Archives/Special Collections, University of Illinois at Springfield

A: Well, in the first place, they'd know you. There wasn'l many Cadillacs them
days. There wasn't too many around. You'd come inlo town with a Cadillac and every time
I'd come back tu my car there'd he a hunch of people around there. I'll alxvas-s renlemher
one little town up hrre. Some people said, "Oh you ought to get rid of that car. You ought
to drive a car." And I thought the hell with it. I'ti r:~ther be in romfurt anyway. So onr
guy was walking dou-n the street there in the little town. And thr frllos-s were sunning
thrnlselres out there on the porches around this town. And one of the guys said, "You ran
always tell a man hs- the kind of a dog he's got."
Q: Oh! (laughter1
A: I was fortunate in making the acquaintance of a lut of key people who was on the other
side of the fence or independent that way by not calling on the committermen at that particular
time.
Q: Yes I srt,.
A: And I came within forty-seven vates, I think it was, of winning. In fact the Quincy
Herald-Whig come out and said it was impossihle for me to win, and the>- wrote a hig stor>ahout
it afterwards, Rut what happened, I was cheated on the election. They switched the
tally like see.
.A: Well then peoplr - then they felt sorry for me. This Quincy Herald-Whig r:ome out
with tlig headlines and then I was important as hell hecausr I got beat see.
Q: Yes
A: That u-as the best thing that ever happened to me was because I g11t heat. But I was
so darnnrrl tired of politirs hj- that ti~tle I - they'd want me to have a recount, and I wasn't
about to have a recount. The)- could have had the danlned thing then. I didn't want to
have nothing to do xvith it anymore. And so I can see now hour easy it is if you've got
a man or two on the election rommittee. All he (lid was say hr'd made an error. he can't
do a thing about it. "I just madr, a mistake." It's up to you to change the whole thing. It's
costly as hell. Su then they'd want me to have a recount and I wasn't going to have no
rrcount. I comr back home, wen1 hack to work. I thought to hell with it. Had a lot of
fun. So . . .
Q: Do you think that actually happened that the1
A: Yes Yes thry found out it dill actually happen.
Q: Oh. (chucklr~s)
A: Su I had some people in here one day. Well they'd come in her? quite a hit. One fellow
y the name of Reynolds, his name was. He was an old railroader out of
Roodhouse. Koodhouse was quite a labor town them days. IIe'd always bring some
ladyfriend with him. Ilr was quite a spender and quite a sturyteller. Ilr mas the life of
the bar here. He'd come in on Sunday afternoon. And I guess his girlfriend got tire11 of
it and she was u-anting to go hoinr. And so he said, "Yup, we're ready to gc~." And they'd
go back in their car and he'd came - "I've got rlne more joke to tell," and he'd gone down
the line. And hr just thought she'd never pull away from him see. And finally time \rent
out, she got tired, she just left him hrre.
Q: Well! (chucklesJ
Carl Wittmond Memoir -- Archives/Special Collections, University of Illinois at Springfield