The record-union., 1896-10-17
Delivers Twenty-Five Speeches to People
Who Greet Him in Michigan.
Receives Series of Flattering 0vations
at Lansing.
The Attendance Record for q Single
Day of the Democratic Nominee
Broken - Big Crowds at Nearly
Every Station at Which the Can.
didate Stopped.

LANSING (Mich.), Oct. 16-More
than 300 miles of travel by a rounda-
bout way from Grand Rapids brought
William J. Bryan to Lansing tonight
to receive a series Of ovations greater
than at any single place at which he
stopped during the day, with the ex-
ception of Jackson. His journey lay
through the thickly populated portion
OF Michigan, the richest agricultural
district, and when he said good night
to his fifth audience here the attend
ance record of his campaign for sin
gle day had been broken. He did not
quite reach his highest figure in the
number Of speeches delivered between
his rising and retiring hours, but came
within two of it.
On his trip from Chicago to Pittsburg
in August, en- route to attend the Mad
ison Square notification meeting in
New York, he spoke twenty seven
times. To-day he added twenty five
speeches to his list. They We're deliv-
cred at Muskegon, Holland, Fennville,
Bangor, Hartford, Watervliet, Ann Ar
Dor, Niles. Dowagiac, Decatur, Lawton.
Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Marshall, AL
hion, Jackson Ctwo), Rives Junction,
Leslie, Mason and Lansing (three).
Most Of these speeches were longer
than any of those he gave while max
ing the trip to the notification meeting.
At nearly every place where Mr..
Bryan's special train stopped there
We're big crowds. Excursionists came
by train to all the larger towns Farm
ing people drove into the speaking
places in all manner of vehicles. Many
people brought flowers to present to the
nominee and his wife. and they were
fairly overwhelmed with roses, cnrysan-
themums and other varieties.
At several points in the vicinity of
Kalamazoo, the great celery growing
region of the United States. gigantic
punches of the delicious sprout, sur
rounded by fragrant hothouse blooms,
were sent to them. Mckinley badges
were not nearly so numerous among
Mr.. Bryan's audiences as they wers
yesterday In fact, they were con-
spicuous only at few Of the stops.
The enthusiasm, too, was heartier than
then. At some places the people made
the widest effort to get near the candi-
date, in the hope of shaking hands with
him, and many suffered in the crushes.
TIE udy pdSSeu WllHOul
serious accident. Once only did the
candidate have a narrow escape from
physical injury. This was at Albion
where the low platform from which he
was speaking gave way with a crash,
sending the forty or fifty people on it
to the ground. Mr.. Bryan lighted on
his feet and resumed his remarks from
baggage truck.
Mr.. Bryan began the day at Muske-
gon in splendid voice, but it became
husky before he reached Lansing His
speeches, as a rule, contained nothing
new except that he took occasion to
criticise William D. Bynum and threw
a dart at Chairman Lauterbach of the
New York County Republican Commit
tee.
So dense were the people packed in
the public square and Liberty Square
in Jackson this evening that Mr.. Bryan
was unable to reach the stand from
which he was expected to speak. It
was just growing dark when his train
reached the Michigan Central depot
The streets were crowded with Jack
sonites and excursionists, and the four
white horses that drew the carriage in
which Mr.. and Mrs. Bryan were seated
were made to go through the jam only
with the greatest difficulty. The solid
mass of humanity at the public square
was impregnable against the sallies Of
the police. No entrance could be OBJ
tained for the candidates carriage. FL
nally the attempts to make a passage
way to the stand were abandoned and
Mr.. Bryan stood UP in the vehicle and
made short speech. Estimates of the
size of the audience differ widely, but
it was certainly the largest of any dur
ing the day. 1t comprised many work
ingmen just from their shops.
At Liberty Square the four whites
brought up against another mass of
humanity, and again it was impossible
for the candidate to reach The stand
and he was accordingly obliged to de-
liver his second speech from the car
riage
Leaving Jackson at $40 O'Clock, Mr.
Bryan addressed a fair-sized crowd at
Leslie, and a bigger one at Mason and
reached Lansing at o'clock Excur.
sions from Grand Rapids, Detroit, Bat
tie Creek, Jackson. Ann Arbor, Hills
dale and many other places came to
Lansing to-day to hear Mr.. Bryan, and
the capital city was full Of visitors when
he arrived at O'Clock. Flambeau
clubs on horses and afoot escorted him
from his train to Meiggs Hall, where
he addressed meeting exclusively for
women The streets were crowded, and
intense enthusiasm was displayed as
Mr. and Mrs. Bryan, escorted by three
ex-Mayors of Lansing, Messrs. Buck,
Warner and Johnson, proceeded to the
hall.
The second speech was delivered from
a canopied platform in Capitol Square
Ten thousand people were there, and
Mr.. Bryan's husky voice could not
reach very far, and large numbers
went away before he concluded, to get
places of vantage In front of the
Downey House. from the brilliantly IL
Illuminated balcony of which he ad-
dressed an audience equal in numbers
to that on fhp CapftOl grounds Ea,-,,,