The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-09-27
THREE CONVENTIONS HELD.
NOMINATED BY ALL THE SILL
YER FACTIONS.
HONEST MONEY MEN WALKED our
Palmer and Buckner Ticket Put IL
the Field to Add 10 the Con-
fusion.

HotdpIe poHtlcal contests IN this city,
none approached that which last night
! and today wrought up the entire COM
munity to the widest pitch of excite
ment, and never has there been such
an anomalous result as was shown at
the close of the. day, when three con-
ventions. held in different sections cf
the city, named the same man for the
head of the ticket, and that man
George Fred Williams, for governor.
| The factional fight in the ranks Of The
| racy can be traced back to the Chi
cago convention last July when, in the
| struggle between gold and silver
| George Fred Williams and few others
| boldly left the majority of the Massa-
| chusetts delegation and voted for the
free and unlimited coinage of silver.
| Since that time the rift in the lutte"
! has gradually become wider and bit
| terer, and charges of traitors" and
would be dictaters'' were banded
! about freely.
The climax was reached last even
! ing, when, in the big Bryan rally n
| Music hall, Mr.. Williams accused the
! leaders with wanting to control the
| state convention, and requested all
| those who were in favor of his nomi-
nation to stay all night in their seats,
| so that no move might be made which
would deprive them of completing the
programme which had been marked
out by the silver leaders. Six hundred
of his followers obeyed to the letter,
and throughout the long night the
vigil was kept. Every kind of ingenu-
ity was tried to make the men vacate
| the hall. The police were called upon
to clear the hall, but the young law
yers in the silver element made that
move unsuccessful, and as a result, the
$3.50 this afternoon.
Bright and early today thousands of
men, scores of whom were delegates
from out of town, assembled around
| Music hall, expecting the doors to be
opened at any moment that a COM
promise might ensue. Overtures were
| made by the members of the state CEN
tral committee and they were rejected
4 by the men in possession CT the hall,
who were fearful of treachery The
| silver men on the outside then OF ganized
| in Hamilton Place, in response to the
| suggestion of Hon. Timothy W. Coax
ey the locked in leader of the silver men
| and whatever business was transacted
In the hall was indorsed by the outside
meeting.
The state committee then went to
Faneuil hall. where a convention was
| held and the national candidates and
the Chicago platform were indorsad and
Hon George Fred Williams was nonli-
mated for gubernatorial honors. This
action was protested by number Of
gold standard Democrats, who With
drew in body and placed a ticket
favorable to Palmer and Buckner in
the field on nomination papers.
In Wesleyan hall, the state convention
of the Populist party was held and i'm
mediately they heard that Williams had
been nominated as the free silver can
didate for governor, they followed suit
and placed him at the head of their
ticket
After the adjournment of the Demo-
cratic state conventions, the gold stand
ard wing of the party decided to place
in the field, on nomination papers, a
ticket favorable to the nominee and
platform of the convention held in
Indianapolis early this month This
ticket as filed by the National Demo-
cratic state committee of Massachu-
setts. includes presidential electors and
state officers, the latter being: Cover
nor, Frederick O. Prince; lieutenant
governor James e. Mcconnell: secre-
tary, Waldo Lincoln; treasurer Horace
P Toby; auditor. Charles c. Spellman
attorney general, Harry F Hurlburt
Not for 1S years, at least, if ever in
the history of the democratic party
III Massachusetts, has the day of a
state convention dawned with so manv
sensational preliminaries to the formal
organization of the assembly of dele
gates and SO much uncertainty as to
the developments of the convention.
AS result of the refusal of the state
committee, which is controlled by the
! gold standard men, to admit delegates
to the convention hall by credentials
alone, and not by ticket. and the SEN
sational speech of George Fred VIII
liams. the silver leader and candidate
for the nomination for governor day
light found over 500 silver democrats
entrenched in Music hall, where the con-
vention was to meet at II o'clock, de-
/ termlned to remain until the meeting
/ adjourned in spite of all opposition,
while the state committee and the gold
men were in conference at the Quincy
house trying to formulate plan to
get the belligerents out of the hall
When the silver men anounced last
night that they intended to ..emain in
the hall until the convention was
over. large force of police began to
form on one side of the hall and on
the streets near by, and it was ru-
mored that the delegates would be
OJCSAOO w the OIliCSIS. DQl representa-
tives of the silver men conferred with
Gen. Martins board of police and in
spite of the effort of the gold men to
secure an order for the election of
the. opposition delegates the blue-coats
were instructed to withdraw, and the
waiting silver men proceeded to kill
time by speechmaking, card PLAYING
and singing. Then the manager of the
building requested them to disperse.
and when they refused, policemen were
stationed at the doors under orders to
allow any one who wished to go out.
but not to permit any to return.
Caterers bearing a lunch ordered by
the silver cohorts were refused ad-
mission, and then the tired and hungry
politicians began to exercise their in
genuity in an effort to smuggle re-
freshments into the building.
| The most tragic and serious incident
Of the night resulted from those per-
sistent attempts to secure supplies,
James Hughes, a delegate from Somer-
vile, losing his life in an effort to get
out Of the hall by fire escape in the
rear. Hughes was preparing to jump
to the ground, fifteen feet below, when
his foot slipped. and, in trying to save
himself, he seized wire dangling near.
The wire was a live one, and, with an
agoniZed cry, Hughes fell senseless on
the fire escape and then tumbled TO the
| ground. where he died before any one
could reach him.
The news of the accident reached the