Evening star., 1905-11-03
DOWN IN OLE KAINTUCK
POLITICAL SITUATION REACHES
BOILING POINT.
Big Fight On in Louisville, in Which
Alleged Corruption Figures
Largely.
Special Dispatch 10 The Sta,


LOUISVILLE. Ky. November s-Asusu-
al at this season of the year. the thoughts
of Kentuckians have tusned TO politics. ana
as election time draws near the caupa,vn
In Louisville and the entire state is grow
Ing just a little warmer than the warmeSt
fight In any previous of year.
IN Louisville especially life is strenuous
IN the extreme. for here there Is a CAM
paign being waged much on the order OF
that IN Phiiadelphia. Toe fusion munici-
pal ticket headed by Joseph oNeal. a DEM
ocrat, who for many years has been ono
OF the wheel-horses In his party. is maxi
ing strong fight against the democratic
machine ticket. socalled. headed by Paul
aIdar,, aI@.,n, former president OF the board of
aioermen. The fusion ticket which will
go under the republican emblem Is cow,
posed OF republicans and democrats about
sGuaIiS divided and has tie support In nd-
u,ioi 10 that or the republican party of
the CITY Club. composed OF "A largo nurnhcr
or representative citizens Including men OF
ooth parties: Charges OF all kinds of graft
ana crookedness are made by the fusion
aoherents against the local demorratic ad
ministrauon and the fact that gambling has
nourished under the present regime ana
s snat roooeries and hold-ups have been moro
frequent than for many years, in addition
10 the fact that the tax rate for the city
and county has been higher than ever he
fore. has given them good working capt.
tai.
Waged With Warmth.
The campaign has been wased with great
warmth by both sides. but the real on
test came on registration days and, since
that time the excitement has been running
so high that many of the citizens look for
trouble at the polls.
In the registration. the fasionis.s claim
that the democrats succeeded in registering
large number of repeaters. though fusion
workers were stationed at ..e various pre-
cincts throughout the city to detect any
attempts at fraud. In several cases fusion
workers were attacked by policemen and
iaa mugs, as ana two young men. belonging to
ieaung families In the city, were very
roughly handled. while charges OF a serious
nature were preferred against several no.
,.. ,icemeh The camera" brigade formed
py the iusion workers to aid In the detec-
ton or repeaters especially fell under the
displeasure of the local administration and
the result was that the chief of police or
dered his men to brean up any cameras
found IN the hands of the fusion workers
This led to disturbances at two precincts.
In one case the owner of the camera was
Knocked down and his instrument broken
to pieces by rowdies, while policemen stood
by and laughed.
At one OF the precincts Gen. Basil Duke
of Morgan's command, who is an enthusias-
tic worker for the coalition ticket. WAS
Knocked down, while his assailants escaped
the police not being near enough at hand
10 make any attempt at capturing the men.
fined TO the laity, for a number OF the
preachers of the city are taking an active
part in the fight for the fusion ticket. and
are doing all in their power to break the
back OF the machine.
Papers Evenly Divided.
The papers of the city are evenly divided
on the question. the Courier-Journal and
the Times, its afternoon organ. being strong
in their advocacy of the democratic ticket,
while the Herald the republican organ, and
the Post. the independent paper of the city.
are equally strong in their support of the
fusion movement.
As to the outcome of the race It is diff
ficult to predict, though it looks at present
that the fusion people stand a better chance
OF winning than ever such a ticket stood
in Louisville before. The democrats. how
ever, declare that they are more certain OF
victory than they ever were in local con-
test. The fusionist leaders say that they
will have the votes. and that the only
counting them out The purgation of the
registration list resulted in eliminating
about GOO democratic votes.
In the state there Is almost as much In
terest In this falls election as In Louisville
for the selection of senator hangs on tho
result.
The republicans, unless there should be q
landslide, of which there seems not the re-
motest possibility except in Louisville. have
little show and the real contest lies be-
tween Joe Blackburn: the present senator.
The latter seems to have the best OF II
as far as standing In with Gov. Beckham
and those In power, with the democratic
state administration is concerned, but
Senator Blackburn declares that he wiu
fight the machine until DEATH" and his
friends are certain that he will be success
full.
So far the nominees for the legislature
and the hold-over members appear about
equally divided in sentiment between the
two men. but II is probable that when the
legislature convenes the reai fight VIII be
waged. 1t would be difficult. however. 10
predict the result.