The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-11

nad many wei known citinens ind1COeo, anu
he hailed everybody he could think Of, and
more that were thought Of for him. before
that body.
II any nan made a charge involving a
violation Of the law Moran had everybody
concerned in the charge before the Grand
jury. He had the Legislature there and
the Board Of Aldermen and Senator Lodge
and dozens Of others.
He smote right and left and then an
nounced that he would be a candidate for
Governor. The conservatives had picked
out Henry M. Whitney for the Democratic
candidate, but he was beaten by Moran in
the convention.
He had the support Of the Prohibitionists
and Of the Independence League, which.
like the league in New York, is owned and
conducted by William II. Hearst. As soon
as Moran was nominated most Of the old
line Democrats left the organization. and
Moran met his fate Al the polls, just a.
Hearst did here.
THE ROCK THROWN AT oBADx.
By far the most picturesque figure In the
local campaign here this fall was Thomas
Rock. who ran for Senator in the Fourteenth
district against Thomas r. Grady, the sill
yer tongued orator Of Tammany Hall.
Rock is a paving boss and a strong union
labor man. Last year he got elected TO the
Assembly and devoted himself almost
exclusively to labor legislation. He was
the father Of the so-called eight hour bill,
and in this campaign he proudly displayed
from the platform night after night the
pen with which the measure was signed.
Rock, who is a Republican, sought the
Endorsement OF the Independence League
after he had been nominated by his own
party for Senator. At first he was looked
upon with great favor by the Gilsey House
managers and he says that he got all the
assurances in the world that his candidacy
would he indorsed. He knew that he could
not hope to be elected with Republican
support alone, a the district is over
whelmingly Democratic.
Senate Grady protested vigorously to
the managers Of the league, and is reported
to have told them that they were giving
him "a poor reward for the dirtiest days
work he ever did in his life,' meaning the
throwing of sixty regularly elected
delegates at the Buffalo convention and
the substituting for them OF sixty sham
delegates who hadn't the shadow Of a
right to sit. Their votes, however, were
0ebueO DY LUb HcdTbt pCOplC III VI y
insure his nomination. Grady did the job
az chairman Of the committee ON contested
seats.
Apparently the Gilsey House managers
stuck to Rock, but when the matter OF the
legality OF his nomination by the league
came before the Election Board c de-
clared that the Hearst people handed him
a lemon. His petition was thrown out,
whereupon, running on a straight Repub-
lican ticket with not one chance in a thou
sand OF being elected, he took the stump
against Grady and Hearst.
He talked almost exclusively at first to
labor men and his principal exhibits to
prove that he was no sham were the pen
! with which Gov. Higgins signed the eight
hour law and his union card which showed
that he had paid his dues up to January.
Rock talked in the homely vernacular
familiar to workingmen and he was warmly
| received wherever he went. His fame as a
campaign speaker spread, and soon there
was a great demand for his services all over
the city.
He made asmany as ten speeches a night,
and the people he addressed never seemed
to tire of hearing him. He spoke before
prosperous audiences on the upper West
Side, where many women turned out to hear
him, and he addressed gatherings from
cart tails and in halls or the densely crowded
East Side,
II was remark able, considering thet tenn
per Of some of his audiences. that he was
not mobbed for what he said about Hearst
and the Gilsey House managers. Asa mat
ter Of fact he wa treated with the utmost
consideration
Rock was badly beaten. but he certainly
had a lot Of fun in the campaign. He was
about the only man Of prominence who saw
any humor in the campaign.
ING CONN Frs IN THE SPOT LIoHr.
The Hon. William ]. Corners, better
known in Buffalo. where he lives. as
Fingy, owing to an accident whereby ne
lost a finger, was another political meteor
who suddenly flashed across the sky In this
campaign. Before his election as chairman
of the Democratic State COMMITTEES he de-
voted himself exclusively to home poll
tics.
He had been a power along the docks
I and had kept gin mills there. He got rich.
and now he owns two newspapers in Buff
falo. He was one OF the earliest and loudest
shouters for Hearst, and as a rev ard he got
a candidacy on the State ticket and the
chairmanship Of the State COMMITTEES.
His management OF the Hearst campaign
seemed to amuse old time politicians. The
elaborate headquarters which Corners
opened in the Victoria Hotel were gor-
geously furnished and contained all the par
apbemalia~ necessary for a political contest.
Alas! nobody ever came there 10 consult
with Conners or to help him to lay the plans
for battle.
A clerk or two and an Office boy con-
s,ituted the whole staf. 1t got to be a joke
with the reporters to go around and ask
Conners and his assistants for news.
Mr.. Corners is, however, still a factor in
the Democratic party Of the State Of New
York. He il the chairman OF the State COM
mittee and he will have a hand probably in
the distribution Of any patronage thai may
come to the party at Albany as a result Of
the recent election.
Corners was very much in evidence out
side OF his headquarters while he was here
for the campaign. He wore large diamonds
and expensive clothes, and he was o to
rub shoulders with the great in the Wal