Daily Kennebec journal., 1896-07-13

the mercury never went above the SOa
and the day opened in the lower 7os The
exodus from the city had already begun
ana the comparative quiet of hotels and
poiitlcal centers was being restored. The
regular trains were crowded to their
utmost capacity. and most of the special
tralhs' which had brought marching
clups with their bands, had gone.
Early IN the morning the work of TAX
ing down the huge portraits. lithographs
ana banners bearing the portraits of
Bland. Boies. Matthews and others who
inquired in the race began. and with these
went the flags and bunting which has
added so much color to the scene. There
was a noticeable falling off in the
throngs moving toward the convention
nan early IN the day. for the great dra-
matte incident had passed
The main interest centered In tho ,,ico
lTesldential nomination. Until Friday
nlSht Mclean had held a commanding
lead, but Saturday morning there was
SAID to be some friction within the Ohio
ranks, and the southern leaders were
holding hurried counsels to determine
what should be done. 1t was felt that
the leaders would reach a conclusion
before the balloting began, that the
struggle would not be prolonged They
We're together until 9 O'Clock in the
morning going over the availability of
various candidates. The south had hoped
TO nave one of its sons on the ticket and
yet the southern men were the first to
concede that memories of the war were
sui TOO potent to warrant q southern
nomination for second place The names
or Daniel and Blackburn were still
heard however
The other candidates included Moi
of Ohio. Sibley of Pennsylvania. Williams
OF Massachusetts. and Messrs. Worth
lngton, Fithian and Williams of Illinois.
Governor Matthews of Indiana was also
enjoying another boom, this time for
second place and the political and geo.
eraphlcal advantage of giving Indiana
recognition on the ticket was industri-
ously urged
Mr. Bryan carefully refrained from an
active participation in the choice of his
associate on the ticket An effort was
made to induce him to attend the meet
ing Of leaders, who sought to secure an
agreement on the nomination, but he de-
ci1ned saying it was the duty of the Dem
ocrats to settle this question without the
advice which his influence might bring
his quarters at the Clifton House
rlValled the convention hall as the CEN
Ter OF attraction for great throngs. They
pesleged the entrances and corridors. and
kept up continuous demonstration, The
nominee proved himself truly Demo-
cratic. He showed himself frequently.
mad his doors open not only to the Lead
ers but to the crowd in general. and
talked without any restraint which po-
htical candidates usually impose. His
speeches to the plain people" from the
balcony of the hotel are taken to indi-
cate the general lines of the campaign.
The selection of the national commit
tee to conduct the campaign will depend
much upon the wishes of Mr.. Bryan. and
there has been scant opportunity for
consultation since the nomination was
made. While the name of Bland was
FOREMOST in the contest, Senator Jones
OF Arkansas was regarded as the most
hkely candidate for the chairmanship.
and he mayyet be chosen His general
snip was shown when he directed the
tariff contest in the senate on the pas
cage OF the WILSON German tariff bill.