Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-13
BELIEVES He WILL WIN
Corporal Jim Tanner Ex-
presses Confidence.
HAS VOTES TO SPARE
RACE FOR CoMMANDER-IN-CHIEF
OF g. A. r.
Tells How He Was Dubbed Corporal
Refused to Sail Under
False Colors.
HAS VOTES TO SPARE
RACE FOR COMMANDER-IN-C

CONFIDENT Yes, I am fairly confident"
said Corporal Jim Tanner at his office in
the city hall yesterday. why should I
not be? Hundreds of letters are pouring in
to me pledging support for this great honor
Of commandments Of the G. A. r.
must believe them. They increase daily.
and now l hear that many posts have in
structed their delegates unanimously to
vote for me.
viii the election be unanimous? Well,
there are good men In the field. but Vir-
ginia North Carolina Arkansas, Texas,
Tennessee. Kansas, New Hampshire, Wis
.ConSn, Michigan and New York, with :505
votes. have unanimously Endorsed my name,
and twenty-one of the twenty-nine dele
gates of the Department of the Potomac,
an overwhelming majority from seven de-
partments entitled to 224, have signified
their interest for me.
There seems to be, with a hundred or
more individuals, more than half our total
membership and more than two-thirds our
average attendance pledged to me. 1t is
possible they may make it unanimous"
Mr.. Tanner was particularly pleased, he
said. with a letter from William j. Smith
of Memphis. Tenn, who is eighty-two years
old. Mr. Smith sent his picture and said:
II am going to Denver to vote for Tanner
with both hands"
Denver Meeting September 4.
The encampment at Denver VIII begin the
week of September t. The business session
at which the election will be held will be
Thursday and Friday September I and s.
A big parade is scheduled for Wednesday.
and it is said the officials of the railroads
do not recall affair which has brought
out many calls for advance enga gements.
Denver, the Yellowstone Park, the Port
land exposition and the privilege Of voting
for Corporal Jim Is bringing out an I'M
usual number.
family will leave the city August % to
attend the state fair at Des Moines where
he has promised to make an address on
Soldiers Day"
After the Denver encampment the family
will go to San Francisco. where his son.
First Lieut. Earle w. Tanner of the 4th
Infantry, who is returning from the Phil
ippines to take station at Fort Thomas,
Ky, will be met.
Corporal jim you say, seems to be
name to conjure with. Well, l don't know"
continued Mr.. Tanner. TT. came about
while ! lived in Brooklyn. If l took part
In any public work l was always called by
some title. 1t seemed to me that this mat
ter of being called Capt. Tanner and Maj.
Tanner and Col. Tanner was all very fat
tering, and no doubt the papers meant the
utmost kindness in so clubbing me; but l
did not like 1t. / did not propose TO ad-
vance under false pretenses, and l told my
wife that the next time l was glorified
l would protest publicly
why do you wish to rush into print?
she asked.
Il made no reply, but not a week after
ward the Brooklyn Eagle. in reporting a
meeting, said: Major Tanner addressed
the common council
Il promptly wrote the editor note pro-
testing against the practice, and said that
while l appreciated the honor conferred
upon me, the fact was that l had been
common country boy until / enlisted at the
age of seventeen.
1T had been my privilege to see service
for thirteen months when the loss of both
legs as a result of wounds at the second
battle of Bull Run put me out of COM
mission. 1t seemed to me that for many
men promotion since they left the army
had been rapid, but l did not propose to
belong to a class I myself felt like call
ing down. For a boy to advance in a
year from private to corporal the rank l
attained seemed to me honorab BILE and I
wanted only what L had gained in the
service.
Now, what did that fellow Tom Kin
sella do but publish my note on the
editorial page. and under the title "A
Modest Veteran. turn all the gatling
guns of his Irish wit upon the situa ton.
Il believe every paper IN the United States
took up the matter. and now people ask me
If l was christened Corporal Jim
Why some months after the Brooklyn
Eagle story 1 got a letter postmarked some
Corporal Jim Tanner, United States OF
America All my wife said was: Now
you need not think you are noted you are
merely notorious
Entertains No Doubt.
But in connection with my name an an
swer to letter da ted March 81, 1909, sent
out by Grover w. Brush, L. S. Grant Post,
327 G. A. r., who is chairman of the COM
mittee, Is interesting. Brush wrote:
There seems to be no doubt that at the
next encampment of the Department of
New York. which Will be held at SVra-