The Senatorial Fray in Stevens County
A power struggle between Leviathan politicians Levi Ankeny and Wesley Jones splits the local party faithful in Colville.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
One of the things that is puzzling Stevens county republican politicians is the senatorial question. Senator Ankeny is a candidate for reelection, and Congressman Jones thinks he has won his spurs in the house by ten years of valiant service for his state, and these two leviathans are pitted against each other for a fight to the finish. In Stevens county there are Jones men and there are Ankeny men, and in reviewing the situation it is to be observed that the county organization is for Jones. They are not telling it from the housetops, nor are they proclaiming it from the forum, but from ambush they can be seen preparing for the fray. The Ankeny forces are, however, to be reckoned with and they are not going to surrender at the first shot. The Seattle newspapers are favoring Jones for reasons of their own, but Ankeny is said to have many friends concealed in the tall timber over the state which he will rely upon at the proper time. Both men are striving to keep their friends in line and also to gain new support, and in this county the contest promises to become one of the bewildering variety.
“They are not telling it from the housetops, nor are they proclaiming it from the forum, but from ambush they can be seen preparing for the fray.”
Political factions within rural counties often mirror the broader tensions of state-level party control. The struggle between the 'Ankeny men' and 'Jones men' highlights how national political platforms filter down to local party organization, a dynamic that remains a staple of Washington politics today.
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