The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1889-08-30
CONVENTION cuLL1NGs,

Inc strain ON the leaders was ter.
rifle. Some of them wo. ked incess;ant.
ly for forty.ciglt hours without
sleep. The corridors and Offices of
the Columbia held a surging crowd all
Tuesday. Wednesday, Thursday and
Friday from daylight to dark and then
under the electric light continued the
fray. hugging caclI other by twos and
thrces and fours, suddenly separating
to form othcranl like groups. Every.
body talked in whisper or in under.
tones. Restless movement. Anxious
faces. lntroductiuns and friendly
greetings. Considerable drinking but
nobody drunk. What about the
new combination!' "AIillcr's friends
caucus i'll Odd Fellows Hall at 7:3O."
"Whcrc's Jud I.aAIoure!' "Those
lembina fellows are solid for Spen-
Ger. THAT'S Alex. Mckenzie. :"
''Say ism t IIaggert q WORKER Thus
go remarks as one passes through the
moving mass. y feeling of suppress.
ell excitement like the electricity which
charges the cyclone cloud seemed to
ill the very air. The work was done
in the spacious hotel. and when things
got fixed the delegates gathered ut the
hall to ratify the fixing, and then ad.
jomrncd to the hotel to Fix up some
more. The convention was held in
the armory of Co. Il, n. q. which was
originally Il rink somewhat larger
than the Neclc rink. Some colored
calico WAS hung around for decoration.
Ventilation poor. 1t was crowded full
the first day but not so much SO after
wards. Lots of coats off, literally us
we'll us IiglTativcly, so hot. Jno. Coch.
rane. of Grand Forks was temporary
chairman and made a good one though
he would say The court rules the gen-
tleman out of order sometimes. Nc
Cumher, of Ricllland and Ball. of
Fargo. led their respective forces in
the parliamentary fight OH the floor
-Plummer spoke now and then and
always said something, sometimes
wisdom sometimes wit. but always
interesting and amusing to the crowd.
The gentleman from some.
where, that nominated Fancher
for Lieut.. Governor remarked that
many of the candidates had been born
farmers etc, but that MIR. F.was born
just as other men are" and the conven.
ton smiled SO loud and long that the
gentleman gotluite embarrassed before
he could get to work again. Mr.. Fan.
chcr's iame was withdrawn because
lie did not lave the support of his
home county. VIII" nominated Alfred
Dickey instead. Contrary to tho usual,
the first actual test vote was on per.
manent instead Of temporary chair.
man. Result. 1870 to l3l; the teller
made Il miscount and the chair partial
ly announced the vote "l26 for i'm.
stantly a hundred men were OIL their
feet yelling MIR. Chairman and the
balance howlctl-"WroDg" Fraud"
Mistake '-Mr. Cocllrane ruled that
he would recognize nobody until the
vote was properly counted and lie
didn't. Each crowd took turns cheer
ing as they thought they had won. 1t
was the acme of excitmcnt. just as
soon as II vote decided who was cleo.
ted, the other side moved to make it
unanimous, and started in for the next
fight. Fargo people didn't seem to
be much in tercstcd in the convention,
not IL drum, not Il flag. not Il decoration
except an attempt in the hall-Per-
liaps it was under stood that delegates
would bring their own music and band
wagon.