Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1896-08-27

up all night to see the silver candidate
pass by, to hear the sound of his voice,
perhaps by good luck to touch his hand,
and at sunrise at Fort Wayne they
! were mastering by hundreds, their
breakfasts still uneaten.
The numbers grew as we passed on
and the sitting night was succeeded
by the sweltering day. They did not
assemble thus for their health, nor for
fun, nor from curiosity. You could not
look in their multitudinous homely
faces, punched and hardened by labori-
Gus days and narrow circumstances,
without feeling that they were in earn
est, in desperate earnest. They had
never heard of Delsarte. Ali they
could do was to grin and laugh excitedly
and to utter ever and anon, singly or in
concert, that shrill "Hi, hi, hi!' which
passes In country districts for cheer.
But you saw the motive power of
these abortive demonstrations in their
eyes, in the strained, tense look con-
centrated with painful unanimity on
that single figure in the black alpaca
sack coat and the grey felt hat who
Stood on the step of the car bowling and
giving both his hands to all who could
fight their way through the wedged mass
to grasp them. 1t was look such as
drowning men bend on approaching
succor, a pathetic, you might say a
terrible look. He was their new Mes
siah, their Avatar, the Moses who was
to show them the way from bondage to
the promised land.
Their minds, unbroadened by culture,
but all the more vehement In convlc-
ton, believed that in Bryan they had
man who could tighten their load and
make hard times easy and bring them
free silver for their needs, and Bryan,
be it added, accepts this awful respon-
sibility with a cheerful courage and
constancy. He, too, is one of the poor
people, and no one has deeper faith in
the truth and righteousness of the
cause than he.
The proportion of women in these
wayside gatherings is surprising. There
are the young unmarried girls, who
hope that better times will bring them
good husbands, and older women, who
have long known the pinch and strain
of domestic poverty, and now look for
ward with tremendous anticipation to
some measure of relief and relaxation.
They stand and gaze with their fingers
on their lips. They have prayers in
their hearts. May the day of oppres-
sion pass and justice be done
The eagerness of all to see, just to see
if they may not hear and touch, is ire
mendous. Twey mob the moving train
at risk of life and limb. Old men pain
fully hoist themselves up by the joist of
a railway shed to get one momentary
glimpse. Which they will remember al
ways. Younger and more active per
sons Chamber up on perilous roofs,
whence they look down upon the scene
triumphant. The man in the new sum-
mer suit, with his best girl, who is
afraid to venture into that tumultuous
throng, stands on tiptoe until. nature
can endure no more. Oh, for an x ray
to give power of sight through thou
sand backs Or faculty Of astral pro-
lection to send ones person where his
heart Isl
l call this touching as we'll as an
impressive spectacle. Nowhere about
it is the trail of the professional poll.
tician. With every vote given for Bry- |
an in this election will go the heartof |
the giver. AS l said yesterday, the |
force behind the man is so vast as to
be incaiculable. You can estimate it no
more than you can the strength of the
buffet dealt by western tornado. 1t |
is elemental. No man, be he ever SO
great, can be more than the instrument
of 8 lch power.
The people look at Bryan because
they see in him the embodiment of all
their hope for better things. Where he
Apollo and Julius Caesar in one, and
had not this representative quality, not
a man of all these thousands would
turn to glance at him. No one bears
the truth more Loyalty in mind than
Bryan himself To his courage and
cheerfulness he adds absolute modesty.
IF he felt anything personal in these
hundreds of miles of applausive voices
he would not wish to hear them. He
is too ambitious to be personal. He is
resolved that greatness. if he attain it,
shall be the result of great duties faith
fully done.
loo Erioda1 of Doar OdiD il varv i'll |