Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-11-17

In the morning."
what did you read In the Globe?'
THE vanity Of men: read, mfr.
Dunmeads will undoubtedly make a
strong candidate. The entire county
wants him. It will havs him. Il reads
IKE q patent medicine advertisement.
doesn't It: How does It feel 70 be
wanted BY an entire county. Mr.. Dun
meade?'
1T is," hs confessed. "rather pleas.
ant-if trus. Who are you?"
And suddenly. with laugh. she was
gone. amid chatter Of hoofs.
Alone he addressed the morning.
''She said am strong. wonder, am
strong-strong enouGh?'' And. search
ing his soul for the answer. be heard
no negative.
This chronicle. We neglected to state.
begins at the beginning Of the end Of
an epoch. The epoch has been vari-
ously styled a golden age, period Of
prosperity. an era Of expansion. 1t was
all of that-to n few. For Others.
though they did not see II, It was a
recession. truce in the struggle. old
as life itself. between the many and
the strong.
William Murchen was a distinguish.
I'd member OF class whose climbing
proclivities are not subdued by the In
cident Of lowly start He was born
in the obscure hill town Of New Chel-
sea soon after Andrew Jackson and
his contemporaries promulgated and H.
Illustrated the Immortal doctrine, ITO
the victor belong the spoils." In the
fashion made popular b, Abraham Lin.
coin and other great men he secured
an education and on the day he attain
ed his majority was admitted to the
practice Of law in Benton county.
About the same time he entered the
broader profession of politics. being
then lukewarm Wing.
His military services are perhaps
best dismissed with the mention Of a
certain gold medal struck in his honor.
by special act of congress. for gallant
conduct on the field of battle. The in
vidious have made much of this deco
ration. However. 1t probably required
a finer courage to resign from the colo
nelcy Of his home guard regiment on
the eve Of Gettysburg-thisi indeed was
the fact-to accept the less exposed Of
fee of aid to the governor at the capt.
tai than to face the hail of rebel bull.
let's. There are many ways Of express
ing ones patriotism. Later he served
his country as prothonotary for Benton
county. Afterward he passed through
many gradations of political prefer.
ment. as representative in the general
assembly Of his state, as state sena-
tor. as state treasurer and finally as
United States senator. which exalted
office he held until-but we anticipate
| our history. He became in addition
leader of his party organization. an
euphemism employed by those who OBJ
jected to the term boss"
William Murchell's creed was that
Of a respectable but practical man.
He was a teetotaler and a Presbyte-
rian elder and believed In the doc
trine of foreordination and in literal
scriptural hell for those not numbered
among the elect. He believed devout-
ly in the avowed and tacit principles
of his party, although he was not big
oted and would on occasion take a Sc.
| cret hand in the affairs Of the opposi-
ton. He had more than once read
out of the party foolhardy young men
| who ventured to oppose his leadership.
He lived during at least two months
Of every year in the town Of his birth,
either in the square. white frame
| house on Maple street or Mt the farm.
three miles west. which he let ION
| shares" New Chelsea was a quaint,
old fashioned town lying at the head
Of the Weehannock valley. quite con
| tent with Its population Of 5000 and
| with the honor Of being the county
seat. which Murchell's influence had
prevented from being moved to Plum.
vile. that thriving little factory city
| fifteen miles away.
Down Main street one fine June aft
ernoon he was walking with that air
of abstraction which sits SO we'll on
the great.
HE has big possibilities" Uncon
sciously the senator spoke aloud.
| His companion seemed to under
stand the reference. Hes all right
he answered. State Senator Jim
Sheehan was big. fat gentleman with
furtlve. twinkllng eyes. modicum OF
coarse good looks and rolling. cock
sure gait bred of no misfortune. He
was son of power. Fifteen years be
fore he had gone to Plumvilie to work
In the mills. an uncouth. nnlettered
Irishman, who could tell good story
hold unlimited quantities of liquor and
was not unwilling to work when mon
ey could not be had otherwise.
But not long for him had been the
Crime and roar and muscle racking OF
the mills. Money could be had more
easily. Plumville was booming. There
were streets to be graded and paved
public buildings to be constructed. jim
went into politics and because he was
a good vote getter" and had Ger.