Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1910-09-09

annoyed db, lTOH udy 10 Oay, ne
learned the headway Standish was
making In Granite. The better
classes, almost to a man, focked tc
Gives standard. BY series of fiery
speeches he succeeded in rousing a
certain hitherto dormant enthusiasm
among the business men of the town
They found to their surprise that he
was neither a visionary nor a mere
agitator; that he based his plans not
ON some Utopian Altruria of high
souled commonwealth but on a pract1.
cal basis of clean government.
He pointed out to them how utterly
the Machine ran the Mountain State !;
how the railroads and the vested In
terests Of the party clique sent their
own representatives to the Legisla-
ture. and then made them grant
fraudulent franchise after fraudulent
franchise to the men who sent them
there. How the taxes were raised
and so distributed that the brunt fell
upon the people who least profited by
the State expenditures and by the
legalized Wholesale rooberies. How,
in fact, the populace of Granite and Of
the whole Mountain State were being
ridden at will by handful of un-
scrupulous men.
That Caleb Conover was the head
and front Of the clique referred to
everyone was well aware, yet Standish
studiously avoided all mention of his
name. all personal vituperation.
Whereat Caleb Conover wondered
nightly. Stenographic reports of
Gives speeches and of the increas-
ingly large and enthusiastic meetings
he addressed were carefully conned
by the Railroader. And the tolerant
grin with which he read the first of
these reports changed gradually to
scowl as time went on.
He had made no effort to suppress
or In any way to molest these early
meetings. He wanted to try out his
young opponents strength, gauge his
following and his methods But when,
to his growing astonishment he found
Give was actually winning a respect
ful. ever larger, hearing In his home
town, he decided 1t was high time to
call halt. Accordingly he sum-
moned Billy Shevlin.
Whats doing?" he asked curtly, as
he received his henchman in the
Mausoleum study.
"To-night's the big rally at Snyder's
Opera House. you know" replied
Billy. "Standish's booked to make his
star speech before he starts on his
State tour. He's got team of Good
Gov'ment geezers from Boston to do
q spiel, and he's calm this the big
gest scream of the campaign so far.
Say, that young feller's maxim an
awful lot of noise, Boss. When are
you goin' to give us the ofIlce to put
the combination on his mouth? On
the level. he amt doin' you no good.
The Silk Socks is with him already,
and he's winner with the business
bunch in family groups"
Look here" said Caleb, pointing
out of the studys north window,
which commanded a view of exclusive
Ponpton Avenue and It's almost
equally fashionable cross streets,
bow would you figure up the popu.
lation of that district"
"The Silk-Sockers? You knows
we'll as me. Thirty-eight hundred in
round numbers"
And over there?" pointing east.
9TH business districk? An easy
10000"
Say 10000 in both S'pose they are
all for young Standish. Now look
here"
He crossed the long room and ran
up the shade Of one of the south win
dows. The great marble house stood
on the edge of hill-crest, overlook
ing distant vista Of mean, winding
streets. dirty. interminable rows Of
factories and small shops.
Through the centre. like a huge
snake, the tracks of the C. G. & X.
wound their way, and over all a
smeared pail of reek and coal smoke
brooded like some vast bird of prey.
Coal yards. docks. freight houses, ele-
vatoYs. shanties-and once more that
interminable sea of dingy. squalid
domiciles.
Whats the population down there,
Billy?"
"Hundred'n ten thousand, six hun
dred an" oegan Shevlin glibly.
AN every soul of them solid for you,
Boss sixteen thousand to hundred.
n:tela-thous-"
That's right. So long as the
youngsters content to speak his little
liecsa here in Granite. I've stood By