Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1912-07-23
THE CHESTER MEETING.


York, Lancaster and Fairfield counties
were in Chester last Saturday on ac-
count Of the state campaign meeting
and altogether the crowd that assem-
bled in the court house yard@as close
In the neighborhood Of between fifteen
hundred and two thousand. There were
| fifty or more people from various parts
| Of York, about forty from Lancaster,
fifteen or twenty from Fairfield and
the greater part Of the balance from
Chester representing the county very
fully and also a good turnout from the
town.
1t was after II o'clock before the
meeting was called to order. The coun-
ty chairman had been slow about COM
ing to q decision as to just what he
should do. There had been some no
tion Of having the speaking in the opera
house provided the crowd was not too
large, and the morning was far gone
before there could be any conclusion
on this question; but by 1890 1t was
evident that the capacity Of the opera
house was totally inadequate, and the
court house yard alternative became
definite. AS soon as II was settled
where the meeting was to be, the yard
began to fill up, as did also the court
house steps and portico and the win
dows Of the office and other surround
ing buildings.
Judge Jones and Governor Blease
were taken in charge by their respec-
tive friends early in the morning, pro-
yided with temporary headquarters in
nearby offices, where they met and re-
ceived friends, sympathizers and 9TH
ers who desired to meet them. The 9TH
er candidates, with two or three ex-
ff, Of fhn ,iy,cr
circulating among the assembling
crowds, distributing cards and other
literature. and pressing their respect
I've claims as best they could.
The statement Of the number of peo-
pie present Is a guess based upon more
or less careful estimates. The number
varied. When the candidates for the
minor state offices began speaking and
until the candidates for attorney gen.
eral took the platform, the audience
ranged in number from 800 to 1000.
When the candidates for attorney gen.
eral began to hold forth the crowd be-
came noticeably more dense, and in
creased to 1,200 to 1900, and when the
turn Of the candidates for governor
came, the audience was swelled to close
to 1000. There were those who esti-
mated the crowd at it's largest at less
than 900 and there were those who
gave their estimate at $500. There
were $50 or 200 ladies.
1t was typical Piedmont crowd,
made up Of people Of all walks and oc-
cupations; but generally we'll dressed
people of good personal appearance.
They were mostly such people as ap-
pear at YOrkville on similar occasions
There were very few indications. Of
whisky in the audience. The police
which kept closely up with the order
question, made at least one arrest on
account Of drunkenness; but there was
very little disturbance in connection
with the arrest Taken all together ad-
mirable good behavior prevailed and
the people generally kept in good
humor, notwithstanding even a GER
tain amount of pretty rough heckling.
Jim Cansler was the first speaker
He told some jokes that provoked lib
eral applause, and Col. J. H. Wharton
and Capt. John G. Richards were also
both we'll received. The candidates for
state treasurer, S. T. Carter and D. w.
McLaurin were both applauded liber-
ally, and nothing occurred out Of the
ordinary until the candidates for attor-
ney general took the stand. Barney
Evans made his usual attack on Mr..
Lyon, charging Mr.. Lyon with lack Of
capacity to the extent that outside help
had to be had to handle every impor-
tant case that had gone to his office,
and he charged also that Lyon had al
lowed Ben Abney to take $4,000 out
on a deal involving 100000, without
doing any work other than to sign a
receipt for his money. He stated that
Abney had testified to this fact on
oath. He also claimed that DR.. Muir
ray had stated that Fielder had been
employed by Lyon over his protest He
said some pretty hard things about
Lyon. generally, and when he sat down
he was applauded.
Mr.. Lyon was received with quite
liberal applause from various parts Of
the big crowd, and after compliment
ing Chester for having furnished the
only jury in the state that was honest
enough to give a righteous verdict in
a graft case. proceeded to denounce all
the structures that Barney Evans made
as false. He cited report of the
Blease winding-up commission and a
report of the Charlotte Audit company
to show that every dollar of funds that
came into the hands of the Ansel wind
ing-up commission had been properly
accounted for, and referred to records