The El Reno Democrat. (El Reno, Okla. Terr.), Vol. 8, No. 7, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 13, 1902 Page: 1 of 8
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1
The Tvlkeno Democrat.
T. F. HENS LEY, Propria
PUB LI SHED E VER Y THURSDA Y.
VOL XIII.
EL RENO, OKLAHOMA TERRITORY, MARCH 13, 1902.
#1.25 PER YEAR
NO. 7.
)
; '
PRIMARY ELECTIONS.
A year ago Minneapolis adopted
the primary election system and as a
result more men took part in nomi-
nating candidates in that city than
had voted for governor at the pre-
ceding state election. The like had
never been seen in Minneapolis or
elsewhere before. Political caucus-
es had been to Minneapolis what
they are to every other locality,
"The root of all political evil." The
political caucus here as elsewhere
usually got out an attendance of
from one tenth to one quarter of the
party vote. At one stroke Minne-
sota changed all this. It induced
people to do their duty at the prim-
aries by the adoption of tb'j system
which resulted in a cleaner and bet-
ter set of oflicials tliau had ever been
chosen before in the city of Minne-
apolis. Business men who would
not enter the scramble of the party
caucus as candidates, ran and were
elected. Old barnacles, political
hags, dubious politicians with a grip
on the offices had to let go, and
everybody now sings the praises of
the new political era.
A primary election embodies two
ideas which the people admire. First
the idea of doing their owu nomina
ting instead of delegating that duty
to conventions. Second, that they
shall do their nominating almost ex-
actly as they do their voting. This
method is not new by any means.
The republicans in one county in
Pennsylvania have employed this
method for more than forty years.
In Lineoln, Nebraska, this method
was employed and as a result revol-
utionized the municipal government
in less than five years. Many states
have adopted it and everywhere it
has worked to the utter satistaction
of the people but has met with the
opposition of the political boss.
Direct nominations kill the boss;
but there are some men who do not
want the boss killed. The boss him-
self objects, and all his henchmen
take up his cry in concert. Then too,
there are some good men who believe
the people ought not to be trusted
with too much power; that they
ought to be led, and steered and
manipulated. But the belief that
the people can be trusted to govern
themselves is the very foundation of
our political institutions. We trust
them to elect, why not to nominate.
Are they not better judges of who
they want than the political boss, the
wire puller and the fixer? By what
right does any man usurp to himself
the task ef thinking for the people,
exercising the people's conscience
and thwarting the people's will?
Caucus scandals abound at every
election and often defeat the party.
The general malodor of caucuses
and nominating conventions deter
the best class of citizens from taking
part in them. Men refuse to leave
„heir homes and enter a howling mob
of political manipulators for the
pleasure of taking part in a disgrace-
ful nominating procedure.
In a primary election the machine
candidate stands no better chance
than anyother candidate. No aspir
ant for office need put himself under
obligations to ring, or boss, or cor-
poration before he will have a ghost
of a show. Nominees will go to the
poll* unhampered by promises
Those elected will fill their office#
with obligations only to the people.
Political debts will no longer clog
and hamper and embarrass, and in
the long run the people will choos#
better men than any ring, or mac hine,
or boss will choose for them, and the
chances of the election of a ticket
selected in this way will be increased
a hundred fold.
Dead Fivt Days.
Siedenberg, the great self-hypno-
tist is now under five feet of (earth
ou the Tinklepaugh lot on South
Bickford avenue. Early this inoru-
ing the crowd begata to assemble
around the grave to see the hypno-
tist put himself to sleep, and to see
him buried. By ten o'clock hun-
dreds had gathered, anxious to see
the wonderful performance. At
10; 10 the hypnotist was in his cof-
fin, bidding a few of his friends
goodbye and saying to the® he would
meet them at the opera house Friday
night where, at the sound of an
alarm clock, he would awaken and
make a short talk on hypuotism. His
coffin is a plain wooden box with two
shafts, one at his feet and one at his
head, whereby he gets air and venti-
lation. An electric light is hung in
the one at his face that he may be
well seen as he sleeps. He will re-
main underground for five days,
when he will be dug up and carried
to the opera house Friday night.
