Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1892-10-19
HOW THEY LISTEN TO GLADSTONE.
Songs and whistling Untn the Arrival Of
the q. q. NJ.

At Z O'Clock the early corners at
Memorial Hall never doubted that they
would be first in the field, says re-
porter for the Pal Mall Gdzette, but
they were disappointed. The hall was
nearly full.
An enterprising advertiser had pro-
vided Japanese fans by the thousand.
They iluttered. like great butterflies,
above the multitude, and by 7:15 the
beauty of the majority was gone. They
had gone to wreck and ruin in the
hands of the Liberal and Radical
Union. Only the ladies, most of whom
had seats just behind the reporters
the welcome fans To the very end. At
7:45 our good old friend the proverbial
pin could not have dropped. 1t was
swelteringly hot; and the first hearty
cheer OF the evening was for the bold
man who took out II window and let
in constant draught of air and
square of the clear glowing light of
eventid'. There was no need of music
and songs; the spirits of the waiting
crowd were those of schoolboys on u
holiday.
Then suddenly somebody discovered
that the bamboo handles of the fans
were hollow, and in n moment the
sound of innumerabe improvised
flutes, somewhat hoarse, it must be
confessed, sounded, amid shouts of
laughter, through the hot hall. After
that the concert began. "'rhe Men of
Harlech" were drowned in shouts of
"Gangway! Clear the gangway!"
"Auld Lang Syne' followed by fan
flutes and beaten time to by anything
that came handy. That was at 8
o'clock.
Then followed the general pot
pourri, the platform filled, the applaud
ing began. AT $3.50 every platform
seat was occupied, only the armchair
in the center still showed the white
label Reserved" and the chair imme-
diately behind the reading desk. But
not for long. There came the distant
roar which frequenters of Gladstone
meetings" know full well; it grew
louder and louder, the platform took
it up, and then the hall, and in mo-
ment there was a great vibrating noise
of some thousands of wildly enthusias-
tic human voices. Through it as it
swelled and swelled Mr.. Gladstone, ac-
companied by Mrs. Gladstone, walked
down the platform, pale, thoughtful.
and with his sparse locks as white as
the flower in his buttonhole or as the
! dewy bouquet some one had quietly
laid down beside his desk.
Everybody likes to hear Mr.. Causton,
but on occasions such as yesterdays
! meeting many fervent prayers are
audibly uttered, and no doubt many
more remain unexpressed, that the
Chairman might be very brief. The
Chairman fully grasped the situation.
| and made his terse and pointed re-
marks as brief rs possible, ending very
happily, referring to Mr.. Gladstone and
quoting the concluding lines of Words
worth's Happy Warrior:
| This is the happy warrior; this is,he
| That every man-atarms would wish to be.
The "happy warrior" rose slowly,
amid burst of tumultuous applause,
to deliver an electioneering address
which lasted nearly an hour and half.
There was deep silence from first to
last, only broken by occasional cheers;
every face on the crowded platform
was turned in the direction of the
chair, all eyes in the audience were
fixed on the figure that rose above the
floral decorations along the platform.
1t was on the whole quiet speech, but
as toward the end Mr.. Gladstone al
luded to "Lord Salisbury's political in
cendiarism" with regard to Ulster, his
voice and gestures grew impassioned
with Indignation. And once again it
rose when, in a fine peroration, he
closed his speech.