St. Paul daily globe., 1896-04-28
HE SAYS ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE
SIT. LOUIS CONVENTION PRO-
GRESS WELL.
THERE WILL BE A CRUSH
SUCH AS HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN
AT ANY GATHERING BE-
FORE.
PLANS OF THE BIG BUILDING.
Seats So Arranged That Every Spec
tatOr Can Take in the Whole
Menagerie.

L ne MlHuedpOIllan most prominently
in the eye of the public at this time
is Timothy E. Byrnes, sergeant-at-
arms of the Republican national con-
vention to be held in st. Louis in
! June. Minnesota Republicans without
exception were glad to read the an
nouncement of Mr.. Byrnes' appoint
ment to that place several months ago,
because it was assumed that the SER
| geant-at-a1ms would look after the
boys from Minnesota. So far as his
| wishes are concerned it is probable
that they did not reckon without their
host, but from present indications it
/ is probable that a large number of
the people now planning to see the
next Republican president nominated
will be disappointed. 1t is expected
by the people of ST. Louis that at
! least 100000 strangers will be in the
city during the convention. The con-
vention will seat 15,601 persons besides
| the ushers, sergeantS-at-arms and mes
sengers, making, perhaps, 10000 in all.
| Counting every session as a single tick
ct, three sessions day for days, there
will be about 234,0OO tickets for all the
people, including the 1O0,0 900 odd people
| OF st. Louis who will want to see a
president nominated.
This was the problem which Mr..
Byrnes was pondering all the way
back from st. Louis on Sunday. He
mad gone to the convention city on
wednesday to complete the prelimi-
| nary arrangements for the great gath
er1ng, and started back Sunday even
ing, arriving in Minneapolis yester-
day morning. A previous engagement
called him at once to Lake Mime
tonka, and a reporter found Mr..
Byrnes at his home in Kenwood last
| evening. He had just unrolled a large
bundle of blue-prints and laid them
| aside, and was in the midst Of a
stack Of letters from big guns and
| politicians Of all calibers. How many
of these were applications for seats
can only be guessed. Mr. Byrnes ad-
mits that he never had so large a
mail, even when he was appointment
clerk Of the treasury department at
Washington under Secretary Window.
Discussing the progress Of the work
at ST. Louis, Mr.. Byrnes said: ''St
Louis IS ready to entertain every man
and woman desiring to see the ma
tional convention. The city is three
times as large as Minneapolis and
quite as alert to the Importance of
making a good showing as we were
four years ago. They have a bureau
Of convention information which is
prepared to find accommodations for
all applicants. They have a large
amount of hotel accommodation, and
the people will entertain guests to a
large extent. The hotel rates will
be as reasonable as might be expected
under the same conditions in any city,
and the people who usually complain
because they cannot find decent ac-
commodations will have only them
selves to blame if they are so unlucky
| as to fare badly, for If they will speak
in time they will get whatever they
want.
'The building is now we'll under way. Fully
500 carpenters are busy mailing and spiking,
and they are about ready to put on the roof.
The building is of wood, and will be covered
with talc making 1t look like stone, after the
fashion of the worlds fair buildings. The con-
tractor says it will be ready in plenty of time,
and I think he is entirely safe in his promises.
''In Its interior construction the convention
hall is very similar to the exposition hall, as
1t was during the national convention here.
The delegates occupy a square space necessary
for 918 seats in the center On the right and
on the left are two spaces half the size Of the
center square, which are for the alternates.
| The alternates seats face toward the dele
| gates, so as to reduce the necessity of craning
their necks as much as possible. The chair
mans platform is in front of the middle of the
delegates seats and on both sides of the chair
man and behind him the accommodations
for the press. There will be seats and places
to write for 41S newspaper correspondents
These places will be reserved for newspaper
men actually engaged in sending out tele-
graphic reports Of the convention. Each paper
will be provided with a pneumatic tube to
carry the copy down to telegraph operator
and every facility for newspaper work will be
given that can be devised. Already number
of applications for seats on the press tables
have been received, some from country weekly
editors who have been under the impression
that these accommodations were as the usual
accommodations for the profession. The en-
tire press Of the United States is apportioned
500 tickets, this including the correspondents,
editors and all from all over. 1t must be seen
at once that some of the boys will be turned
| down, simply because there is not room
enough for all.
Behind the press seats are the seats for
the distinguished guests, for whom the sub
committee has set aside 500 seats. The great
men. of the party will be there and the strug-
spectators, the fellows who can applaud and
howl but cannot vote in the convention, are
on the two sides remaining on the ground
| floor, that is to the right and left, behind the
alternates and behind the delegates. Then
there is a gallery running around the hail.
/ with only a few posts in the way. to seat the
| remainder of the spectators. The seating
! capacity of the Minneapolis convention was
| II 600; the st. Louis convention will seat
| 15,601. Every seat will be so arranged that
| the person in any seat can see all the dele
! gates and the chairman of the convention
| Whether they will hear the speakers depends
upon how loud some of those fellows will
| talk.
''The hall is ideal In at least one respect
1t has plenty of entrances, and each section
| has its own entrance. The delegates will
all come in at one door, the alternates have
| two doors, being on either one or the other
| side of the delegates; the press has a sepa-
| rate entrance, and every division of the great
! building has a separate door. In the Min
neapolis convention hundreds of men got in
without tickets and were never put out The
! subcommittee has planned it so that no man
| can get into the. convention hall without a
! ticket, and have already made arrangements
| to carry out this rule. Something like this
was absolutely essential in view of the large
crowd which will try by every hook and crook
| to get past the doorkeepers.
est. Louis will get out of the seats already
apportioned 500, and 500 will go to the old
| soldiers; each delegate gets two tickets be-
sides his own, and each alternate gets only
his own ticket. The members of the national
committee get twenty-five each, and so the
| thing goes on until there are hundreds who
| will get left. shall begin the work of as
| signing seats and places in the convention at
| once, as I have all the blue prints with me.
| showing where to put every person. The de-
! sign of the tickets has been engraved in st,