Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 January 1910 — HARMONY WRITTEN IN BLOOD WAS DEMOCRATIC CONTENTION. [ARTICLE]

HARMONY WRITTEN IN BLOOD WAS DEMOCRATIC CONTENTION.

Lake County Delegation Row and Two Fights Occur" and Murphy, of Brookston, Elected Chairman. Charles' J. Murphy, of Brookston, was elected to succeed J. Kirby Risk, of Lafayette, as chairman of the 10th congressional district democratic committee, at the organizing convention held at Hammond Tuesday. Murphy had the solid support of the south end, while Lake county had two candidates, namely, Mayor Becker, of Hammond, and Ed Simon, also of Hammond. There was blood in the eye of both the Hammond candidates and their followers, and the flew city of Gary was taking a hand and trying to square some bitter factional troubles, with Mayor Knotts and Tim Englehart on the Becker side and Attorney R. E, Houren on the Simon side. Englehart and Houren engaged in a fist fight at the convention and Houren was struck in the face by Englehart, wfyo wore a ring on his finger, which cut a gash in his adversary’s nose from which the blood spouted. They were separated before the fight had proceeded far. Mayor Becker has been roasted recently by the Lake County Democrat, edited at Gary, and when he met E. F. McGovern, the business manager of that paper, he took a bat at him, but before serious trouble ensued the combatants were separated. There was enough votes in the north end to have elected either of the Lake county candidates had they been able to square the differences existing there, but while the scrap progressed Murphy slipped in and secured the election. The third ballot gave him 72 2-3 votes, Becker received 33 2-3 s and Simon received 23 2-3. The convention was opened by J. Kirby Risk, the spectacular Lafayette man, who has been chairman for the past fopr years. Judge William Darroch, of Kentland, was made the permanent chairman of the convention. While the democrats of the south and central parts of the district seemed harmonious, the Lake county people exhibited ajplit that will be hard to heal and the convention intensified the troubles that have been brewing since before the recent municipal elections.