Siedenberg has been buried a num-
ber of times before. Three of El
Reno's best citizens were tailed in
to see him hypnotize himself and to
see that it was real and no fake
about it. Guards will be stationed
at the grave until he is taken up,
but will allow anyone for 10 cents to
see the hypnotist as he sleeps under
five feet of earth. An admission of
25 cents will be charged at the opera
house to see him awaken and hear
him give his experiences Friday
night.
In Memoriam.
Whereas, 't has pleased God in his
infinite wisdom to remove from
our midst our dearly beloved neighbor
Ralph W. Kettering and
Whereas, we recognize that in his
death we are bereft of a conscientious
upright, intelligent and worthy neigh-
bor and a true Woodman and
Whereas, we recognize that the com-
munity has lost a tried and true friend
and a useful citizen, and his young
wife a loving affectionate and devoted
husband,
Therefore be it resolved by El Reno
Camp No. 7088 Modern Woodmen of
America, that as a token of respect for
deceased neighbor and his relatives
that the charter be draped in mourn-
ing for a period of thirty days and
that the sympathy of the camp be ex-
tended to the grief striken family and
that a copy of these resolutions be
spread on the minutes of the camp and
a copy given to each of the daily pa
pers of this city for publication.
J. J. CARNEY,
J. L. TREVATHAN,
S. GARVER,
Committee.
BURKE'S PROPHECY.
The Washington Star digs up the
following remarkabl* prophecy ut-
tered by the great Burke in parlia-
ment when England was bent on
going wrong In her dealing with the
American colonies:
"A vision has passed before my
eyes; the spirit of prophecy is upon
me. Listen now to a revelation of
the consequences which shall follow
your maddened desision. * * *
Though in the gristle, and not yet
hardened into the bone of mankind.
America within the short period of
sixteen months will cast off your do-
minion and defy your utmost perse-
cution. She will establish a repub-
lic, the first confederate representa-
tive commonwealth, which shall in
time become the admiration and en-
vy of the world. • * * And the
three millions whom you now des
pise, gathering to themselves in
crease from every European nation
and island, will within seventy-five
years spread themselves over field
and forest, prairie and mountain,
until in your provinces in the Baha-
mas they shall meet you on the
shores of the Gulf of Mexico, and
on your return from Eastern Indies
they will salute you from the east-
ern coast of the Pacific ocean. * *
Look toward Africa! There you
see American colonies lifting her up
from her long night of barbarism
into the broad light of liberty and
civilization. Look to the east!
You seeAmerican missionaries bring-
ing the people of the Sandwich Is-
lands into the family of nations and
American armaments peacefully
seeking yet firmly demanding the
rights of humanity to Japan."
In every particular except the pre-
diction of African colonies the
vision has come true, comments the
Sioux City Tribune. It seems al-
most weird that a man living at that
period and at that stage of Ameri-
can development could outline the
future with such accuracy. But
Burke, aside from being a brilliant
man, was more observant than his
fellows. He knew the men England
was dealing with and he knew
geography. Men who would leave
England for a hostile wilderness,
conquer what came before them and
maintain in the midst of their diffi-1
culties the principles of human lib-
erty, must do more as long as there
was opportunity. They could neith-
er remain stationary nor go backward
They must go forward. It was not
reckless of Burke to base sucu a
prophecy upon such a situation.
IOWA TO THE FRONT.
The prominent part that Ohio so
long held in the administration of
the Federal government, has for the
time been taken by Iowa. The Sec-
retary of the Treasury, the secretary
of Agriculture, the «peaker of the
House and the chairman of the Fi-
nance committee of the Senate, Mr.
Allison, who will soon enter upon the
lougest| period of service that any
man has had as senator, for he will
soon begin his sixth term,—all come
from Iowa.
The ease of Iowa is different from
the case of Ohio in one very import
ant respect. Ohio was a "pivotal"
state. At one time it held its state
elections several months before the
national elections, and the public
men of the state bad an unnatural
and undue prominence for these
reasons. Indiana has at times
played a more than unusually impor
tant part in national politics for the
same reasons. But Iowa is not a
"pivotal" state and it does not bold
early elections.
