Omaha daily bee., 1877-01-23
THE GALLERIES.

there with 8 white face, there now
fluttered the feathers OF ladies hats
and cleaned forth the SEARCHED
fronts of '.boiled Shirts" while all
around the circle a mixed assem-
biase of ladies' aud gentlemen, i'll
telligent ard well blessed as to ap-
pearance, and keeniy attentive,
looked down and awaited the com
mencement If the count. Over the
speakers table the newspaper men
were gathered IN force, and that re-
sort beng one of the most incOn-
venient place possible for seeing and
hearing, except to those In the
front seats, tcOse back seemed in an
attitude of constantly crahing their
necks into the air, over their more
fortunate neighbors' heads. On the
front seat 1 observed the vetraDs o:
Newspaper row: Boynton Nordhoff,
Adam, Gobright, Wight, ct. al.
some of them armed with opera
glasses, and others of them ready
with pencil and paper to edo" the
proceedings.
DISTINGUISHED SPECTATORS.
On the floor, seated and standing,
were various distinguished gentle
men who had come to witness the
proceedings. Justices Field and
Miller had seats in the area IN front
of the Speakers desk; Secretary
Chandler and Postmaster General
Tyner sat in the hall on borrowed
chairs; Gen. Sherman, with a mil
itary cloak on one shoulder, and
looking grizzled, wrinkled aud gray,
walked about talking with mem
bers, and finally took a seat in front;
Secretary Robson, looking as fat
and jolly as all English country
squire, sat beside Gen. Stoughton,
of New York; Gov. Woodford, OF
the same State, lounged about the
lobby; ex-senator Fenton looked
on from a seat in the real of Judge
Crounse; and paying close attention
to the proceedings from a favora-
BILE location.
THE COURT.
AS soon IS Mr.. Ferry had ascend.
ed the steps of the platform, and
shaken hands with the speaker as
If he hadn't see him in nineteen
years, he raped to order, and an
nouGced that under the constitution
he would now proceed TO "Open all
the certificates and count, and de-
clare the votes in the presence OF
the two houses in joint convention
assembled" He didn't make any
r 'erence to his po wers as defined by
the new law, thinking, doubtless
that 1t hadn't left him any. TO speak
Irrhis opening announcement,
the Vice Presidents voice trembied
slightly, and it was in other ways
apparent that he felt the gravity
and novelty of the occasion. But
he made a verystraightforward and
dlgnified job of it, nevertheless, and
finished by stating that the States
would be called in alphabetical Or
der, beginning with Alabama. The
papers from that state were accord
handed out from the wooden
box aforementioned, and the Vice.
tore them open and hand
ed them to Senator Allison, who
proceeded to read them. They en-
braced a certificate OF election OF the
electors; 3 sworn statement of
the returning board, and minutes
Of the proceedings of the electoral
Not especially interesting
in themselves, the reading of these
claimed the close atten
ton of the large concouIse in at
tendance in the ball. Atone period
the r aiding of these first re-
turns, somebody accidentally broke
glass in one of the fly.1oors of the
southern lobby, and Immediately
there arose q buzz all over the
as if that slight diversion
we're q welcome excuse for the ebu-
Ition Of the pent-up emotions of
The audience.
The reading of both sets of re-
.urns that received by messenger
md that received by mail-having
oeen oruered, the proceedings prom
sed to be tedious, when Conkling
arose and suggested that only one
'eturn be read, the other to be ex-
Imined by the tellers. To this there
vas no objection, and it was adopt
I'd. When the Alabama returns
lad all been read and the result
announced the Vice President asked
+ there were any objections to the
There being none, he said,
there being no objection, the votes
# Alabama will be counted,n and
he tellers recorded the same in due
Orm.
California, Colorado, Connecticut
md Delaware were next taken up
n order, nothing occurring to mar
he monotony of the proceed
ngs. AS the reading progress
ID there was 8 general
in all parts OF the hall.
Members OF the convention lounged
u their seats, or visited around
'mong their friends the reporters
leased to crane their necks; the
Inte-rOOms were full of smokers,
md here and there in the galleries
'ou.d be observed q lady or gentle
nan surreptitiously abstracting
,ltes of lunch from some obscure re-
reat Of a pocket. Everybody being
n an easy humOr, it was notstrange
hat a little ldpsus Hnguoe by the
e-President should cause a gen.
raj outbreak of laughter. ALI
Knew that the Florida returns
you'd be opened after those
# Delaware, and the Vice Presi- /,
lent being, doubtless, full of the
anne thought, allowed it to get the
tart Of him when he came to re-
luest the 'eller to announce the re.
ult OF the Delaware vote by calling
or the result of the returns from
florida.
Florida was soon opened, how
'ver, and there was better attention
N the part of the audience as the
'apers were being read. There were
10 less than three separate returns
rom this State, one signed by a
majority Of the returning
,oard for the Hayes electors,
me set by a minority thereof as
he person of Attorney General
Joke, for T1lden, and the third
made up by order of the Democratic
on the 18th oflast month,
Ilso for Ti'den. The reading of the
asst L; med document Promised to
" very lengthy as a tabulated role of