The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-07-19
BETS BEING MADE
 ON THE ELECTION Odds in Birmingham Are Gen.
 eraIIy 1 1-2 to 1 PARKER STOCK IS GOING UP Coming of Soldiers Has Brought Much Political Talk, Which Seems to
 Be Favorable to Henry B.
 Gray's Nomination.

paign thunder in shape and preparing for vigorous operations during the next two or three months the men who bet on elections are equally as busy gathering all the information possible before laying wagers on the final results.
 It is understood that several bets of s10o and less have been made in Birming- ham during the past few days at odds of 11k to 1 on Roosevelt As a rule the man in ofhce is considered the best man to bet on and he usually gets the best end of the odds. Before the receipt of the fa- nous telegram of Judge Parker, declar- ing for a gold standard, one man in town offered to make a bet of $20O to $100 on Roosevelt. The next morning the situa- ton had changed and as the bet had not been taken he reduced his odds to sl5o to s100. The bet has not yet been taken, though the Parker man Is said to be more than willing.
 In New York the prevailing odds are s10 to $7 50 in favor of Roosevelt, though many bets have been made on the curb at odds of 10 to s. Every day the Parker stock seems to be rising and it may be that the Parker men will not be able to get better than even money by the first of September.
 The Bettors.
 As the campaign is yet in its infancy bettors are holding off on the general result and are placing money on the vari- ous states. The propositions made by Marcus Well the other day on several states, regarded as doubtful, had not been taken up to il o'clock last night. MT. Well. who was against Bryan and pre- dicted his defeat very accurately, is staunch supporter of Judge Parker and feels confident that he will win.
 While the furor over the presidential campaign is on, Alabamlans have almost forgotten state politics, and few of them seem to realize that we have an election in Alabama in November, as well as national election. It is true the result of this election is a foregone conclusion not withstanding the fact that the populists in the seventh congressional district are making fight on Representative Burnett and other democrats nominated on the county tickets.
 State Politics.
 The coming of the soldiers to Brmng- ham has brought considerable politics to town and there is much talk among the officers as to the state campaign two years hence. From the talk of these visitors it would appear that Henry B. Gray of lief ferson has an excellent chance of receiy- ing the nomination for lieutenant gov ernor. The selection of Mr. Gray asktem- porary chairman of the recent state con- vention was thought to be a victory of his friends at that time, in that it started his boom for the nomination. MT. Gray has friends in every county of the state and they are friends who have a decided say-so in political affairs. He will be strongly supported by the militia as he is a military man. He is a colonel on the governors staff and will occupy tent on the grounds during the encampment Governor Cunninghams friends are very actively getting his candidacy in shape to be formidable, and it is possi- ble that Jefferson will have both the gov ernor and lieutc cnant-governo at the next election Both of the Jefferson county candidates are running entirely independ- ti<l oL tdCia CtItf, HoWcStIs anu II idS been said that probably one of them or both of them would unite forces with candidates from other sections of the state. This has not been confirmed and each of the candidates when questioned announced positively that they had form ed no aignments. but were merely run ming for the office. They could not help it because they both happened to be from the came county.
 Cunningham's Position.
 Governor Cunningham has brought about some excellent campaign argument by the strong stand he has taken on sey- eral important questions since he has oc- cupied the executive chair in the absence of Governor eiks. iis position on the lynching question ana his efforts to thor oughly establis-i law and order have been favorably commented on by newspapers and magazines in various parts of the United States and have secured him much prestige.
 In the meantime candidates for sheriff of Jefferson are continually bobbing up In all parts of the county, and as this is the best paying office in the state it is believed the campaign will be hard fought Many of the candidates are men of long prominence, and as there will be so many of them in the field. it will be very difficult, even on the day of the election, to predict the winner