The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-26
CONVENTIONS DEADLY PERIL
4 Calamity at st. Louis Narro,
Averted.
From the New York Tribune

Averted.
From the New York Tribune
St. Louis. July S.-The middle-of-,,,
road people have been in a tar-s,,-.
''scrappy' mood all day over the fsiI,,-.
10 light the convention hall last nieb.
All sorts of conjectures are rife. and =
IL quite natural with a party in viii
every fellow is a leader and violent N.
ments predominant the worst Dossfl--
construction is placed upon the incijsr.
1t Is clear TO the middle readers thar 49,
shutting off of lights was a deem a-,
damnable scheme on the part of the r..
ante element to prevent big anti-Rr,.'.
demonstration, which, rumor had it N
the afternoon, was in course Of gesta-fo.
at the Laclede headquarters. A Texss
delegate of much ferocity Of mien said TO-
day:
Foul work has been done. and as SIN.
as GOD made little apples some one b,s
got to answer for it,"
Other expressions no less violent w..
heard constantly among the soutberpsrs
They We're all wrought up over If art
there has been a steady disposition in tba.-
camp to wipe up the earth with somebo5,.
The thirst parlors" downstairs were ,bs
theater of a terrible sight of "chevyi,.,
the rag" between invitations last nisht
and the darkness episode has had a 80
Geai 10 DO toward intensifying the uaIe
Ieeling between the factions. There n~9H-
aoly isn't single member of the vas+
shlrt-sleeVe cOnVocation who knows tbs
truth of the light matter. 1t is. in fart
being Kept dark secret by those Wb5
know. Not line has appeared in the lo.si
press pointing to the real cause ana 81
Is quite tribute to the care with Which
the matter has been guarded, for ST. Iouis
newspaper men are famous for their
brightness and vigilance 1t not an MI
unlikely that this episode not be ing ilr,ier
stood by either faction, may lead 10 re-
suits not contemplated in the origin9l
schemes OF procedure. The Middle Readers
are madder than hornets. and scn1ehrd,
must suffer Before the facts aet bae, -
81. Louis the results of precipitate angar
Will probably have been realized.
Inc simple truth of the matter is this:
:: Anthony German, the noted WorId's
talf decorator, who supplied and own tba
bunting and other decorative devices NJ
the Auditorium, went to the han last
night at 7:4O O'Clock and found the place
an darkness. He ascertained that tina
wires and lamps had not been inspected
since before the republican convention
hVe weeks ago, and that there were many
elements of danger which might devotion
INTO calamity had the electric current
been turned on. Colonel German and mis-
electricians found, on a hasty survey Of
the situation, that a number of boards
and pieces of cloth had fallen or had been
careIessly placed in contact with wires
since the adjournment of the republican
convention, and that there We're four
loose-end wires dangling in dangerous
proximity to the south wing galleries
these wires having been left in that posi-
ton by workmen Of the Missouri Electric
Company on the removal of two large
ere lamps which were needed somewhere
else in the companys service. Two
crossed wires were also found and Colonel
German said to-day to Tribune repre-
sentative that had the current been
switched on, as it might have been by the
mere turning of akey, such a calamity
would have resulted as would have pale1
the late tornado into insignificance from
the standpoint of the loss of human life.
There are under the floors of the audtto-
rum more than ZOO W-reS-telegraph, tel
ephone and electric Hght-which would all
have been connected with the powerful
deadly current from the Missouri Electric
Companys generating plant by means OF
TWO toul wires had the switch been turned
on. The hall was already filled with dele
gates and large number of spectators
VINO had come to witness the expected an
ti-Bryan demonstration. Had the key been
turned on and the current admitted, the
building, which is the merest Undertook
OF white and yellow pine would have been
hred in half dozen places instantly, and
before the thousands in the building could
nave escaped, the great structure would
have been a mass of flames. The result
can be pictured with but slight imagina-
tive effort. 1t would probably have meant
500 TO 1000 dead popuLsts, newspaper cor
respondents, tlegeraphers and the numer-
Gus other classes who go to make up
great national convention of this kind.
There had just been one of the characters
tic western storms. Rain had fallen in tor
rents and everything was damp inside OK
the building. The conditions We're propl-
tious and, indeed, ideal for electrctyS
deadly play. Had the key been turned on,
calamity would have followed. The con-
Quits to the building were ready to DO
tapped, with their great voltage from high
powered generators.
Col German at once saw the peril OK
the convention, and on his own individual
authority he shut off the current so that
1t could not be turned on with the light
ing key. Then he left the room in when
the connection was broken and locked
The door behind him. He surveyed lho
hoWllng mob from the north stairway
ana listened with amused contempt 10
tne curses that Were being heaped upon
the head Of the unknown miscreant that
mad deprived them of light. The bright
Mary laEder-Californian mad done the uh-
washed, bowling multitude a greater ser"
wee than they knew. He never said a
word, but looked on and smiled with fold
ed arms. The decorations of the hall are
worth something like 5000, and there was
no insurance on them. Therefore, Col.
Gorman had slight financial interest N
preventing what must have been one u
the CaldmitipS of the