The San Francisco call., 1908-10-11
BARRY'S BIG GUNS
TRAINED ON MCNAB
Chairman of Publicity Commit
tee Mixes VitrioI With Ink in
Referring to Bourbon Chief

f'That crowd in the MOnadnOclS build
cause they have neither money nor
brains."-Gavin McNab's charge direct.
"If McNab is a democrat, why Is he
playing into the hands of the South
ern Pacific machine nd the organs of
associated viIIaiBIes and big cinches
by pOIecattIng Theodore A. BeII."-
James II. Barry's retort courteous.
The local democracy has just re-
ceived punch between the eyes. AS
a result Gavin AfcNab is seeing stars
in more senses than one, and jim
Barry is mixing vitriol with his print
ers ink. The rest Of the party is talk
ing about harmony in discordant, al
most angry tones. The election of
Bryan and Kern is a matter of only
secondary interest since the very latest
skit of bourbon vaudeville has been
sta ged.
The plot, of course, harks back to
the Fresno convention, which was not
exactly q peace conference; it has to
DO with those charming passages at
arms that enlivened the trip of the
Californians to Denver, and it touches
lightly on the Stockton gathering,
when Achilles McNab suIked in his
But that is only the background; the
present quarrel has to do with the re-
lations that have developed since then
between the McNab democracy and the
followers of Bell. The quarrel began
at the tip of q tongue that cuts like
claymore when it wags in sarcasms
and it has been linked on paper for all
the state TO see by Barry's editorial
pen.
Time was when McNab scorned the
Bell men of the state central commit
tee with a silent scorn. But that time
is gone. The boss has seen fit to say:
That crowd in the Monadnock build
ing can do no harm and no good, be-
cause they have neither money nor
brains"
This remark came to the ears of the
Monadnock men and it reused the
wrath of Jim Barry chairman of the
publicity committee. almost if not more
than it panied the heart of Secretary
John f. Murray. Between them they
planned retaliation.
The Barry pen framed a sizzling
roast Of McNab and the minions of
Murray spread it broadcast through
the state. The roast charged McNab
with conspiring in politics with the
Southern Pacific and other corpora
tions whose names are anathema. 1t
said:
"McNab has done such thorough
work in discrediting the democratic
party that he should be content"
It asked:
If AIcNab is a democrat, why is he
playing into the hands of the Southern
Pacific machine and the organs of the
associated villainies and big cinches by
pole eating Theodore A Be1?"
The roast wound up by asking McNab
to go way back and sit down during
the campaign; to become invisible and
inaudible. It was Barry's masterpiece
Of invective and the "Monadnock
crowd gurgled with delight as they
read it. Willing hands prepared thou
sands of copies of the roast for circu-
lation and it was sent on it's way ac-
companied by a letter from Murray
which assured all democrats that the
roast was the real thing in veracity
and bore the stamp of approval of the
state central committee
The mails are carrying this cam
paign literature to all corners Of the
state and Jim Barry rears his plumed
crest like a defender of the faith who
has stuck his quill into an unbelieving
dog. Murray is i'll with symptoms of
ptomaine poisoning, but it rs not true
that he could not digest the Barry
roast. Anything that grills McNab
agrees with him. He is almost as hap
py over the coup as Barry is.
McNab has lapsed into one of those
suspicious silences that usually bear
fruit in acid epigram and the rest Of the
party is wondering whether the bel
ligerents should be allowed to fight it
out