The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-11-01

he speaks so is he.
And this is the secret of his extra
ordinary and immediate power over
every audience that he meets. Nothing
less than the entire population of the
/ towns at which we pause turn out to
welcome him.
Al lincoln. where we lay last night
the people began to gather about our
car before the earliest dawn; but, re-
speeding his need of rest, they main
tanned an almost complete silence. At
breakfast a group of pretty women
entered the ear with fresh roses for
Mrs. Bryan, and then the hushed con-
course found voice in a gathering roar.
The broad square adjoining the rail
way was impossible.
The trees at Jacksonville bore hu-
man fruit, and the telegraph poles SUI
ported clusters of men as flowers grow
on the cactus. Mr.. Bryan's voice was
audible to the limit of the crowd. i
local paper put on the train by gro
tcsque paragraph aimed at the silyer
cause. afforded him a trail on which
he based an address powerful as the
blows of q sledge-hammer and teG..,,
as a telegram.
At Bloomington he was driven
of cheers. At a mining town further
on he spoke to an audience composed
of so per cent of miners and 20 per
cent Of farmers, and it is safe to say
that where he found one friend he
left ten. At Joliet it was the same.
Tt is significant to note the behavior
of the wearers OF the yellow ribbon
in these crowds. Coming to scott, they
return to pray. They forget their
badges and stand in the open without,
absorbing every word.
One is reminded of Macaulay's verse:
Even the ranks of Tusculam could
scarce forbear to cheer
AS the elimination of the campaign
draws on the reflections from the gold
cause grow greater and come faster.
And Of the five millions or more persons
whom Bryan has met during his can
vass. the vast majority of those who
were son the fence" have climbed down
on the silver side, and most of the
declared gold sympathizers, will have
vaulted the obstruction completely
| And now Chicago. 1t was like
plunge down the rapids of Niagara.
| For over mile outside the Alton and
! Chicago railroad station a horde of
yelling men pursued the train. The
| noise they made drowned the roar
| of the cars. and we could scarce hear
one another speak Within. Mr.. Bryan
stood, with his wife, on the rear plat
| form. His face was set and rather
stern Rumors of tens of thousands
awaiting him at the depot had come
to us
There is always a savage undertone
| in a Chicago mob. We rolled into the
station amid thunderous acclaim. The
sight that met us was unforgetable,
i and cannot be accurately described.
| Earth. buildings. almost the sky, SEEM
| ed to be made of frenzied men, waving
their hats, swinging their arms, yelling
open-mouthed in fierce excitement. The
instant we stopped we were wedged
| amid a mass of human beings who
| might have lifted the great car from
| the tracks.
| With a fellow journalist / succeed
/ ed in forcing my way from the rear
end of the car, leaving Mr.. Bryan to
| be conveyed to the carriage which
awaited him by the committee and the
| police. We gained the steps leading
up to the street, but, for the time, to
| proceed further was impossible.
| AT the head of the steps we took
4
police struggled to keep back the mad
crowd below Through the crowd the
strong men of the force had striven to
maintain narrow lane from the car
hither, but it was beyond human pow
err. They dared not use their clubs;
it might have cost them their lives.
Anon, far away amid the turmoil, /
described Bryan; gigantic policeman
had him by one arm, a committeeman
not less stalwart by the other. Bryan
himelf is man of immense strength
But those thre came on like leaves
! tossed on the surface of a boiling
| stream.
| / feared for their lives misstep
| would have been fatal. The mob in
which they struggled was itself dash
| ed helplesslv to and fro. The police
rallied and fought their way with des-
| peration, swung hither and yon, yet
! advancing. With a sudden rush they
gained the steps; the police formed
/ in line behind them; for an instant
| they held the throng: then all gave
way. and up came the rush on Bryan's
heels.
/ As he was borne toward me, he ever
/ looked backward with great anxiety;
no wonder. Mrs. Bryan was some
! where IN that dW1u1 press DenlHu. IL
was a terrible moment Do what he
might, he could not get back to her
one inch. Methinks he would gladly
have forfeited the Presidency to have
had her safe.
But onward must he go. In another
moment he was on the top of the steps
and was whirled onward to the car
riage, and then for the first time
saw Mrs. Bryan close behind, pale and
breathless, but self-possessed and Sc
cure. Tt was a welcome sight, and
well night a miraculous preservation
I The organs were in the carriage
drawn by four white horses. reached
the street by a side door. Tn front
and along the thoroughfare, as fan
as the eye could reach, were the PEG.
!, pie of Chicago. They were damned
{ along the sidewalks on either side, anc
on the pavement, leaving barely space
for the procession to get through.
The dingy buildings that hemmed II
the living river were themselves alive
with forms and faces. narrow striI