Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-10-16
Mistellanrous Rrading.
HERMAN RIDDER.
Familiar Appreciation Of Democratic
Treasurer.

| Treasurer.
Philadelphia Public Ledger
| Noah Webster said that a lightning
rod was a metallic rod set up on build
ing or on the mast Of a vessel, and
connected with the earth or water be-
low, for the purpose Of protecting the
building or vessel from lightning. Her
man Ridder, the new treasurer Of the
/ Democratic national committee, is the
lightning rod Of the party in more
ways than one, and, strange as it may
seem, Mr.. Ridder rather looks the part.
| A portly, well-fed looking individual
stepped out of the elevator into the
corridor of the Hoffman house, New
York, where the Democratic national
headquarters are, a day or two ago and
met friend.
What's the matter?" asked the
struck by lightning. What time is it?"
II don't know" said the portly, we'll
fed man, sadly. You'll have to ask
Ridder. He's got my watch"
Succeeding Governor c.. N. Haskell
as treasurer of the Democratic COM
mittee is no easy job; but II the Dem
| ocrats had looked high and low,
east and west, they would have had a
hard time finding a better man than
Mr.. Ridder. When Mr.. Ridder shakes
hands he holds on to the hand until he
gets something, and that Is a trait
that, while displayed unconsciously, Is
almost invaluable in campaign treas
urer in these days Of hard shedding for
campaign committees and publication
Of names before election. 1t isn't al
| ways money that Mr.. Ridder gets, Of
course; but If he doesn't get money for
the fund it's sign that he didn't start
information: sometimes he wants just
good will. No matter what he wants,
he holds on to the hand he shakes until
he gets it. He has been that way all
his life: he just can't help it. Maybe
that is why Norman E. Mack, the
chairman of the committee, chose him
for treasurer. Mr.. Mack has no sense
of humor where politics are concerned.
Overcoming Obstacles.
The chances are that Mr.. Ridder
would not have accepted his new po-
sition IL it had been offered to him in
any other year or under any other
circumstances. He Is fond Of expound-
ing the theory that the only real enjoy
IL nuoronrnino
obstacles. When Haskell resigned and
the whole national committee emulated
the Wright brothers, and went up in
the air, the unhumorous Mr.. Mack, re-
membering, possibly, what Mr.. Ridder
had said on some occasion or other,
must have cogitated thus:
"Well here's a nice state Of affairs.
Obstacles, obstacles, obstacles. Humph!
Ridder likes overcoming obstacles. I'll
appoint Ridder to Haskelrs job"
And Ridder was appointed.
Theyktell story, and by the way, In
campaign times it is astonishing how
many stories they" tell-they tell a
story about the way Mr.. Ridder went to
work for the Stats Zeitung. They say
that one bleak morning he appeared at
the home of Oswald Ottendorfer, who
owned the Stats, smiling with his eyes
and being serious with his chin, as Is
his wont. When he saw Mr.. Often
dorfer he said:
We'll Mr.. Ottendorfer, I've come to
help you run your paper"
He has been running the Stats ever
since.
But aside from this, Mr. Ridder still
remains lightning rod. There Isl
probably no other man in the Demo-
cratic party who has been offered so
many nominations and never held pub
lie office The lightning" never seems
to get a real grip on him. Some cheer
full human chair radiator In the Hofr-
man house announced the other night
that he had figured out that II Mr..
Ridder had accepted all the nomina-
tions that had been offered him and
had been nominated each time he was
mentioned as a candidate, he would
have been president Of the United
States, governor Of New York, mayor
of New York city and commissioner OF
public health, all at one and the same
time. Mr.. Ridder denies that such is
the case. He says he wouldn't havel
been health commissioner.
Pen-Picture of the Man.
Mr. Ridder is tall, and, while broad,
is p-shouldered. He has long
head" in more ways than one, and his
straw colored hair Is brushed straight
up off his forehead. He must haveI
been the incest sort Of boy to look
at about the time he began doing long
division. 1t is probable, though, that
when he got to the trigonometry stagel
ne began wrinkling up his brow and
acquired the frown he still has. 1t Is
wonderful how trigonometry brings
wrinkles. However, the frown mayI
have resulted, to be little slangy, inl
Mr. Ridder becoming more conversant
with the various angles" Of life. HeI
still has the frown, to be sure, but he
also retains the knowledge OF angles.
He has even been called an angular
man, but that, Of course, was joke.
A long while ago, Mr.. Ridder says
it's forty years at least, the new treas
urer began to take notice Of the fact
that there was something in politics.
Some people who don't like Mr.. Rid
der assert that he was then four years
old and very, very precocious. This isl
almost certainly a misstatenent Mr..
Ridder was perhaps IS. Whether mel
was precocious or not may be judged
by the fact that when he was 1S hel
stumped the whole lower East Side
and before he cast his first vote hel
managed and controlled a convention
nominated his own candidate for dis
trict Judge and elected his man.
Fate With Large r.
1t would really seem, in glancing
over Mr. Riders career, that he had
been fated, almost from birth, to be-
come the treasurer of the Democratic