Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-06-05
THE SEAT Or WAR.
Details or the Seating Arrangements
OF the Republican Convention Hall.

The subcommittee of the repubi-
can national committee will arrive in
New York on Sunday, and on the day
following will begin the work of ar
ranging the details of the convention.
The hall is now virtually finished.
and 1t is considered by the members
OF the committee who have seen it to
be the best that has ever been present
ed to the convention. Built to occupy
the north half of the exposition build
ing, 1t resembles an amphitheater
only at the ends, where the seats rise
rapidly to height of thirty feet, and
affords a seating capacity of about
10 600.
The hall properly contains seven
mann divisions aside from the special
apartments provided for the commit
tees, telegraph companies, etc. They
are the amphitheater in the north end
for distinguished guests, the stage, the
reporters gallery, the parquet for
delegates, the south end amphitheater,
the elevated side rows of seats extend
ing along the full length of the hall,
and the upper galleries for guests.
The north amphitheater, beginning at
the rear of the stage, rises at an angle
of thirty degrees to the wall of the
mann building. 1t contains about
eighteen hundred square feet. and has
seats for 800. The stage, standing
about four feet from the lowest point
IN the floor, is semi circle extending
to the front. It has seats for about
two hundred. Adjacent to, and in
front OF, the stage is the press gallery.
The north border of it curves to fit
the form of the stage, and the south
border is straight, extending the sides
of the main building. Tables will be
provided for 800 reporters. Facing
the stage, and separated from it by
the narrow press gallery, are three
sections of seats. Each row contains
18 plain ash chairs bolted together.
the section running backward at a
low angle of elevation for a distance
OF 300 feet. The sections are separated
by aisles six feet in width. The first
$40 of these seats will be occupied by
the delegates. They will be encircled
by railing. Immediately to the
south and on the same elevation are
$40 SIMILAR seats for the alternates.
BacE OF these seats is a fence high
enough to prevent the admission of
the rabble to the working ground of
the convention, but not so high as to
obscure the stage. Next to the fence
is the remaining portion of the par
quet. The lower side galleries, ex-
tending along the parquet, are on a
level with 1t at the south end, and
have the elevation of the stage at the
north end. They are 90 feet deep, and
have a seating capacity of about two
thousand. The end of the parquet is
marked by a 12foot aisle leading
from the smaller aisles of the audi
torlum to a large area in front of
the main exit. The south amphi-
theater begins at the main aisle and at
It's base is of the same width as the
parquet. AS it rises at an angle of 80
degrees it widens until at the top it ex-
tends entirely across the hall. 1T is
of the same size as the amphltheater
in the north end. Beneath the am
phltheaters are exits and rooms for
committees, telegraph companies, and
the press. The galleries are not
changed.
The principal object of the architect
IN his plans was to obtain the best
acoustic properties. The air-space of
the hall was consequently reduced
one-thlrd, placing false walls in the,
sounding boards over the amphi-
theaters, and an artificial free story
IN the top. The sounding boards are
a counterpart of the amphitheaters
Beginning a short distance above the
the last seats of the amphitheaters
they rise at an angle of 20 degrees,
and spreading at about the same de-
gree converge into the false free
stories so as to envelop the entire
ceiling.
The national committee, it is
thought, will adopt the system of
seating the delegations which prevail
ed at the convention of 1880, and will
allot them spaces IN alphabetical or
der, beginning on the rig ht side and
placing Alabama at the end farthest
from the stage. The delegations will
advance toward the stage until the
first row is occupied. The second
and third rows will be similarly allot-
ted
The stage will be occupied by the
officers of the convention, the associa
ted press reporters, the members of the
national committee, the Illinois state
committee, and the distinguished
guests who were agreed upon at the
last meeting of the committee. The
north amphitheater will also be for
distinguished guests. The remaining
seats will be occupied by such as are
lucky enough to get tickets from the
delegates
The committee on decorations, of
which John NJ. Clark, of 81 Wabash
avenue, is chairman, will not begin
its work until after the musical festi-
val Mr.. Clark says that the decora
tlons will consist of festoons of flags,
the coats-of-arms of the states, and
the banners marking the locations of
the delegations. These banners are
OF silk, one foot by three in size, and
will be appended 10 a brass staff
screwed into the floor. On the stage
yvI TT hn tho 1,1c+1,Yo Of