On the other side the Democrats perfunctorily nominated Donnelly. It
was the best they could do, and Donnelly had nothing to learn. And so
the fight was on. Donnelly went everywhere; so did Warrington. If
Donnelly spoke in the German district, Warrington spoke to the
Italians and in their native tongue. Warrington soon learned how to
shake hands in the manner of a candidate,--to take the whole hand and
squeeze it soundly. The coal-heaver whose hand the dramatist grasped
thereupon returned to his friends with the report that the candidate
had a good grip, that there was nothing namby-pamby about him, for all
his dude clothes. It is the gift of Heaven to win friends and keep
them, and Warrington possessed this gift. His good-humored smile, his
ready persiflage, his ease in all environments, and his common
sense--these were his bucklers. He spoke in dingy halls, on saloon
bars, everywhere and anywhere and at all times. It was a great sight
to see him lightly mount a bar and expound his politics, his nostrils
assailed by cheap tobacco and kerosene lamps. If Donnelly opened a keg
of beer, Warrington opened two; if Donnelly gave a picnic, Warrington
gave two. And once he presented free matinee tickets to a thousand
women. This was a fine stroke of policy. When a man wins a woman to
his cause, he wins a valiant champion. Here, then, were a thousand
tongues in his service.
His work put enthusiasm into the rank and file of the party, and soon
all half-heartedness disappeared and dissensions vanished. He
furnished foot-ball suits for the newsboys, torch-light regimentals
for the young men's Republican clubs; he spent his own money freely
but judiciously; and all the while Donnelly was not far behind. For
the first time in the history of local politics the two parties went
to work with solid ranks. It promised to be a great campaign.
Warrington's influence soon broke the local confines; and the
metropolitan newspapers began to prophesy that as Herculaneum went, so
would go the state.
Warrington's theatrical manager came up from New York and said he
wanted that play at once. The dramatist declared that there would be
no play that season. The manager threatened a lawsuit; Warrington
remained unmoved. His first duty was to his party; after the first
Tuesday in November he would see. This argument found its way to
reportorial ears, with the result that it merely added to the young
candidate's growing popularity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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