Smyrna times., 1908-07-29
MR.. HUKILL TELLS
OF FORMER DAYS
INTERESTING DESCRIPTION
OF POLITICAL MEETINGS.
Great Mass Meeting on Dover
Green, attended by Politicians
From All Over the State.

From All Over the State.
Wilmington, July 25.-In August,
1874, l went with my father to the
Democratic meeting at Dover. In
those days each hundred organization
had what they called bOat-wagon,
or campaign wagon, which went load
ed to the mass meeting. They would
start in the upper hundred and fall
in in the regular order as they pro-
ceeded in the direction of the meeting
point and on that occasion by the
time they got to Smyrna, which also
had wagon, there was a considera-
BILE procession of wagons, to say moth
ing of the great number of carriages
which usually went.
l recollcet that James Moore took
his own wife and Eldad Lore's wife
Chief Justice Charles B. Lore's
mother-and went down the after
noon before, driving one of his own
and Mr.. Lore's horses, which was
dandy, fea-bitten, bobtail grey.
w LGu II IGdCIGu DONGI JilG BlOCCS~
sion proceeded around the Dover
Green and Uncle Jimmie Moore ap-
peared on the scene in the capacity
of marshal of the day, riding Mr..
Lore's handsome horse, and wearing
a blue sash trailing almost to the
ground, cutting quite a figure. 1t all
had very bewitching effect on me,
for thought it was the prettiest
sight ever beheld, and it would not
be cosidered mean thing, in this,
our day, of modern ideas and i'm
provements. | would have it under
stood that they had fine horses and
fine looking men in those days-as
now-and Uncle Jimmie was one of
them. Proudly sitting on that bob
tailed grey, Uncle Jimmie was well
on the scene. With his long blue
sash he cut quite dash around old
Dover green. l recollect that George
w. Cummins furnished four splendid
bay horses for the Smyrna wagon.
James K. Polk and George M. Dali
las were the Presidential and Vice
Presidetial candidates
All the way down the road you
could tell farmers" politics by
the banner hung on the front gate,
or by the kind of wood the flag pole
was made of. If a Democrat, the
pole must be hickory, but if a Whig
any other kind of wood was used.
On our way home somebody ran itno
Charles Beaston Judge Cochran s
grandchildren broke his carriage
down so that he could not proceed
farther with it. He got into my
fathers carriage with US, till we got
to Smyrna, where he got another car
riage.
The two opposing parties in those
days went to greater lengths to make
a display or to boost their respective
interests than they do now. They
would drive from all parts of this
county to attend mass meeting al
Dover, and they would contest every
inch of the ground on election day,
OuI bllSAS was llO lain VI SIulllIlS Ddl-
lot boxes or of counting anybody out
Sometimes they would take a knock
down or black one another's eye.
recollect on one election day a
Blackbird, two very stout men go
into jam in a crowd about the win
dow, and one of them clawed tn,
other in the face, but there were NJ
blows struck. After the push wa
over one of them hunted the other VI
and l heard him say, like what die
you claw me in the face for?" ant
he said, 81 did not ;" "By goll,
it looked like you, and l want to tel
you you must mind how you go whe
you do that. Why I'd ring you
head off the same as a chick, an
you'd look pretty running around her
with no head. The other man di
not resent it, and the impression wa
that it was an accident, that he ha
not intended to "do the man." The
were both powerful men.
l learned all the campaign g lgs
which were many, and commonly sun
at the political gathering, and whe
riding in the campaign wagon. Ella
N. Moore was one of the creates
singers there land he is singing yet,
WILLIAM ANDREW HUKILL.