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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.
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