Omaha daily bee., 1896-07-08
VERY NEARLY HAVE A RIOT
Pompous Senators Bufeted in the Squeest
to Get Into the Hall.
GREAT CRUSH At The BIG CONVENTION
Poor Arrangements by Democratic OF.
GcinIs Create Endless Trouble and
Confusion Mt the Entrance
to the Coliseum.


where the Roman glsdiators contended, for
this is battle royal, which promises to
add a memorable chapter TO American po-
litcal history.
The day opened clear and cool, the wind
had veered 10 the north and came with
freshness which covered the lake with
white caps and sent the spray dashing over
the breakwats- u is a day when small
craft hug the shore and this means comfort
for the Coliseum. The scene Of action
took sudden shift during the morning.
Early in the day the downtown centers
had a repetition Of the excitement and con-
fusion marking the last few days. The
marching clubs with their bands and
shouters were making a last convulsiye
demonstration before attention was directed
to the serious work within the convention
hall BY O'Clock the crowds were be
ginning to converge at the depots and by
! 10 o'clock they were in full motion, taking
/ the suburban trains of the Illinois Central
and l." cars, etc. The ride by rail IS
/ but twelve minutes from the heart Of the
/ city, along a stretch OF lake front. II Is
/ the same complete system which accom-
plished the feat Of carrying 10000 people
! safely TO the Worlds fair on Chicago day,
/ so that il is not oygTtaxed today in handling
/ the 1000 who entered the hall and the
overflow thousands without.
The scene in front OF the convention hall
was one of great animation. steddY
( stream of trains emptied their crowds lu'o
/ the narrow street which leads into the hau
| II was not an inviting approach, as the
street is lined with small stores and over
! head the tracks Of the elevated road make
I a roof over half the street Through this
narrow thoroughfare The crowd pushed and
/ crowded as dense in the middle Of the street
| as on the sidewalks, ana crowded for the
| main entrance. The clubs and shouteis
with their bands came early, and with
| them mingled swarm of fakiTs shouting
their badges and buttons over an @ @lnis
rose din and confusion not unlike Lew
| WallaCcs picture Of the market place IL
/ Jerusalem.
LARGEST HALL IN THE WORLD.
There was but little exterior ad9JEmen'
to the convention building Bunting Was
iraped above the lobby entrance RnG aGgs
we're flying al all available points. but
! the structure is so vast as TO defy elaborate
| adUrnment. 1t covers tiye and oue-haIf
acres and is said 10 be the largest perma-
! nent amusement and exhibition building IN
the world This being its first use for
convention purposes, it was scanned crit
| cally by the delegates and the verdict was
| upfve rsally favorable 10 the energy of John
| Dickinson, who had brought II into tN-
istence Instead of the rough board wig
j wan which greeted them four years ago
| the delegates found q substantial building
| of graceful proportions built of milwaukee,
buff brick, with light stone trimmings Ah
with all the equipments necessary iof r
great gathering.
The sergeant-at-arms was on hand early
! with his staff of assistants, doorkeepers ana
pages who were admitted TO the building
| while the crowd clamored outside. at ~
! O'Clock the doors were opened and the Wlld
rush for admission began. II is not until
1 within the building that its full size be
! comes apparent. Everything was on the
| mammoth order even in decorations. From
| the lobby the crowds entered an enormous
| enclosure free Of seats and serving as 6
/ common ground for delegations 10 greet
each other before entering the convention
| hall beyond. This outer enclosure is third
Of the building which WIS too large in its
entirety for the convention. On one side
ran rows of Offices for newspapers, and on
| the other side a restaurant stretched lOu
I feet promising refreshment in case OF
| protracted siege. Even the details Of 4
postofice had not been forgotten and Post
master Hesing had in operation well
/ equipped branch Office TO handle mail for
| delegates There was good-natured railery
at some Of the signs literally distributed 10
secure decorum. One Of these read: Good
order and decOrum is expected OF every
| guest John r Martin Sergeant-At-A Arms. -
In another the sergeRnt-at-arms positively
prohibited smoking. The mammoth decora-
tion in the outer hall was an American flag
which Decorator Dynes spoke Of with pride
as the largest flag any country ever made,
being l00x60 feet and requiring five men 10
hoist ii.
EFFECTIVELY DECORATED.
Within the u.ain hall the decorations
were artistic and effective. Instead Of a
| coffin-like interior, such as former conven-
tlons have had. the hall is square, with the
seats on all sides, al the rear and above,
| equi-d!stant from the presiding officer
| desk. II is twice the size Of Madison Square
garden interior, with two galleries stretch
ing 1000 feet, or almost half mile each,
and with 2S5. 600 square feet OF floor room
I The huge proportions can be best under
stood from the fact that the foot ball game
I will be played in this hall next Thanks
/ giving day and quarter-mile bicycle track
/ is TO be put in when the convention is over.
| The most striking features Of the decora-
tion on entering the hall that Of the
| seven democratic observation-disclosures
( Jackson Van Buren, Polk, Tyler, Buchanan
/ and Clevelsnd-done in heroic size and
! arranged above the desk of the chairman
( Cleveland was in the middle, with the
fathers Of democracy on either side. II
! was taken from his early picture. before the
/ rugged lines had made their appearance.
! Above these rose a mammoth representa-
( tiOn Of the American eagle, with the shield
Of the United states in its talons Further
up the great steel girders which span the
! building were wound with bunting and
from between them hung myriads of flags
| and Tosettes. The platform and presiding
| olicer's desk were tastefully decorated with
| bunting and festoons OF evergreen, with e
I backing Of large palm trees. Flanl5ing the
chairman on either side ran the pI ass seats
four deep, encircling the entire front and
sides Of the area reserved for the delegates
Back Of the chairman were many com
| Portable chairs, reserved for the dis
tinguished guests. about 400 in number and
for The honorary vice presidents and sec
retaries At either end OF the hall rose
tier after tier OF seats for the spectators and
above these the two galleries.
SEATING THE DELEGATES.
As the delegates entered Tie hail :hey
wero not greeted by the usual pennants
| bearing the names Of states 10 locate The
seats Of delegations. The peunAnts OBJ
/ structed the view and instead Of them each
| states location was marked by an upright
| stan with the nsmo OF the state arranged a
perpeudicularly on each Of its three faces 50
! as to be seen from all directions and vet not
I 10 obstruct the view Michigan had drawn
the point Of vantage on the front seats imme-
| diately before the ch2irmsns desk Back
OF the came Minnesota and then Missis-
( sippi, Missouri Nebraska, New Jersey and
[ others New York was 70 the left ana in the
I rear, i was not q chclce location from
I which the expected protests Of the gold
forces could be made eheCtively Massachu-
/ sets occupied the front seats 10 the right
ana TCnuylvsnis 70 the left Indiana was
E far in the rpRr. The locations had been
Z made alphabetically and with strict impair
tlslity, and Alaska was better OF than New
YORK