The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-10-13
THIRTY THOUSAND
SILVER RIOTERS

what Re had mapped out for the great
occasion, and during the interim q
crowd on the outside nearly as great
IS that on the interior of the hall. lis
tened with more OF less politeness to
local speakers. The only reason they
listened was because they wanted to
PASS the time away until Mr.. Bryan
appeared.
AT 9.15 there came a tremendous
cheer from the inside, and the walters
en- the river bank knew by the length
OF the disturbance that the programme
cn the inside was over. great rush
out of the building confirmed their
hOpeS In a few moments squad OF
police appeared at the Bank street
entrance and after vigorous showing
succeeded in opening place large
enough to allow the candidate and his
party to accomplish their exit. Mr.
I:ryan kept his hands in his pocket
to avoid the hundreds who wanted to
squeeze his fingers. Another ovation
81 eeted him as soon as he appeared.
The crowd was all the more enthuSi-
astic on account of its long wait. Mr..
Rryan did not speak long in the open
air, as he had much to do yet. de
left a comfortable bundle of arguments
with his hearers, nevertheless. and fif-
teen minutes later drove off to the
Lyceum, followed by more cheers.
Mr.. Bryan said truly that the
Lyceum meeting was a novel eXpe-
rience. 1t was the first time in his
meteoric fiighx across the continent
that he ever heard 1000 women try to
yell The noise started him perceptibly.
not on account of its volume, but be-
cause of it's high falsetto. 1t was
pitched five whole tones above the
treble cleft. 1t was a soprano calliope
with here and there an alto thrown in
Id s@r.p
meeting was one of the most interest
ing of the Twin Cities. 1t thoroughly
disproyed the claim that the femi-
nine gender is uninterested in political
matters. Many of them cheered simply
to be polite and hospitable. Others
cheered because Mr.. Bryan was such
a nice looking man and the hero of the
hour. Others were demonstrative be-
cause their husbands said they ought
to be-
The poor ladies waited long time
for dear Mr.. Bryan. While they wait
ed they attempted to follow the mas
sive logic Of John Day Smith, Frank
Larabee, A. T. Ankeny, J. N. Castle
and others, and they were liberal in
their applause. 1t grew monotonous.
however, as speaker after speaker
doled out his platitudes about the
mothers being the hope Of the nation" :"
etc.
Mrs. Eva Mcdonald Valesch pre-
sided over that remarkable gathering
And she did it cleVerly too. In her
eyes, and in her conscientious judg-
ment Bryan was the man of all men
and her enthusiasm showed itself in
pair of sparkling eyes. She used
considerable tact in keeping things
moving until the hero came.
It was nearly 10 o'clock before Mr..
Bryan intruded himself into that
Adamless Eden. He was scarcely pre-
pared for what he saw or what he
heard
The moment he stepped his foot out
of the wings the women stole another
of mans exclusive franchises. They
actually yelled. Man has only few
left and they are going fast. Half Of
the ladies carried little American flags
and they arose in their seats and
waved the banners furiously over their
heads. The effect was inspiring.
Mr.. Bryan was preceded in his ad-
dress by little fellow of five or six
years, who climbed upon a table and
recited some political poetry, and with
ready wit Mr.. Bryan complained of
having to compete against another
boy orator" Then the candidate said
some pretty things in a pretty manner
ana the ladies all came over to his side
Inc character of the meeting and the
character of the audience seemed to be
an inspiration to Mr. Bryan His ad-
dress was perhaps more eloquent than
any he has delivered in the Twin Cities
although it was brief The speaker
forgot everything but his convictions
and only came back to earth on re-
membering that he still had another
meeting to attend. At the conclusion
of his address to the ladies he was
cheered with another of those funny
feminine yells, and left the hall with
happy heart
On emerging from the Lyceum. Mr..
Bryan was confronted with another
impossible wall of humanity. The
crowd yelled for a speech and the only
possible escape was to climb upon the
seat OF the carriage and say Il am
glad to see you Then the mounted
police formed the escort and the pro-
cession. AT IL o'clock the candidate
stood before the great throng in Yale
place. 1nnumerable torches of red fire
made the place as light as day. Fire
WORKS were abundant. Mr. Bryan's ar
r1Val caused another open air demon
Stratlon which was heard down town
Ii was an impressive picture. Mr.
Bryan stood upon the table on the
platform. His slouch hat was pulled
down over his eyes to hide the glare
OF the torches. His figure formed a
dark Silhouette against the blood-red
glare of the torches. He talked for
hfteen minutes, and commenced with
saying that he had only come to them
to say good night that he was a
working man and was very tired.