The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-10-21
COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS IN POLITICS.

These dovout and depercA0te drummers-
COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS IN POLITICS.
They ere ~ Intense In Republicsnism a. In
Building Up Trade.
The drummer" was in town yesterday He
tame not only individually and in squads, but
in whole battslions, and the city was full of him
from early morning until late az night The
occasioe Of IL oil was the demonstration Of the
Republican commercial travellers Of this and
other States in honor Of General Harrison,
which was arranged under the supervision Of the
Travellers Republican Club OF In
disnapolis, and which in many respects was the
most successful aud attractive OF the many
which tnis city has witnessed during the pres
emit campaign. The idea of such a demonstration
presented itself to the Republican commercial
men Of Indianapoi. just before the assembling
of commercial representatives at the Columbus.
(O.) exposition. some three weeks since. aud
that occasion was utilized to extend On invita-
ton to such representatives to be present here
to-day, a delegation from the club of this city
going TO Columbus for that purpose. Since taat
time the Indianapolis Boys have worked hard to
make the AZ -ir . success. using such limited op-
portunitr Is they had to prepare a crsdiiable
reception for their expected visitors. anc
Of the same time make a satisfactory showing OF
the deep int ,sst felt IN General Harrisons sue
cess by a large majority Of the commercial men
here. There were some discoursging obstacles
in the way Of their getting large delegations
fror abroad, among them the fact that many Of
the Repuo ran commercial travellers Of other
States had ALREADY visited this city, sinely or in
delegations, TO pay their respects to the Repub-
hcan presidential candidate, and that on the
day selected for III, demonstration here there
were other celebrations. notably at Chicago and
Bloomington, Ill, and ST. Louis, which tended
to keep coGuercial men in the neighborhood Of
THE cities.
Nevertheless. the Indianapolis Republican
travellers spared 70 effort TO make their broth
rem througho-t the country understand that
they were wanted here. To every city within .
reasonable dista ice messengers were dispatched.
aud to individual Republican commercial travel
srs the fcllo invitation was sent:
Dear Sir-Saturdsy. Oct. 20. viii be "Drummer's
day" at the home of General Harrison. at which time
large delegations OF commercial travellers from all the
commercial cities of the country viii assemble in this
city and be received and addressed By the next Presi-
dent of the United States.
Knowing YOU TO oe a representative travelling man,
and one lsr~ ~ interested in the success of the Re-
publican party, because of its adherence 10 the doc
trino of protection TO American industries, we call
upon you 10 take this n after in hand, and at once or
gsnize q large delegation OF commercial men IN your
CIV. for tie purpose Of participating in what we trust
and believe viii, be one Of the most effective and
ersndest political demonstration ever seen in any
campaign
Please inform ~ from time 10 time Of the progress
You are making. and just before your departure wire
us as to the hour You viii arrive: at same time stating
- = --..
ERNEST MORRIS. Secretary.
The result OF these efforts was seen in the
mAenifeeot M stration OF yesterday. OF
the visitors who came by the forenoon trains
there were 10 the peighborhood of =, 900 CON-
merciaI representatives, and these arrivals were
added TO oy others who came later and those
who remained in the city from yesterday wait
ing for the event of to-day.
Nearly all the cities of the Eastern aud West
srn States were represented. The majority Of
them, however, were from Columbus. Cincin-
natl. Cleveland, Dayton and GAINESVILLE. o.;
Pittsburg, Penn; Evansville. Lafayette, Craw-
fordsville, Fort Wayne and Richmond. Every
resented There was the hilarious
drummer 10 the wet goods line and
the grave and solemn drummer whose
SAMPLES consist of metallic burial cases. The
nstty, weIl-dressed travelling salesman Of mil.
linery, and the man who introduces agricultural
machinery were here. The tea and coffee trade.
dry goods. boots, haIs. queenswsre, hardware
anc hollow-ware. ell had repressn tatives in line.
1t was said that several wholesale dealers OF
Lafayette aud Richmond locked up their estsb-
lishmenrs and came and brought their whole
force with them The smallest man in line
was from Chicago. He weighs eighty nine
pounds. while the largest was Circinnstian.
who tips the scales at $50. The shortest man
was fonr feet ard niue inches, aud the tsllest
was six feet and seven inches. and they ranged
IL size between thess two extremes. They were
uniform In two things. however, they were all
well dressed and enthusiastic for Harrison.