The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-09-23
The Biggest Meeting Yesterday Outside
of Terre Haute Had Less Than
800 People Present.
FIASCO IN THIS CITY
Jason Brown and John Lamb Re-
fuse to Talk to Only 100.
Only Five Besides the Band i'm the Hall
at Cambridge City-At KokOmO
They DenOunce Voorhees,.

The Democratic party in Indiana re-
ceived a shifting rebuke from river to lake
yesterday. The day had been extensively
advertised all over the State as Demo
cratic day" and the State committee of
the party spent hundreds of dollars in
booming the meetings which were TO be
held in all of the large cities. Never. per-
haps, in the history of a political party in
any State was there such an ignominious
collapse. 1t was truly pitiful to see one of
the great political parties of the State so
completely turned down by the people.
There was not the semblance of a respect
ably sized audience anywhere except at
Terre Haute, and in many instances the
speakers refused to leave their hotels for
the halls where they were billed to speak
because the crowd was so slim.
Congressman Jason b. Brown and John
E. Lamb, of Terre Haute, whom the COM
mittee relies on as two of its strongest
attractions in a campaign way, came to
Indianapolis to address a meeting to be
held at Masonic Hall. Indianapolis and
Terre Haute were to have the big meetings
of the day. The leasing of Tomlinson Hall
was first contemplated by the county COM
mittee, to which body the local arrange
ments were delegated, but the committee
afterwards wisely concluded that the
vacuum in that hall would be too appall-
ing, even in so disastrous a Democratic
year. Masonic Hall, with a seating ca
pacity only in the hundreds. was engaged
and a brass band was hired to stimulate
whatever enthusiasm could be drawn on
from the old ~standbys. The audience was
largely confined to the band and Chairman
Hoffman, of the county committee up to
7:30 O'Clock, but by S o'clock a hundred or
more people, certainly not more than 150,
were scattered about the hall.
Lamb and Brown were over at the Grand
Hotel waiting till the managers saw what
sized crowd was gathering. So great was
the fzzle that it was deemed bad policy to
unveil the statesmen before such a mere
handful. Chairman Hoffman pranced
about very nervously for awhile, held whis-
pered conferences with his l~ieutenants, and
then solemnly announced that, owing to a
mistake on the part of the State commit
tee, Messrs. Lamb and Brown had failed
TO make connections, or something of that
sort; The register at the Grand Hotel
bluShed-if registers blush. The crowd was
not one-fourth as large as the crowd at
any of the North Side Republican ward
meetings on Friday. After a painful wait,
Mr.. Hoffman announced that Mr.. Ter
hume, o. this city, would talk on the Dem
ocratic tariff bill, and other topics dear to
few hearts. Mr.. Terhune saw that his re-
marks were having about as much effect
as if they were hurled against a stone wall,
so he withdrew after a few minutes. At
$50 O'Clock the band was informed that il
had furnished sufficient music, and it with
drew. Before 8 o'clock the lights were out
in the hall. So dismal a failure was dis
couraging even to the chairman, who could
not conceal his vexation.
Messrs. Lamb and Brown, who failed to
make connections" remained about the
Grand Hotel during the evening. and left
the city before midnight.
The story from Cambridge City is even
more pathetic. Francis NJ. Griffith. of We
way, the Democratic candidate for Attor-
ney-general, had an experience not unlike
that of Messrs. Brown and Lamb, only
more so. He was billed for a great speech
at Cambridge City, as the dispatches else
where in the Journal show. A brass band
was employed to help him out, but even
sweet music could not draw the people into
the hah. just five Democrats followed the
band and the local committee in the hall
that was appointed to receive Mr.. Griffith.
Griffith was given a Tip" as 10 the size Of
the audience and declined to divide his elo-
queDce into five parts. The chairman Of
dianapolis, that the speaker of the evening
had failed to arrive. He said that Mr.. Grit
fifth missed his train. Mr.. Griffith's name,
however, was on a Cambridge City hotel
register and it was learned he quietly
slipped out of town by the next train and
spent the night here in Indianapolis.
In fact, a Journal reporter found him at
the Grand Hotel last night on his arrival
from Cambridge City. 81 did not talk there
tonight he said, but spoke at Green's
burg yesterday afternoon. The meeting at
Cambridge City was not of a demonstrative
nature, as l understand. / went over as
/ understood a committee was to be organ
lied"