Birmingham state herald., 1896-09-02
TEN ACRES OF HUMANITY Perhaps 50,O00 People Heard MT. Bryan at Columbus. SPEECH IN FOUR SEDIMENTS He Had to Turn to All Sides of the Platform. The Most Remarkable Demonstra-
 ton of All.

ing the past week with remarkabl dem
 onstrations In his honor, William J. Bry-
 an never addressed an audience so large and so enthusiastic as that which gath cred In the state house grounds tonight. People who have witnessed the inaugu- rations of Ohio's governors in recent years say that the crowds on those occa- sons never numbered more than 30,000, but tonight everybody was saying that the inaugural assemblage did not com pare in point of numbers with the mag
 n'ficent congregation that came to hear the young democratic candidate on the issues of the campaign
 Mr. Bryan was obliged to divide his speech into four segments, one delivered from each side of the canopied grand stand that had been erected for the oc- cas.on. Fifty thousand is a conservative estimate of those who were present, among them being 2000 miners who came from the Hooking valley. The railroad companies gave unusually low rates and thousands of people took advantage of them.
 MT and Mrs. Bryan reached Columbus over the Big Four at 3:30 o'clock this afternoon in a special car chartered by | the members of the Columbus reception committee, who accompanied them from Cleveland. The candidate was cheered
 
 by thousands more along the mile or more of the streets through which he was escorted.
 There was a tremendous jam at the | Chittendon hotel, where apartments had been secured for MT. and Mrs. Bryan, | but a way was forced through the wildly 1 excited and enthusiastic gathering. Prior to tonights demonstration in front of the state house there was an- l other parade in which, of course, MT. | Bryan was the central figure, seated in 1 a carriage drawn by four white horses. By good police arrangements a way | was kept clera from the outskirts of the park to the stand in front of the capitol | building, and through this MT. and Mrs. l Bryan and those accompanying them | were enabled to reach the assigned posi- 1 tions without difficulty.
 The stand was spacious and accommo- | dated a number of prominent democrats l and their wives and brass band. Near | ly every person in that stupendous au- l dience, packed over ten acres of ground, | could see the democratic candidate as he | mounted the steps of the rostrum and | stood before them. And then the cheer l ing began.
 l Bryan, Bryan, Bryan" was the cry, 1 and the cheering rose in volume until it 1 reached the limit of enthusiastic potency. l James Ross, chairman of the Franklin county democratic committee attempt l ed to call the assemblage to order in his 1 capacity as tempororay chairman. But 1 the buzz of voices was so great in volume that it drowned his words, and nobody l knew what he was saying until Allen W. l Thurman, the son of "the old Roman" l stepped forward and acknowledged his 1 introduction by MT. Ross. MT. Thurman | did not lose words. He knew what the 1 people wanted, and in few sentences l presented MT. Bryan. The cheering was 1 more intense than it had been at Mr. Bry- 1 ne frCt md pnI l minutes before it ceased. So great was | the confusion caused by those who could | not hear him that the first words of the l orator were lost to all but those near him,
 and he was obliged to stop until quiet 1 could be secured. But this was not ac- l complished until MT. Bryan announced 1 that he would speak on all sides of the platform. The assembled thousands | gave shout of qualification at this, and l tried to keep as quiet as their enthus- asm would allow for the rest of the speech.
 Mr. Bryan spoke as follows:
 Gentlemen and Ladies: This is the largest audience to which I ever tried to speak. l have had occasions to speak where the audience filled the house, but
 l never had occasion to talk where the audience filled all outdoors. Daughter ) If you all vote as you are now shouting l (voices, i've will), do not see how there can be any question about the triumph of free silver in the state. (Cheers) We have entered on campaign which means much to the American people. If our op- ponents speak truly when they discover what will, in their judgment, be the effect of free coinage, then the success of the Chicago ticket would surely be a ca lamity to the country. If on the other hand we speak the truth when we de- scribe to you the effects of a gold stand ard, then the maintenance of a gold l standard until foreign nations come to our relief Is an evil which cannot be con- | templated by those who love their coun- | try. We have begun an urceasing war | fare against the gold standard The re- publican party, without declaring that 1 the gold standard Is good thing, has = | clared that the gold standard must be | maintained. I call your attention to the I fact that no party in the history of this country has ever in national convention | commended the gold standard. It's ef- | fleets are so bad that no party has dared | to uphold it.
 At this point.M Bryan who had been facing west as he spoke, now turned to | the south front of the platform and ad- dressed the people on that side, sum- marking his previous remarks and am- plfying them. He then went to the | north side of the platform and repeated the process, and again to the east side. After short time he excused himself and returned to the side where he began, saying: T don't know whether you have been able to hear anything I have been saying on the other. (Criss of NOD We'll then, I will talk a while to you, and while to these and while to those over there, and then you can get together after I am gone and fasten the stories together" Cheers and cries of
 Continue, you are all righttp
 MT. Bryan went twice around the plat form in the manner described before he
 concluded his speech. keeping his four
 audiences amused and interested
 throughout.
 John J. Lenz, democratic candidate for
 congress, followed Mr. Bryan, and when
 he had concluded the candidate and his
 wife went to their hotel.
 They will leave for Toledo at 7:15 to-
 morrow morning,