First Republican Gun

The opening gun of the repnblican campaigu ia this county was fired at the Graud opeia house, Ann Arbor, on Saturday evening. It was a blazing hot evening and abont 350 people were all who were brave enough to sit through the prooeediags. The speakers were Col. John Atkinson, of Detroit, Congressmau Spalding, of Monroe, and Fred N. A. Merchant, of Ypsilanti. They were introduoed by Col. Heury S. Dean, who aoted aa chairman of the meeting. Col. -Atkinson spoke for aearly an honr ou the general issues of the dáy. He handled the money juestion very timidly, as if he were afraid of it. He said he was in favor of bimetallism by an international agreement. We are pledged to it and have held internV ,tioual monetary conferences. If, hoWever, international bimetallism cannot be reached then we as free Americaní" can go ahead and do it iudependently!' He stated that there were several issues in the republican platform on which the democratie platform issilent; that. Mr. Bryan was a young man for whom he had nothing but admiration, but he is inexperienced and an experiment, and the country is not in a positiou to try experiments at this time. It was only when he spoke of Mayor Pingree and praised him in high terms, although he qualified it by saying, "he was no hero worshiper, " that the audience was at all enthusiastic. Cougressman George Spalding spoke on what he thought was safe birnetallism - international agreemeat and treaty - and asked the voters to cast tbeir ballots for the republican nominees for president, vice-president and governor. F. N. A. Merchant, of Ypsilanti, gave the last speech of the evening, which wras devoted to a republican appeal to the coloree! people.