Milford chronicle., 1928-08-31

0Sb~H1SkfSIQSQ< q Ar~AfS ~ ~ Wv
&c. 1898. Western Newspaper Union.l
IO.-The Log Cabin and
Hard Cider Campaign
COME lovSe phrase or catchword
~ or chance remark has turned
the destiny of a Presidential can
didate on more than one occasion in
history.
Thus it was in 1910 when Gen.
William Henry Harrison, Northwest
territory military hero in the Bat
tie of TippecanOe, was the nominee
of the Wings, with John Tyler OF
Virginia as his running mate
against the Democratic President
Martin Van Buren, who was seek
ing reelection.
Disappointment that the Wing
convention had passed over lead
er Of such brilliant parts us Henry
Clay for a relative mediOcrity was
felt by many. a friend of Clay's
was overheard by the correspond
ent of a Democratic newspaper in
Baltimore to express his dissatisfac-
tiOn in the sneering remark about
Harrison: "Give him a barrel of
hard cider. settle a pension of S2,kO
year on him, and. my word for
it, he will sit for the remainder of
his days in his log cabin by the side
Of sea-cOal fire, studying moral
philosophy"
The Baltimore paper published this
remark as an argument against the
Presidential fitness of Harrison. Sci
dom did such publicity become
swlftef acting boomerang.
The Wings seized upon this ties
timony of the simplicity of their
leader as a tribute to his rustic vir-
tues. The cider barrel and the log
cabin. with COON skin stretched on /
the door and the latchstring out, at
once became the emhiems of the
campaign. Issues were abandoned
TO the winds Ia a season of CON
tinual parading and vOciferOus song
singing.
In vain did some OF the Demo
Gratis. trying to stem the tide, point
out that Harrison did not live in
log cabin. but In a comfortable man
sion on a 2.OO0-aere estate: that he
WAS not poor, but enjoyed a larger
than average income as a public Off
Ger In the state of Ohio.
Democratic rebuttal was drowned |
out by the pHrading "log cabin men,"
shouting and singing, as they
marched to the tune Of "1'he Little
Pigs Tail-4
"What has caused this great com
motiOn-mOtiOn-BOtiOn
Our country through?
1t Is the ball a-rOiling on
For TippecsnOe and Tyler, too.
And with them We'll beat little Van.
Van. Van. L . used-up man"
The great procession of singing
bearing aloft as they marched and
sang pictures showing their hero
drinking a mug of hard cider were
OF unbelievable length. Log cabin
tioats and canoes were trundled ir
the paradea and great Harrison
balls, 10 feet In diameter, covered
with notices, inscriptions, quota
tions and rhymes. were rolled III
the professions. then from town tC
town.
The feisned contempt of the Var
Buren, men for Harrison, theiI
claims that the Wings shut up theil /
simple old General Mum" and die
not permit him to use pen and ink
heir references to the great Whie 1
,aradeS as "animal shows" really
concealed a genuine CONSERVATION
And well might the Democrats
view with alarm" the popular en- O
husiasm for "Old Tip" and popular d
Iistrust of the aristOcratic New n
'Orker. Van Buren, who, Whig ora. '
ORs said. was accustomed to eal G
ainty French fare from silver :,
ates with golden forks in the y
Presidents palace" at Washington .
nd who rode about in a gideG "
oach fit for a king. By contrast
lng Wing campaign laureates: n
10 rufllnd shirt, no silken hose, B
No airs does Tip display; S
ut like the pith of worth he goes G
In hOmespun 'hOddin-gray.'
pom his board there ne'er ap
peared 81
The costly sparkling wine,'
ut plain hard cider such as 2
cheered -
In days Of old lang syne." :
The Whig tide was Irresistible
Id Little Van" was indeed o
sed-up man." Harrison CAP
red 234 electoral votes to Van Bu
MS 60.
What must have been the emo
ms of the aged Gen. Andrew
cksOn as he saw the Wings seiz
: and using so effectively the very
.apOns he had forged and EN-.
)yed so successfully for the first
ne to Oust from the Presidency
other aristOcratic Chief Magis.
tie, President John Quincy
ANS, II years earlier.
Following the failing fortunes OF
party with an undimmed inter
from his Tennessee homestead
, Hermitage, whittier he had re-
ed, Jackson, then well past three
ire and ten, must have found in
. rolling log cabins and cider bar
S. the uprOariOus songs and mass
etlngs, pathetic reminders of pic.
e-covered walstcOats, hickory
es and huzzas Of crowds cheer
for the "Old Hero" of New Or
ms in the campaign a dozen years
ller.
With election Of Harrison and Ty
the JacksOnian era was dead
how shOrt-lived was the ella
] Of the victorious Wings, as five
lks after the Inauguration OF
d Tip" those who had paradei