Middletown transcript., 1896-08-29

E campaign, an
- !: =: :: !: :: : e: ::
| date, is !. th
/ woman. He
| FIRST act Of domination over such poll
ticians as Jones, of Arkansas, German
of Maryland. and the others VIII
wished to have the headquarters O
the Executive Committee at Washing
ton was her successful effort to hav
them located in Chicago. Since thel
her voice has been the most infiuentia
of any in the Popoclatic counsels-no
excepting the voice of her husband.
What will be the next and how fa
she will succeed in ruling the roos
through the remainder of the campaign
surely will be of general interest
greater possibly than the speeches o.
the Boy Orator himself. Perhaps hi,
present speaking tour in New Yorh
State, in spite of his announcement
that he had done speaking in the Eas,
for the present, is due to her influence
Personally Mrs. Bryan is of agree.
able though not at all of striking
appearance. Her face is pale, but moi
sallow. Her eyes are gray and look
straight ahead. Her expression il
| serene, with hint of unbounded am.
bition, and when she smiles her coun-
tenance lights up wonderfully. She
would be set down by the most casual
observer as a decidedly clever woman.
In size she is below the medium, and
her figure is slight. Her movements
are graceful. She has what is termed
repose of manner, and her self-posses-
ion under all conditions is one of her
most notable characteristics.
SHE rs A NEW WOMAN.
This description may not read like
that of ''new woman,n but Mrs.
Bryan is "new woman" in the gener-
ally understood sense of the term.
Surely a woman cannot study law
without being entitled to be called
"new." Her newness has never led
her to adopt any conspicuous style of
dress reform, but it has carried with it
an apparent dislike for the styles of
dress that are affected by women sin
society,"" A woman who has known
her for years declares that Mrs. Bryan
has never owned or wore a low-cut
gown, and her friend adds that she
does not believe Mrs. Bryan has ever
even INDUCED in the vanity of dress
with silk Innings.
1t should not be understood that
because Mrs. Bryan is ''new womann
she is deficient in devotion to her
children or her husband, for she loves
them dearly, according to her acquaint-
ances, and is model housekeeper.
But, as it is hardly necessary to state,
her devotion to her children is not of
that absorbing nature that is developed
in some mothers. Her devotion to her
husband is, in fact, the keynote of her
entire life, but it is not simply devotion
to William Jennings Bryan as man.
She is most devoted, perhaps, to Will
liam Jennings Bryan, the public man,
and her whole soul is absorbed in the
des ire that he shall become paramount
figure in American politics. Before
she had met Mr.. Bryan she must have
had ambitions for herself, since she
was carefully educated, apparently
with view to career of her own.
But since her marriage she has enlisted
every faculty of her own in the en-
deavor to push him into prominence,
and to keep him there.
HELPS HIM IN HIS SPEECHES..
1t is well understood by her friends,
to whom she has talked freely about it,
that she has been of the greatest assist
ance to the Boy Orator in preparing his
speeches. She devoted hours of the
hardest kind of work to his tariff
speech in the House of Representatives
that first attracted national attention
to him. By the time it was finished
she knew every line and every syllable
Of it by heart. By what was for him
a lucky chance Bryan was requested a
short time before he was to deliver his
tariff speech to pronounce eulogy
upon a fellow member of the House,
Mrs. Bryan was in the gallery during
the delivery Of this eulogy, which, to
the husband on the floor and the wife
who was listening to him was virtually
rehearsal Of the tariff speech. She
was there for the purpose of studying
the effect of his voice in the House,
and by prearranged signals she informed
him all through the speech whenever
he was speaking too loud and whenever
he allowed his voice to fall below the
proper pitch and volume. So much did
Bryan profit by his wife's signals on
that day and BY her comment afterward
that when the time came for him to
deliver the tariff speech she had to |
give him few or no signals at all,
although she was in the gallery all the
time and was prepared to direct him
as before.
When the, speech was finished she
felt even better satisfied than the Boy |
Orator himself, and she declared to her |
friends that she felt like taking of her |
bat and throwing it up into The air for |
pure joy. " is understood that she |
worked rs hard as he did. too, on both |
bis convention aud his New York |
speecllea
- - - 4