The Washington herald., 1907-05-19
A Tyro in the Political Game
HOW HE MADE HIS FIRST ONE HUNDRED
DOLLARS AT THE SPORT.

Now, II you viii puDnSh thiS statement
Of mine In your paper l will give you
fifty dollars"
| saw through the scheme at once, and
recognized that 1t had been devised 10y
an artist. l did not see how I could
publish the stuff, but ! wanted 70 get
that fifty dollars, and knew that 1 had
10 think fast and come to some de-
cisiOn.
Well. colonel" I replied. 81 have to
be careful about what I write. and if
you will give me little time 10 compare
your data, I shall be able 20 reach some
conclusion, and give you an answer
Take your own time said the colonel
feryently, when he had visions Of his
statistics IN our paper, 4 have 10 look
after some things on the farm but shall
be back in an hour Make yourself at
home There is no hurry. and 1 expect
you to stay 10 supper"
with these words he left me. and 1
Immediately set 10 work, not 10 compare
his notes-f0r I felt that they were all
right-but to devise some wav 90 get
that fifty dollars. and earn II. too. With
my head IN a whirl I was turning over
the leaves of the acts in an afmlcss
fashion, when something that I had read
in casual way gave me an inspiration.
and / knew l had that ffty cinched.
more careful examination Of the acts
confirmed me in my opinion. Feeling now
at ease and at peace with all the world,
/ selected another Of the coloneTs cigars.
and rocked myself contentedly until bs
returned. lie looked az me inquiringlv.
/ have gone over your data. colonel
and find that I can use them. They will
be published in next weeks paper. but
require the money now"
But II is not customary 70 pay in
advance. and
IT is either now or not at all"
broke in. L have my own way % doing
business. and will do 10 no other way"
But how am ] to know that the editor
o. the paper who Is a friend Of Streator.
will allow anything so damaging to him
% go in?'
II you had not believed that 7 could
get the stuff into our paper, would YOU
have sent for nc? I guarantee that all
the matter you have here viii appear in
next weeks paper. II that guarantee IS
not sufficient. we cannot do business
This was my uldmatUm.
The colonel groaned, and reached in
his pocket. out came a BAH of bills.
which be carried-f0r effect-au crumpIed
up. just like an ordinary farmer When
the mass had become sufficiently dis
lntegrated he painfully unfolded a fifty
dollar bill, and handed it over 10 me with
every indication Of doubt and trepiGatl0n.
] gained possession Of ir as quickly as the
dignity Of the occasion permitted. and
then-felt better.
After supper 7 was driven back %
Hayesviiie. and the next morning / re-
turned TO Murphy. where I called with
ont delay at Senator S-reators office.
To him l explained Col Beavens' pr0po-
siJiOH. and also mentioned the tender II
the hftV dollars. As I proceeded with
my story the senator's expression became
more and more anxious, bat be heard
me through.
do you suppose" he broke out that
Tom Drake would allow any such truck
10 go into his paFer2 Why. il would ruin
me forever 20 have that so out into the
counties.
You can suppose what you please" I
replied. but / have seen Tom. and he
says II will 60 In all right, but I can
hN Il up so that IL Will be Of great
advantage 20 YOU"
advantage, roared the senator: "tust
show me that, and 7 will give you an
other fifty dollars on top Of the money
you got from Bedvcns"
DO you mean that9' I asked. and
began 20 feel good an over. The senator
had. in fact. made me the very promo
sition 7 had intended 70 squeeze out Of
him somehow. but had not known ex-
aCtiy how To go about il.
'Of course, I mean g." he ratorted.
somewhat fereely, FOR he was getting all
worked up over the business. but 1
want YOU 10 tell me what you are going
TO do
My dear senator" 7 said suavgIv. Il
never give away a snap You know we
would not put anything I'm the paper to
hurt your chances for the nomination.
All the same, I want 90 earn that fifty
I got from the colonel. Now, 20 publish
the coloneIs stuff, and at the same time
work IL out % your advantage will re-
quire considerable work. which is easily
worth fifty dollars. You pay me the
fifty now and the trick will be turned"
The senator eyed me for moment with
suspicion. then walked over % the win
dow, lost I'm thought bur I noted that
he put his hand in the pocket where he
carried his money. This 7 took % hn "A
good omen He stood looking out of the
window for a minute or two, then pulled
roll out of his pocket and counted
out five ten-doIlar bills. His manner had
changed completely.
"You must excuse me-" he said anolo-
Eeticallv, for doubling YOU even mo-
ment I know it's all right. but I'll be
hanged II I can make out how you are
going TO do it,
You look out for next Saturdays pa
per, and you VIII find out how it was
done"
With this parting suggestion I walked
out of the Office. with a hundred dollars
in my pocket. feeling as if I owned half
the town of Murphy. and had an option
on the other half, for a hundred dollars
is an awfully big pile Of money I'm the
country. especially 10 an aspiring news
paper man. and tyro in politics
The next day I worked out my trick
1t was as easy as rolling of a log
When poking over the coloueTs statis-
tics it occurred TO me that in an agri-
cultural State there is always more lcgis-
lation for the farming interests than any
others. ] made "a list OF all the votes
Senator Streator had cast for the farming
/ interests, and found. as 7 had antiCi-
pated, that they would take up two
solid columns, which. with a little under
standing with the man who made up the
form, could easily be stretched out %
three columns. while the colonels sta
tistics required only thrce-fourths Of a
column. and could easily be condensed
into half a column, without taking away
one word. Alone, the latter would have
been damaging enough but the company
of the hayseed votes took all the sting
out of them.
The senator met me the following Sat
urday, an hour after the paper had come
out and silently and revercntly took me
by the hand. After having looked me all
over he said. You're brick. who but
YOU would ever have thought Of such
scheme? The whole town is talking about
it, and laughing at Col Beavens. Let's
have a drink. Oh, shucks, take some
thing better