! His service in the Fusion Legislature of
1897 speaks for itself He engaged fire.
quently in debate and his name is identi-
fed with all the most important laws
enacted by that Assembly
On his return from the Legislature of
1897, after arranging his private affairs
he took up the study of the law without
any instructor and after nine months
reading in which he averaged sixteen
hours day, he applied for license at
the February, 1898, examination of the
Supreme Court and was successful. I'M
mediately after receiving his license he
formed a partnership with Hon. R. L.
Leatherwood and settled at once in d
promising practice. Meantime he COM
piled the data of the real paternal origin
of Abraham Lincoln and embalmed the
authentic tradition in a handsome book
of 1856 pages-a book that has received
the unqualified approval of such critics
as Bill Arp, DR.. Theo. b. Kingsbury, Hon.
John r. Webster and hundreds of other
distinguished citizens from New York to
San Francisco and from Minnesota to the
Gulf, and which has sold in every State
In the Union, in Canada, Mexico, England,
Scotland and India.
In 1898 Cathey was a candidate before the
primaries of the then saith and 3Sth dis
trct for Senator. The convention showed
that he had enough votes to nomiate
but at his own election, owing to a certain
combination of facts, he withdrew and
moved to make his competitors, the Hon.
Albert Cannons, of Henderson, nominal
tion unanimous
In 1900 he canvassed Swain county for
the Constitutional Amendment speaking
twenty seven times.
In 1902 he became, at the wish of his
faithful friends and at his own hearty
concurrence, a candidate for the nominal
tion for the Senate from the new Thirty
eighth district, composed of the counties
of Pennsylvania, Haywood, Jackson and
Swain.
To make a long story short, Cathey
was named in the convention which was
large and representative one, by a
handsome majority.
The Republicans named as his opponent
the Hon Zebulon Vance Watson. a smart
and tireless politician and the ablest
Republican speaker and camp9igner west
nf Asheville The district was acknowl-
antly close, but Cathey entered the race
to win. He went to work He dismissed
all thought of ease, quiet and rest and
ate and slept, not when he would, but
when he could. He canvassed the entire
district, making as near as he could a
house to house canvass, eating and sleep
ing with the boys, exchanging yarns with
tho old men, fcasting on the good things
IF p4ai in Nit
grateful heart and thankful lips and
playing the fiddle to the live melody of
the ubiquitous banjo and occasional or
gan, accompaniment in the big houses,
or around the hearthstones of the family
rooms to the joy of himself and the
youngsters and the smiles and pleasures
of the old.
The Joint canvass between Cathey and
his opponent was the warmest and most
thorough ever made in the mountains
1t ended at Waynesville Saturday before
the election, making in all three separate
and distinct canvasses Cathey had made
of the district.
The result of the election showed thst
Cathey had been elected by the Furpris- |
ingly good majority of 1884, carrying the !,
precinct where he was born and raised |
his home precinct and the home precinct |
OF his opponent by handsome majority, |
and carrying three out of the four coun- |!
ties of the district.
In the Senate Cathey did not strive to
make a reputation He never spoke but |
the fewest words upon any matter or par
in debate In this his record
is little noiser than Abe Lincoln, who, |
while he was a member of Congress,
never opened his mouth except to vote
A little more than week before the .
close of the session Cathey obtained an
indefinite leave of absence and went
home. He was advised to do this by his
physician who had brought him out OF
right severe case of congestion of the
lung, and which had held him in his bed
for several days. In the future Cathey
will remain in private life, devoting his
to business to the practice in
special branches of his chosen profession
and literature as a profitable diversion
He is now at work on new, revised and
edition of his Genesis of Lin
coin" which with its additional facts,
promises to create a greater sensation
even than the appearance of the original.