The Robesonian. [volume] (Lumberton, N.C.) 1870-current, 1908-10-08
THE LETTER IN"

With the Letter ''N' in His
Name Nearly Always Success
full, Hence it Looks Like Bry- f
an. e
Mr.. F. P. Johnston, of Hicko- I
ry, sends to The Charlotte OBJ
server the following, from Les
lies, November, 1887:
The general notion, briefly set
forth, is that the presidential
candidate who has a letter M
in his name is sure Of an election,
as opposed to one whose name is
not thus provided. If both pos '
sess the letter, the one wins
whose letter stands nearest in
the order of the alphabet to
IN" and if neither possess it
the same rule applies. say
rule, for this has so invariably
happened that it passes beyond
the bounds of a mere coincidence
and assumes the nature of some
thing inevitable, the exceptions
strengthening rather than weak
ening the propositions; for if un-
successful at first, it is sure to
win the second time, or if unsuc-
cessful, the winning is sure to be
followed by a disaster to the win
ner, as though a natural law had |
been broken, and the punishment |
must follow.
The first observation of the |
facts is peculiar by itself. Out
of the thirty-seven persons who
have been nominated for the
presidency, twenty of them had
the letter IN" in their names,
and out of the eighteen elected,
twelve were similarly provided.
Is it not a little curious that, out
: of the millions of persons in the
country, and out of the thou
, sands and thousands of names,
such as / have described thould
| be selected for candidates, and
in such proportion as to seem
to indicate that it all means some
J thing? Any directory will show
that names so constituted are
) immeasurably less in proportion
: to the whole number of names
that this, and the doctrine of
7 chances, taking names together,
$ demonstrate that the probability
of drawing a name with a letter
. IN" in it is reduced to about one
/ in thirty thousand.
d Itseems a little like dealing in
t plalitudes to go down the distin-
f guished roll, but it may be well
e to refresh ones memory to see
= how firm and certain is the
e foundation of the proposition
o formulated.
n 1t is needless to more than
n name the first one, Washington.
# He leads off in this we'll, as he
IS did in everything else. John
n Adams, the next, beat jefferson,
It but it was by a mere scratch and
:, misunderstanding, and when the
second trial came, it was all the
# other way; the third resulting
e similarly, and with most decid-
e ed emphasis. Madison had fol-
Il his antagonist Pinckney, of South
e Carolina, but overweighted him,
a as he did Clinton, of New York,
in the second contest. Mon
k roe beat King, of New York, the
4 first time, and had it all his own
h way the second time. jackson
IS won over Adams when they frs
ce 'locked horns," but lost in {
n DEAL" scarcely more respecta.
Of BILE than the one made forty
IL eight years afterward. On tht
lie second trial, with a fair field anC
Of no favor, he swept the same op
re ponent clear out of sight, and
be in his third canvass did the SAM
thing with another antagonist
n Clay. In the next contest, Mar
ell tin Van Buren was too much fo
Harrison, but the matter wa
made even, as it should hav
r. been, by the election of the lat
ter with the same opponent i
1910. Polk won over Clay; Tay
e lor over Cass; Pierce over Scott
nd Bunchanan over Fremont; Lir
he coin over Douglas, and agai
as over Mcclellan; Grant over Sey
or mour and Greeley. Hayes serN
rs ed in the place of Tilden, bu
at that only goes to prove the trut
ed. of the proposition, and the les
,as said about it the better. CARTEL
he was President for only about 81
He months, and Cleveland won owe
ed. Blaine.
lis These, which I have calle
to condolences" assume NOR
'ed significance from the fact that
he has been reported in the new
his papers that Mr.. Blaine, in tt
'ad canvass of 1884, had noticed ther
air and was so impressed by ther
md that, as the contest progres
'le. ed, he lost heart very motto
9th ably.
He A Reidsville dispatch of the
hat states that outrages similar
1en the deeds of the night riders
the Kentucky are threatened in Cs
hat we'll county, and the independe
en- tobacco growers, especially in t
ime neighborhood of Purley a
fed Blanche, are greatly alarmed
us a result of notices which ha
been posted on tobacco bar
the and other plces where they mig
ere be read. While as yet no de
in of violence has been report
nor of the farmers have gra