The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-08-10
Strength of Conner Has
 Been Exaggerated.
Big Crowd Hears the Lieutenant-Gov- ernor at Eclectic, and His Re- eeption in Other Towns of
 Fillmore is Enthusiastic.
nY wrLL .. sHEEHAN.

BY WILL T. STEPHAN. Tallassee, Aug. 8.-(Special Cofre- spondence. l--We came into Kent in the middle of scorching afternoon. Eclectic, six miles to the west. we had left at the white hot hour of ? in the afternoon. The three of us in a surrey rode over a white sandy road from which the powdery dust puned heat But such is campaigning in Alabama Tn the hottest spell Of the summer.
 At Kent we found big crowd of farmers fresh from the fields. The campaigners had not expected such gathering. Three o'clock on sum mer afternoon is an awkward hour for a political speakin<. Kent, more over, Is in Elmore County and the CO., mer men are claiming Elmore by AT an overwhelming majority and Kent It. self is considered the center of what is regarded as one of the strongest Conner sections of the County So at Kent Dr. Cunningham and his friends bled to hear him. But this trip where so little was expected and where so much was-found was constantly turn ine up surprises. Where the party expected to find pr9bapl;y, ,n tpl;,b a snlsnl aGeen did gathering of men from Kent and neighboring beats.
 The speaking was On an open lawn in front of q farm house and near the only store of the place. Under the shade of a big sycamore a table had been prepared and a water bucket put upon It. About this table the farm CTS were gathered in a circle, those farthest removed from the table sit tine in their bugSies and these near est 1t grouped upon the grass
 The Democratic Heat.
 As Dr. Cunningham drove up among the farmers who care forward there
 sI am from Beat l. Governor. Beat i is the banner Democratic beat of the County Every other beat In the County, one time or @ another s.a,s has gone on never failed to return Democratic majoritv and l want to tell you that in this campaign in my heat, the pig Democratic beat of the County, you have such an overwhelming majority that the beat is almost solid for you"
 There was food for thought in what the enthusiastic farmer told pr. Cun- ninsham He has been told again and again wherever he has been that and that other voters who have fought the Democratic party either as Popu- list or Republican. are following the fag of MT. Conner. He has been UDi0 Hli ONtT AtdOdtIh Nhdt AeGRN0ta cans who have not come into the party. and Populists who are stili hanging back are loud-nonthed Co mer men who can not talk but who can make as much fuss as any man entitled to vote the Democratic ticket.
 When he had taken his place in the center of the circle of assembled farmers the Lieutenant Governor was presented to the large audience by pr. Gus Howle Of Eclectic. The Elmore County leaders who are helping pr. Cunningham to roll up a big vote Tn that County and who are doing It mighty well. too, did not think that pr. Cunningham had much strength in this section of the County. hut they were surprised at the showing of his friends as they had been surprised at other places.
 After Dr. Howle's tribute to the character of Dr. Cunningham the lieutenant Governor delivered an ef- fective and telling speech on the Is sues of the present campaign He thoughtful attention. As he was hur- rying away to fill an appointment at Tallassee a number of his audience came forward to tell him of their support and his strength in the sur rounding section regardless of what reports had been sent out
 comer'a Strength Exaggerated.
 J. M. Emflnger. a leading farmer, after the speaking said:
 T am glad that pr. Cunningham here today Things have. been nov ing his way some time and this speech is going to do him a lot of good. Dr. Cunningham has been badly misrep- resented in this campaign and l am glad that our people have been able to hear the truth about this campaign. The Conner men may claim all they want to but here where Conner f sup posed to be strongest in the County Cunningham has a whole lot of votes and he will have still more before the primary comes on
 B L. Hornsby. a leading citizen of Kent, Said of the local situation: MT. Corners strength about here has been ham I have found. has a lot of votes and IL would not surpriee me to find that he would get an even break here where MT. Conner is supposed to be of the address of the Cunningham Club for distribution over to my neighborhood and distribute them. but it would not do any good. Over there tEey are already for Cunningham" The day was q great occasion for the Cunningham forces at Eclectic. It was also great day for pr. Cunning ham, for rarely does a candidate get lectic gave Dr. Cunningham. The crowd which assembled to hear him some people said, was the largest in their memory that had ever assembled at Eclectic for a political speakins without a barbecue attachment. 4 leading citizen of Eclectic said that 1t was twice the size of the crowd which gathered to hear Mir Conner some time before. The greeting Dr. Cunning ham re eived from this magnificent audience was nothing short of an ova- ton.
 The Eclectic Meeting.
 The speaking was in the school house. The school house is q big two story structure with the Odd Fellows occupying a hall which filled the sec ond story of the building. This big room was the scene of the speaking. Chairs had been arranged for about 125 persons. but these chairs were filled long before the hour of the speaking. and the space occupied by them was only half the floor space of the room: If that much. number or or men in the crowd brought in lot of blanks Spd improvtstd lot of benches. These benches were filled as fast as they were arranged. When all the loose lumber had been used up in bench making scores of the men the hall until all standing room had been taken. The room was crowded to it's capacity and two or three dozen spectators who were on the verandah and who could not. get inside. crowd ed about the window to hear the word> of the speaker.
 It is n custom in Eclectic to open any meeting political or religious. with prayer So the Chairman of this meeting. Captain Tom Mcdonald. began the exercises with a feeling ap- peal for divine guidance to the voters who by their ballots were shaping tas destinies of the State. In his intro