Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1914-10-10
New News Of Yesterday
An Experience Which Was
a Perfect Cure
By Holland.

81 suppose that no Democrat in the
State of Connecticut, with the possible
exception of James e. English, who rep
resented the New Haven district in
Congress at the time of the Civil War
and was afterward governor and SEN
ator. had more friends in the Republi-
can partv than Nathaniel Wheeler. of
Bridgeport. Had Mr.. Wheeler been
nominated by the Democracy for gov
ernor at any time between the close OF
the Civil War and ten years later, he
would have received strong support
from the Republicans He would have
run ahead of his ticket, I think, by sew
eral thousand votes"
This statement was made to me by
the late Nehemiah d. Sperry, who for
wears was the master hand in the Re-
publican politics of Connecticut, and
who served nearly twenty years as
member of Congress from the New
Haven district In his last term he was
recognized as the father of the House.
81 win tell you a little anecdote
about Mr. Wheeler which not only illus
trates the man, but also shows what
the feeling of the people is likely to be
at the time of the introduction Of any
new labor-having invention" said Mr.
Sperry.
"some of the leader Of the Demo.
cratic party went T. MIR. Wheeler early
in the '7O's and urged him to consent
to be candidate for the Democratic
nomination for governor. They told him
! that If he would only let his name be
proposed before the convention he
would be nominated hands down, prob
: ably unanimously.
"Wheeer shook his head, and then
} they approached him on another tack.
, They said to him that he would be
/ elected by a large majority and would
/ receive the votes of a great many Re-
publicans who had such regard for him
tnat they would be willing to forego
their party affiliations for the sake OF
supporting him.
"Wheeler again shook his head, and
at last he said;
81 have been stoned and mobbed
once That was enough
His friends thought he was speaking
metaphorically, and that he was refer
ring to the fact that anyone who was
a candidate for high public office was
sure to be attacked not only politi-
cally. but personally.
"But that was not what Wheeler
meant, although I think he would not
have objected had be been a candidate
for office, to any reasonable criticism.
What he had i'm mind WAS this: Twenty
OF thirty years earlier he and his
friend Wilson had made what they
thought was perfect sewing machine.
Wheeler went out into one of the coun-
try towns with one of the machines TO
show what it could do. It was a town
where there was a good deal of hand
work sewing. The people did not like
the sewing machine. They said IL would
take away their means of getting liv-
Z ing. Wheeler tried to argue with them.
S insisting on showing how the machine
worked. Thereupon a mob was formed
some stones were thrown, and he found
it prudent speedily to depart from that
+, district. Wheeler never had any re-
sentiment for those hostile people. for he
knew exactly how they felt. He also
knew that the time was not distant
4 when a good many sewing machines
would be sold to people in that town
! He used the Illustration simply "a
show that he did not care to enter into
contests and the excitement which a
canvass for political office always en-.
tails"
. Copyright, 1914. by E. J. Edwards An
rights reserved.)