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fjt ,. J i i. J jA.- ,. i r- JHm HI 4 I ' H GOODWIN'S WEEKLY Presidential Campaigns Remembered By A Printer 1868 It J By LcROY ARMSTRONG HI Hp HERE was a total eclipse of thp H! X sun in the summer of 1868; and Ht , the Democrats had a rally in Hi town that day. I was helping Henrv H Nichols In the iharvest field, It seems H ! to me; but it may have been later H than that. They don't usually get the H campaigns very red hot In July; and H s Indiana wheat harvests are in that HI J month. But any way I hoard the men H talking about the speaking in the HJ groVe at the school house, and of how K wicked a man "old Dave Turplo" was H s the advertised orator of the day. H I And then the sky began to darken, B and the chickens went to roost, and Hj Henry remembeied the paper had said B there would be an eclipse. And it B) certainly fulfilled all prophecy, for the Bi darkness was complete. Hi! But to me it seemed this was the W frown of the Almighty on the activi- H ties of the Democrats. It didn't occur BBj to me that the eclipse would be quite B as frowning on the Republican meet B ing to be held at Rochester, wheie fl Schuyler Colfax was speaking. B Giant was not only the idol, but the B candidate. And some Democrats said Bl they weie going to vote for him be- W cause he had always been a Demo- H crat. I think that made us Republl- B cans madder than if they had at- H tacked him. Old Mr. Covert, who had B sent two boys to the war, but had re- H mained at home himself, was sadly H doubtful about Grant, because that H leader of armies was reported to be H not a total abstainer. H It was Seymour and Blair on the H Democratic side, and there seemed no H flaw in tlie moral character of either H of them B Still, we felt that Colfax our owu H Indiana Colfax would provide the H moral balance for the ticket. He was H so seraphically good. BH Colfax was a great campaign Hn speaker. I remember him in thai H summer delivering a speech in Ply- H mouth, and asking: "What are the HHj charges against me?" And then an- H swerlng: "They say I am a smiler." H Which was true. He did smile a good H deal, and was handsome in his beard H and with his pleasant, twinkling eyes. H But he had made a good congressman B and a capable speaker of the house. H That was a great year for rallies. M My big brother belonged to the "Tan- Bj ners club" and marched in prpcesslon H when they had Republican meetings H in town. I wasn't supposed to be big H enough for that, and went in the m wagon with mother and my younger Bj brother and sister. And I suppose jHi ours was one of the wagons "with fl1 out a voter in them" with which the fl Democratic paper taunted us in its re B poit of the event. H The Tanners wore leather aprons, H and oilcloth capes and red-white-and- H blue caps; and they carried kerosene Hj , torches The township bringing in B the biggest delegation received a prize H of money; and all the people gathered H on some vacant lots and waited there H a weary while, till the marshals of the Im 1 day were forming the line. And there was much pomp and circumstance. Union township sent a "ship of state," with thirty-six girls in whlto sitting uncomfortably but gloriously on the various decks. And the wagon wheels settled so deep in the soft earth that when the six-horse team started, they walked away with the fornt truck, and the prow of the ship dipped danger ously, then listed to port, and all the little girls came flying in wild leaps for safety, without a lifeboat to re ceive them. I don't think any one was hurt; but Union township didn't get the prize. Some talented person had written a campaign song for the Tanners, and part of it ran this way: Our leader is a tanner true. For four long years he wore the blue, And now where'er his ranks unroll Each frightened serpent hunts his hole. Then hunt, ye Tanners, hunt. Then hunt, ye Tanners, hunt. Hunt all the summer on the Union line, And tan their hides in the autumn. "Serpent" was a reference to the "copperheads" a term of reproach for the Democrats. The whole day was given up to the celebration, and the town was full of teams. There was a good deal of drinking, though Mr. Covert told mother it was a good deal worse on Democratic ially days, which was a great consolation for all of us. And a good deal of a surprise, too; since I really couldn't see how it could have been much worse. In the evening the torchlight pro cessions wore worth seeing. The lines were more than a mile long, and there was a great deal of cheering as the boys marched about the streets and a good