Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1909-03-04

oqulEe-b uOkc uespAtoncu rum the uAAA,
hustled over to the stable and corralled
the whole crowd in the barn Office, care
fully closing the door.
81 want a word with you, boys" be
said. al have here and he produced
some colored cardboard checks from his
pocket, "an interesting new game. II
works this way. Each of you takes a
check for himself and q few for his
friends. You keep these checks till four
O'Clock this afternoon. Then you call at
Squire Edwards law Office and every man
who has check gets five dollars apiece
for 'em. There's only one thing that
will make these checks wuthless, and
that is to have this here caucus go for
Spencer. See? II II goes for Granger,
every little piece of blue cardboard that
Pm passin' TO you will net you five dol
lars. Here you CO." and he showed the
checks, several of them apiece, into the
hands or pockets of the surprised Slab
City contingent and was gone.
As soon a. they had recovered speech,
nearly every man denounced the act as
the coolest piece OF attempted bribery he
bad ever seen, and declared be would be
shot before Granger should gain his vote
that way. But in the excitement OF the
moment no one thought to gather up the
checks and remove the temptation.
Every one OF these little cards meant Eve
dollars-almost a weeks mill wages. 1t
was a pity to throw away such easy
money, whispered many a mans evil
spirit. And as they entered the caucus
hall, more than q few OF them thrust
their checks deep into their pockets,
while some hunted up friends who had
not voted and passed surplus cards to
them, explaining what it meant.
I Wilkes quick eye swept his Slab City
"Zulus" and detected something amiss at
\ once. He knew the truth within two
I minutes. But too late; a dozen tinted
ballots had already been dropped into the
/ box by hands that never before had sup
ported Squire Edwards in a local fight.
Reynolds mounted a chair.
"Mr. Moderator, this caucus is bought
hev all the facts Jest reported to me.
See, here's the proof" and he held up a
handful OF the coIored checks. every
one means five dollars, payable at Squire
7 Edwards Office il the teown goes fer
\ Granger. It's the rankest job o. corrup-
tion ever tempted in Vermont. l give
notice here an now that il tn Granger
ticket wins it'n be contested on the
ground o. fraud"
A hubbub followed, Grangerites howl
ing and Spenceritcs cheering. Heated
alterations took place between partisans
and blows were narrowly averted. Will
kie started to hunt up the Squire and
stake it outen us hide" but the Squire
had departed.
The entire vote. save a few struggling
ballots, had now been cast and soon The
chairman turned the box and the count
ing began. The assemblsge waited
hreathlessly for the result. The teller'
took an exasperatingly long time to fin
ger and separate the ballots, count and YER
iiy. but finally the advance tip came,
"Granger wins"
The chairman took the slip handed him
by the secretary and announced
"Gentlemen, listen to the result oil
your ballot
Whole number cast, 372.
Necessary for choice, 1877.
The Granger ticket has 1874.
The Spencer ticket has us.
The ticket headed Squire Edwards
(hisses) is therefore declared elected"
There were some cheers from the
Granger enthusiasts, but the Spencer ad
herents. ia their disappointment anS
anger, made the most noise.
"We'u see abeout this doin's," de
clared Reynolds. "We he'd 'em beat fe
fair till they worked that cardboard
game. Guess tn state committee won
stand fer that when it's shown 'em
Speneer'll hev Kingston yet. Meow
! want ter go down an see tn dumbe'
, Slab City skunks that went back on M
git their thutty pieces o. silver" An,
Wilkie hustled down the street, but no
soon enough to intercept q dozen voter
} who had "cashed up" at Edwards Office
where Joe English oficisted as teller
, passing out the crisp notes drawn fror
! the Lotus bank the day before and add
| ing a handful of cigars for good measure
/ And so il was that Squire Edwards car
E ried Kingston for the Hen. Prentis
; Granger, with Jed Alden as q delegate
: elect.