In a sense its prominence may be
called an accident. But there is at
least a plausible explanation in the
character of the people. The state
has no large city. Its population,
is a rural populaiou, seventy per
cent of which is American stock. In
comparisin with Illinois and Ohio
for example, it is not a manufactur-
ing state. It is a community of far-
mers, who are perhaps the most suc-
cessful farmers in the world. It
would be difficult to name any other
agricultural area on the globe as
large as Iowa that is the home of as
many people who have *won wealth
from the soil—not a mere subsis-
tence, but such comforts and luxur-
es as few agricultural communities
have hitherto known.
And the people are of a singularly
uniform character. They do noth-
ing radical as the people of Kansas,
for examp'e, often do. They are not
given to trying either social or politi-
cal experiments. Thoy hare never
become excited. They are among
the most conservative people of the
country—uniformly thrifty, stable,
unemotional. They have not pro-
duced national heroes. You never
hear of the great men of Iowa. In fact
you never hear much about Iowa.
But this very conscientious attention
to their own tasks has developed a
type of safe and useful men. The
present prominence of the Iowans
may, then,Joe more than an accident*
—The World's Work.
Fire at Lawton.
The town of Lawton which is com-
posed almost entirely of frame build-
ings, was the scene of adisasterous fire
Friday, the second in its history.
The fire broke out in the Palace Club
saloon, between two and throe o'clock
a.m. and with everything In its favor,
promised to wipe the town out. The
building was in fllames in less than
fifteen minutes. The whole town was
aroused and the volunteer tire depart-
ment assisted by the citizens made he-
roic efforts to save some of thocontonts
of the stores in the block, knowing
that the buildings could not bo saved.
The hardware store of March Bros.,
J. W. Hughes general merchandise,
Broe's hardware store and Bailey's
racket store were completely de-
stroyed. The loss is estimated at be-
tween fifteen and twenty thousand
dollars without any insurance.
OKLAHOMA LAWYERS.
Statistics gathered by Charles H.
Woods, secretary of the Oklahoma
Bar association, shows that there are
nearly 750 practicing lawyers in Ok-
lahoma. In October Mr. Woods ad-
dressed letters to district clerks ask-
ing for lists of attorneys in good
standing. Replies were received
from all except Woods, Caddo, Com-
anche and Blain counties. The other
counties showed a total of G02 law-
yers divided as follows:
Beaver 4 ; Canadian 50 ; Cleveland
24; Custer 21; Day 8; Dewy G;
Garfield 39; Grant 22; Greer 20;
Kay 50 ; Kingfisher 32 ; Kiowa 22 ;
Lincoln 34 ; Logan 58 ; Noble 28 ;
Oklahoma 87 ; Pawnee 14 ; Payne 31
Pottawatomie 52; Roger Mills 12;
Wiahita 22 ; Woodward 12.
It is estimated that the remaining
four counties contain about 150 law-
yers.
It is easy to be nobody and we will
tell you how to do it. Go to the stores
barber shops,or any other public place
and spend your leisure time. You
need not drink much now; just a little
beer or some other drink. In the
meantime smoke, play dominos, check-
ers or something else to kill time, so
that you will be sure not to read any
useful books. If you read anything let
it be the dime novels of the day; thus
go on keeping your stomach full and
your head empty, and youself playing
the killing game, and in a few years
you'll be nobody unless you should turn
out to be a drunkard or a professional
gambler, either of which is worse
than nobody. There are any number
of young men banging around in this
way just read' to graduate and be no-
bodies.—Ex
Towder
□
Cream
Superlative
in strength
and purity
Improves the flavor and adds
to the healthfillness of the food.
PRICE BAKING POWDER CO.,
CHICAGO.
Mote.—There are imitation baking powders sold cheap by
many grocers. They are made from alum, a poison-
ous druc, which renders the food injurious to health.
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Hensley, T. F. The El Reno Democrat. (El Reno, Okla. Terr.), Vol. 8, No. 7, Ed. 1 Thursday, March 13, 1902, newspaper, March 13, 1902; (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc112273/m1/1/: accessed March 19, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.