deal of singing of war songs, and the attempts at verse de vised for the campaign. One time while the line was stand ing John Corbaley stepped out of the ranks and olfered to "wrassel" any man then in town, barring none on ac count of residence, ago, weight or pol itics. And a man was hustled along from the waiting corwds on the wooden sidewalk, and the challenge was accepted. They took off their outer garments and went at it rough and tumble. An in the fights of that period no man would think of using a weapon, so in the wrestles there was no hitting with the fist. But it was an awful trial of strength and skill, and finally John Corbaley got his erirtmy on his hip Just as the command came for atten tion, and the accepter of the challenga went high in the air, then described a circle I cm still see his long legs, trousers in boot-tops, sweep a mighty arc and then I still seem to hear the ihud of him as his body struck the ground. Corbaley hurried into his garment, picked up his torch, and caught st ? Some people Point with Pride at the word juggler who can pick up a dornick and write a book about it. But as an ad. writer he would be only a Poor Boob. with his comrades. A few people stooped over the man who had been thrown, but he was an unconsidered trifle, so far as the masses were con cerned. He may be lying there yet. My big brother told me next day that the man Corbaley threw was a Dem ocrat, and that the contest had been devised to shame the Republicans on their own rally day. It must have been after 9 o'clock that night when we all got in the wagon and waited at the Edwards house corner for my big brother to get discharged, so he could go home with us. And a little group of bad boys came along, and one of them shotted the announcement that he could whip any blank Republican son of a Bea cook in town or words to like effect. Maybe there was no Republican in town who answered the rest of the description. Any way, there was no fight, as I had fearfully expected there would be. Stirred by patriotic fervor I wrote a poem that year, and took it to the Republican office In Plymouth. It must have been after G o'clock, for the editor was the only person still working. He was very pleasant, and promised to print the poem. Mean time, he talked to me about writing, and said that Mrs. Stewe had received more than ten thousand dollars for "Uncle Tom's Cabin." I have often wondered if the poem really were bad enough to warrant him in punishing me with that temptation. The Republicans were not mucn afraid of the result of the election, but the Democrats appeared to be san guine. And it was with a sort of sigh of relief and gratification that we read the result in the Chicago Tribune on Thursday. Grant was elected. The results of the war were secure. Trea son had not won In voting what It had lost In fighting. The Union could not be dissolved, and slavery could not oo extended. It was all very glorious. The wounds of war were healing. Business was very good. Tlnee yearn had made a great difference. The armies that had followed Grant had bent their spears to pruning hooks, and the fieldB of the great northwest were filling. There Avas plenty and prosperity, and a big horizon. We hadn't been very proud of Andy John son and didn't pretend to defend him. But now there was an end of his equivocal contribution to Republican pi ogress. Grant would be inaugurated in March. Colfax would be vice-president. All that Lincoln had hoped for, all he had worked for was now as sured. The Union was complete. The south was friendly. The nation was perfected every whei e. The histories call Monroe's admin istration "the Era of Good Foellng." 1 doubt if it were more completely so than that which saw the beginning oi the Grant legime. JOY, OH, JOYI Come and tiip it as ye go, ' On the light dramatic toe Dole abandon, dry the tear, Ye who hope to enter hero. For our end and aim is Joy; All our offerings brace and buoy; We, whoso watchword is "Be gay," We will chase old Care away. Are you moibid, are you blue? Is the weary world askew? Do not drown yourself in diink; Come and laugh with Maeterlinck. Are you solemn, are you sad? Something Greek will make you glad. Are you wallowing in grief? Ibsen will provide relief. Are you troubled with the pip? There Is balm in quirk and quip. Stridberg is the man you need; He's the cheery little Swede! Haste thee, then, and let us prance In a DIonyslac dance. Come and trip it as ye go On the lght dramatic too. Stick to Stickney's. IHKir IMPERIAL J IB i jiwSHIBHBfllvH H'tS B H kS ISflHH fl I iJ$2?4fw llft mbP Hbh mm H H HflHflHHI