The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-03-15
HERMAN TO SUCCEED HURLEY
Little Doubt of Local Candi-
 date Being Made Major.
 Capt. Stephen P. Cronan Led Capt. c. B. Wilson by Two Votes - Herman a Happy
Compromise.

At a caucus held at 3 o'clock yeSter-
 day afternoon at the local armory at
 which all the officers of the local militia
 were present except Major James J
 Hurley whose resignation as major of the Coast Artillery took effect yester-
 day at noon. and who now has nc vote. the officers present were unable to unite upon either Captain Stephen P. Cronan or Captain Clifford B. Will
 son for major. Capt. Cronan led Will son six votes to four. In the end Cap
 tain Louis Hermann was prevailed upon to accept the nomination. and he was made the unanimous choice of all the officers in the city. Owing to the fact that the opintan of the Bridgeport officers was divided and that there were two candidates in the field. both on the retired list, it gave encourage ment to other out of town candidates to run for the office of major. There fore in order to retain a major in this city it was deemed consistent to nomi- nate a local man who would secure enough out of towE votes to elect him as major.
 Captain Louis Hermann enlisted in Co. K. 4th Infantry. C. N- G.. on June 29, 1897. and was promoted to second sergeant and then first sergeant during the same year. He was commissioned
 to second lieutenant July IS. 1899, and first lieutenant April 9. 1903. and cap tain of Go. K, 3rd Infantry, Jan. 14. 1904.
 He was transferred to the 11th Go. Coast Artillery Dec. 14 1907. During the SpaniSh-American war he served with distinction as sergeant of Battery B, 1st Reg. Conn. Vol. from May 1s, 1898 till he was mustered out of the United States service Dec. 20. 1898. He is strict disciplinarian- but has es- teem of not only the men of his own hut ole <af al ho afi in the state. He is an energetic student of military matters and his Judgment on affairs pertaining to the service is beyond question.
 As the officers in the eastern division of the corps have pledged themselves to wllomsoeyer Bridgeport nonlinates it is more than likely that Captain Herr mann will experience little opposition. There are also in the field for the nom ination Captain Edward P. Weed. pay master from Norwalk, Captain G. c. Smith. Corps Adjutant from Greenwich and Capt. David Conner of New Lon don and Captain John A. Hagberg of Norwich. both of whom outrank Cap tain Hermann in the 1ineal list of of ficers of the corps by but a few days in length of service.
 It was thought before the meeting yesterday that in view of the strength of Captain Cronan that Captain Will son would withdraw in his favor as it was thought that Captain Cronan would draw a large number of votes from the other officers of the corps. While Captain Cronan served in the guard from Nov. IS. 1890 to Dec. 31, 1908. when he was retired. Co. K. 4th c. N. G.. previous to his ap- pointment as captain was in great fin ancial stress. but through his able man agement 1t was not only able to remove the debt, but upon his retirement there was several hundred dollars left in the treasury. This task alone stamped him as a man of executiveability. While Captain Cronan would undoubtedly have developed sufficient strength with the out of town officers to elect him as ma jor, the officers in caucus yesterday afternoon upon the instigation of Cap tain Cronan himself, decided that should Captain Hermann accept the nomination he would be the better man to run owing to the fact that he represents the unanimous choice of both factions. and this fact alone would undoubtedly have great weight in deciding the final issue.
 In the corps eligible to vote are S2 officers. of which 10 are in Bridgeport A majority carries the election which has been ordered to take place at the local afnory Wednesday afternoon at 2:45 o'clock in the parlors of the 14th Co. The armory will present a gala ap- pearance on that occasion as all the officers have been ordered to appear in dress uniform.