The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-09-17

S13uchlleber Maud had two votes, ana
d young woman whose name had not
been mentioned received the other three.
sBuchllebcr counted the ballots. ana an
nounced the vote. frarnham flushed with
anger. Not only had no attention been
paid 10 his Recommendation, but he ha it 4
AT even beer informed that there was
another Candidate III n few sarcastic
words he referred to the furtlve uh lu,,r
standing existing among the. a1ority'
and npologized for having made such
mistake as to suppose they cared 70 h iea s
the merits OF nppolntees discussed
The three colleagues sat silent. A.
last, one OF them crossed his icss a ai'
and snid
Tim sure nobody meant any o ,.a eo
We agreed on this lady several Gays >. n .,s'-
1 know nothing about her, but her fat he e.
used 10 be one Of our best workers N
M Tsrvcnth ward He IS In the pom.
itcntinry now, and he family IL n ,,,',t
down 10 bedrock The reason we aiall,
take mart in the discussion was we Will Will
cd TO avoid hard feelings s
rho her Two crossed their legs tho
other way, and said they "concurrcd.
Their aimmovnblc phlegm, their, long,
eY prcsslonless faces, the dull, nlonotohous
.twang Of their voices, the oscll lhtloh u
the three large feet hung over the Dol!
knees had now as often before. y SIZE r.
b
felt he could not irrhate them In return;
they could not appreciate his motives,
and Thought too little OF his opinion 70
be angry at his contempt lie was throw" ~
back upon himself nov as before. ~
was purely q matter Oh conacie .sa
whether he should stay and do what good
he could, or resign and shake the dust
Of the city from his feet. Whatever he
recommended In regard to the admin
istration OF the library was always adopt
ed without comment but, whenever a
question OF the sort which the three
politicians called practical arose, In
volving personal patronage IN any form,
they always arranged 1t for themselves,
without even prctcndiig to ask his or
Buchlicbcr's opinion. s55st
The very fact Of his holding the po-
sitjon OF chairman OF the board was
wounding 10 his sclf-loyc, an soon as he
began TO appreciate the purpose with
which the place had been given lin. lie
and some Of his friends had attempted
movement the year before. to- rescue
the city from the control Tof what they
considered a corrupt combination of poll
5ticians. They had begun. as such men
always do too late, and without any
adequate organization, and the regular
workers had beaten them with ridiculous
ease. In Farnham's own ward. where
he possessed two thirds Of the real es-
tate, the candidate favored by him and
his friends received not quite one tenth
or the votes cast. The leader OF the
opposing forcs was a butcher, one Jacob
rNetzger who had managed the politics
LOT the ward for years. @ He was not
a bad man SO far as his light extended
He sold meat on business principles, SO
as to get the most out Of n carcass;
and he conducted his political operations
in the sac way. He made his bargains
with asprants and office holders, and
kept them religiousy. lie had been
little alarmed at the sudden Eruption
Of such men as Fnrnlnm and his asso-
ciates into the field Of ward politics: he
dreaded the combined effect of their
money and their influence But he soon
found he had nothing to rear-they would
not use their money, and they did not
know how TO use their Influence. They
hired halls, opened nttec-rooms
made speeches, and Numbered against
municipal inlquities in the daily press;
but Jacob Metzger, when he discovered
that this was all, possessed his soul in
peace, and even got good deal of quiet
fun out Of the canvass. lie did not take
the trouble to be angry at the men who
were denouncing him, and supplied Farm
ham with ibeefsteaks unusually tender
and juicy, while the young reformer was
seeking his political life.
Lord love you, he said to Budsey, as
he handed him delicious rib-roast the
dag before election. There's nothing I
like so much as to see young men o
property 60 into politics. We need EN-.
or course, I wisht the Cnp'n was on my
side: but anyhow, I'm glad to see him
takin' an interest"
He knew well enough the way the votes
would run; that every grog-shop in the
ward was hla recruiting station; that
all Farnham's tcnan is would vote against
their landlord 4 that even the respectable
Budsey and the prim Scotch gardener
We're sure for him against their en-
oil jo1, n
reused him to this effort against Metz
gers corrupt rule, would not permit him
to ask for the votes of his own SER
wants and tenants, and he would nave re-
garded 1t rs simply Infamous to spend
money to secure the floating crowd of
pubiicans and sinners who formed me
strength Of Jacob.
His failure was SO complete and un-s
expected ..nt there seemed to him some
thing of degradation In It, and In TIT
Of uncomfortable disgust he sailed for
Europe the week afterward, Metzger
took his victory good naturally as a mat
ter OF course, and gave his explanation
Of 1T to n reporter OF the Bale Fire.
who called to interview him
Mr. Farnham. who led the opposition
to our organize-aton, Is q young sen'F-
man of fine talents and high character.
amt got a word to say again him, The
only trouble is, he lacks practical
experience, and he amt got no
pers'nal magnetism, Now I'm one
of the people. know what
they want, and on that line ] carried
the ward against q continuation of all
tho wealth and aristocracy OF Algonkln
Az moo
Jacobs magnanmity did not rest With
merely n verbal wledgment Of Earn
ham's merits. While he was abroad some
OF the city departments were reorganized,
and Fnrnhon on his returned found him
self through Metzgcr's intervention, CHAIR
man Of the library board. y. With cllarAc-
teristic sagaclty the butcher kept HIM
self in the background, and the COM J,
ask him to accept the appointment placed
1t entirely upon considerations Of the
public good His sensitive conscience
would not permit him TO refuse duty
thus imposed and so with may inward
qualms he assumed a chair in the vile
municipal government he had SO signally
failed TO overthrow, lie had not long
occupied II when he st saT 20 Tat WI his
no descent escape from the position, AS