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Show ; HOW JIM WATSON GOT VOTES. (Indianapolis Journal.) j The Hon. Union B. Hunt, secretary I of state of Indiana, tells in Success for i September how James E. Watson per- formed his great feat of beating W. S. Holman, the "great objector," in their ' race for congress. The following incident inci-dent is a characteristic one: ' I have been asked whether it is true that Mr. Watson actually wore wooden shoes during the first, campaign to cap- i ture the German vote. This report has I been greatly exaggerated. The facts i are as follows: Watson made a vigor- ! ous and energetic campaign. A part j of the time he had had weather. One ' rainy day he started with a medical friend to see a number of voters., He had been up the greater part of the night before, was tired and sleepy and J had a very bad cold. He said to his friend, who was with him: "Doc, I don't want to campaign today. I want to go back to your house and lie down on the floor and sleep." In the house of the physician was an old-fashioned fireplace. They drove back. Watson got a chair cushion, lay down before the fire and slept for two or three hours. When dinner time ar- rived he was much refreshed. After dinner Watson complained of cold feet, and his medical friend said to him: "Why don't you wear wooden shoes?" Watson replied: "I haven't any." "I will lend you a pair of mine," his friend replied; so he brought out a pair of fleece-lined shoes with wooden soles and leather uppers, shces 'that are worn ouite generally by the Germans of that congressional district. These shoes were put in the stove oven and I warmed, and Watson put them on; I and, in comrany with his friend,- that I afternoon he went to a sale. He stood around on th? damp ground, but his feet were warm the rerixainder of the day. The Germans were very much pleased with the fact that the candidate had adopted their footwear, and he was pleased with the footwear because it kept his feet warm, and continued to wear it. In making this explanation, Watson laughingly says: "It did prove pretty popular, though." When the votes were counted It was found, that the young man had a plurality plu-rality of 400 votes over the supposedly invincible Holman. |