The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1918-07-19

The much heralded Pat Harrison
rally at Meridian July 4th has come
and gone, and to read the extraya
CANT reports sent out by Mr.. Har.
risOn's press agents. one would con.
clude that Senator Vardaman might
az we'll resign right now and turn
the office over to the deluded aspi
rant from south Mississippi.
Among other extravagant claims
made in these reports, some of which
bv the way. were printed in after.
noon papers before the parade took
place, it was said that Mr.. Harrison
was greeted by $4,000 people. and
that all Of the banners were carried
by former Vardaman supporters
Another statement was that ban.
ner was carried in the parade by a
Confederate veteran, bearing this
inscription, We are Confederate
Veterane and have DO patience with
disloyalty"
The Sentinel has taken the trouble
to investigate the facts about this
so-called Pat Harrison victory, and
il the most reliable citizens of Mer-
idian are to be believed, the entire
affair was complete huke, and is
regarded in Meridian as huge joke
The Harrison leaders there are cha
grined and mute. while the Varda-
man forces are highly jubilant over
the outcome of an affair which, from
political standpoint, was as big a
failure as will be Pats aspirations
on Aug. Goth next.
One of the most prominent men
f:om east Mississippi. we'll known
and highly esteemed in that section
of the State, a man of judicial turn
Of mind. conservative in all things,
and whose word would not be ques-
toned for a moment by anyone who
knows him. was asked to give the
unbiased facts of the occasion, Civ
ing Mr. Harrison the benefit of any
doubt. and allowing him literally
on any question affecting the rally
that might be in doubt. And here
is the way he dopes it out:
The parade was three blocks
long by actual count The process
sion was filled up mostly by boys
and nOn-de-scripts; the banners were
carried by negro and white boys.
fourteen banners in all; the banner
said to have been carried by an old
Confederate veteran was carried by
a boy, as was the banner supposed
to have been carried by the father
of the boys across the seas. the boys
being about IA years old.
The crowd was attracted to Me-
ridian by the extensive advertising
and the promise of the spectacular
TO the sight-seers. More than lib
eral estimate would place the crowd
that heard Horrison at 1000, while
800 would probably be nearer the
correct figure. The procession was
twenty minutes in passing a given
point, as against one hour and half
for the Vardaman parade in 1911.
A majority of the spectators were
Vardaman people who seemed to en-
Joy the "fluke,'' as the matter was
generally regarded in Meridian.
Judge Cochran, who originated
the affair and who has been extern
sivelv advertised through the State
for the past six months as former
Vardaman supporter who now wants
him defeated, is reported to have
told a friend next morning that he
was having good deal of trouble
in collecting the money to defray
the expense of the affair. and stated
that he would probably have to pay
it himself; saying further that had it
been a Vardaman rally, the money
would have been raised in a few
minutes"
The Sentinel information further
states that the Vardaman people in
Meridian are much overjoyed at
the situation after the pass
ing of the much touted 4th Of
July celebration, and that Lauder
dale county is going for Senator
Vardaman by a good majority. He
says that. moreover. he knows IL
men within one block Of Office who
have never supported Vardaman
that will do so now.
1t is simply history repeating it.
self. The same laudatory and ex-
travagant newspaper claims were
made against Senator Vardaman in
his last race. and after reading one
of these inflated pieces in the op-