Ailment of its obligations. Those ac quainted with the fearless administra tion of public affairs given by Mr. Fel lows as mayor of the city of Scranton do not need to be told that John II. Fellows possesses these qualities, and that when elected sheriff he will dis charge his obligations without fear or favor. WILLIAH R. LEWIS. William R. Lewis, esq., is the choice of the Republican voters of Lacka wanna county, as expressed at the primaries last June, to fill the office of district attorney. Since infancy Mr. Lewis has been a resident of Scranton. Until 15 years of age he attended the JOSEPH A. SCRANTON. JOSEPH A. SCRANTON, Hon. Joseph A. Scranton, the Re publican candidate for the office of county treasurer, comes before the people this year with a record of one third of a century in the service of his party and the public in general. Mr. Scranton's career in politics is almost co-temporary with the history of the i nblican party in this section of the staitJ. "Wnor he pcused the cause of Republicanism and commenced to de vote his personal energies and the re sources of his newspaper to the propa gation of Republican principles, old Luzerne county, which comprised what is now Lackawanna, was hopelessly Democratic. Probably no individual' had more to do with changing these condition than Mr. Scranton. For years he led the forlorn hope until at last it was not so forlorn, and it final ly became triumphant. No person is entitled to more credit than he for the evangelization of this section in the interests of Republican ism. Now that the party is the domi nant factor in our politics it is diffi cult to realize what it meant to be a Republican when the old county rolled up its majorities of six and seven thousand for Democracy. Aside from his party service Mr. Scranton presents a record of ten years in congress, during which time he left nothing undone to advance the interests of this district. His career in congress was at a great personal sacrifice. While it was a post of hon or, it cannot be said to have been one of emolument. By his service in the national legislature Mr. Scranton in creased the obligations of the people of the county to him. These obliga tions may be paid in a small degree by electing him to the office for which his party has nominated him. No man on the ticket has a stronger claim for the hearty support of the Repub licans of this county than Mr, Scranton. public schools of this city when cir cumstances required him to earn a livelihood. For two years after leav ing the public schools he was employed in and about the Woodward mines in Kingston. In 1884 he entered the Bloomsburg State Normal school, from which in stitution he graduated in 1886. In the fall of 1886 Mi. Lewis entered the pro thonotary's office of Lackawanna coun ty during T. H. Dale's incumbency and remained in his employ as deputy un til his retirement from that office on the first Monday in January, 1892. His leisure moments during his employ ment in the prothonotary's office were devoted to the study of law t under Messrs. Gunster & Welles. After leav ing t'he prothonotary's office he devot de his entire time and attention to the reading of law under the direction of Hon. Alfred Hand and William J. Hand, esq., and was admitted to the practice of law in this county in Sep tember, 1893. On the first day of January, 1894, he, with H. L. Taylor, esq., organized the successful firm of Taylor & Lewis. Mr. Lewis is also a member of the Su perior and Supreme courts of Pennsyl vania and of the United States Circuit court. He has always been an ener getic and consistent Republican. No citizen who has been an attentive observer of the process of justice as administered in our criminal courts needs to be told that the district at torneyship is an office of the very first importance. The man who holds it Is practically the master of the fate of persons charged with crimes. Upon his honesty, diligence and professional skill depend to a large extent whether the guilty shall be punished or the in nocent go free. The jury, it is true, passes finally on all questions of fact; but the jury can consider only such facts as are placed before it. The district attorney, with command over an elaborate machinery of detection which enables him both night and day to watch the actions of suspects and piece together the frag ments of evidence essential to convic tions, possesses power which in incom petent or dishonest hands nullifies the sanctity of our courts and constitutes a menace to every citizen. It is vitally Important, therefore, that the holder of this influential and difficult office should be both a skilled lawyer and a clean-cut, straightforward man of af fairs, in whom every upright person may repose complete confidence. Such a man the Republicans of our county by a flattering plurality vote have nominated in the person of Will lam R. Lewis. He is as straight as a gun barrel, and as keen as a fox. Young, alert and energetic, he typifies the best blood in our younger.. Repub licanism and attract to his support every admirer of ability and charac ter. He has been long enough in the law to prove his mettle. He is thor oughly familiar with the workings of the courts. He knows the county, its people and conditions, and he is un trammeled. A vote for William R. Lewis for district attorney will be a vote for justice. JOHN COPELAND. When political parties, which are only organizations of the sovereign people, present to the public candi dates for approval for any particular office or trust it is incumbent UDon them to state clearly and plainly the reasons which actuate them in their choice. This is the people's right and experience has taught and political rtarties recognize that in a wise selec tion of candidates lies the principal element of success at the polls. The candidacy of John Copeland, of Carbondale, for the office of prothono tary, for a second term, was the re sult of the wisdom of the Reoublican party as expressed at the county pri maries, and therein the party made no mistake. Mr. Copeland belongs to that sturdy class of citizens who nowadays are called self-made men; that is men, who, with but few early advantages, by untiring energy and steadfast in tegrity have acquired well-deserved prominence in life. He comes of that sturdy Scotch ancestry which has ev erywhere shown itself in the progres sive development of our country. He was born in Scotland. His father, James Copeland, came to Carbondale before the sixties and immediately found employment with the Delaware & Hudson Canal company, in which he remained until his voluntary retire ment several years ago. Up to the age of 13 John Copeland attended the public schools of Car bondale. He was the eldest of a large family, and at that age left school and became a trainman or "runner" on the old Gravity road. He continued in that position for a number of years, aiding in the support of the family and at the same time diligently fit ting himself for a better position, an opportunity for which he found in the night schools. Such was the early life of John Cope land. Later he became a brakeman and then a conductor on the locomo tive road between Scranton and Car bondale. In 1873 he was appointed general yardmaster of the Carbondale yard, having full charge of all trains, both Erie and Delaware & Hudson. Mr. Copeland's elevation from "run ner" on the Gravity to brakeman, then conductor, and finally to the respons ible position of general yardmaster, was solely the result of merit. In all his varied experience in life he has never failed to do his duty to his em ployers, and throughout his whole life his relations with his fellow railroad men have always been the most cor dial. These are sonie of the reasons which actuated the Republican county con vention three years ago in. their choice of John Copeland as prothonotary. He was elected to that office on Nov. 2, 1897, by a handsome plurality, securing the party vote all through Lackawanna county and a goodly portion of Demo- f" TfllMiftffliliiiiTll ,i t:i ISfmlmKm . W n ' hiVfflllllW WILLIAM R. LEWIS.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers