West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1904-03-24

named. shall, however, in con-
sideration of the honor you have
conferred, recite you an original
poem, emitted, Yankee Doodle
Came TO Town.
A thousand noes rent the air.
They would have none Of the Reed
poetry today. A joint debate is what
they wanted. Poet Reed yainly
argued that he wanted to soothe
their anger with his latest poetic
production. But the crowd was in
no humor for poetry.
When the noise ceased Coz.
Montgomery stepped forward and
was greeted with tumultuous cheer
ing. The Col. spoke as follows
Fellow Citizens of valley:-It is
not necessary to be mind reader
to tell me that you are not here to-
day through idle curiosity. am
not vain enough to imagine that
this out pouring OF the honored
sons of Valley is for the purpose of
paying homage to myself. No,
fellow citizen, you are here for a
nobler and grander cause, a cause
which you are deeply interested in.
(Cheers) Maj. Flynn and myself are
before you asking for your support
We both have. aspirations to be
your representative from the Four
teenth Senatorial District. We
are here today to sumbit our claims
to jury of our peers, as / stated
in my challenge to Major Flynn.
(Applause) / have nothing but the
must friendly feeling for my distin-
guished opponent. in dark alley.
IGreat cheering) His press agents
have accused me in the public
prints OF being the candidate of the
b. & o., the Merchants Coal Com
pany and all the other corporations
within this broad land. am here
today to hurl back the accusation
with scorn and tell them am the
candidate of no corporation. 1 am
aspiring to the Senatorship for the
same landatle purpose which
prompts every American boy to
chase the phantom to be President
of the United States. Tremendous
cheering)I say to you boldly and
and truthfully that am the devoted
friend of the farmers and laboring
men of Preston, and / challenge
my opponents to successfully con-
tradict 1t. ] have proven my
friendship for the coal miners of
Preston county. When the trou-
BILE arose at Tunnelton l was hold
ing desirable and lucrative posi-
ton with the Merchants Coal Com
pany, which my worthy opponent
cannot deny. When the smoke of
battle cleared away all / could
boass Of was my raven locks which
you now behold. Cloud applause. }
l hit the ground hard and it left its
imprints on my once manly form.
l walked the streets OF Tunnelton
vainly In search of employment,
but would not surrender to my
enemy. (Great cheering. For sew
eral months l took my meals at the
water pump. Any miner who
doubts my loyalty to his cause /
refer him to Mother Jones whom
we all venerate and reepect. Zap
plause. The vital question which
confronts us is Tax Reform.
want to say to you, farmers of Val
ley, in language as emphatic as
can make it that l am for Tax
Reform. / repeat, l am not the
candidate of any syndicate or cor
poration. am asking for your
support on my own merits. am
too poor to employ agents to boom
my candidacy. l make this per-
sonal appeal for your support, and
promise you If elected that I
shall not betray your trust. (Long
and continued cheering. J"
Col. Montgomery IS quite an
orator and he seemed to capture
the crowd with his oratory and elo-
queRce. When he retired and took
seat on the platform Poet Reed
came forward with his bewiiching
smile. He plead for an audience.
He said the God of Muse had been
toying with him while Col. Mont
gonery was Grating and that he was
prepared to recite a poem fresh
from the poets brain 1t was soul
stirring and enchanting and would
transport them to that land which
was free from taxation. At this
juncture a couple Of dozen Of cold
storage eggs come flying through
the ar and Poet Reed beat hasty
retreat.
The crowd began to call for Mai.
Flynn. The Major came forward