Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-05-02

cago May 20, 1868. Gen. Joe Hawley was
the president, ard Gen. Logan put Grant
In nomination, and every delegate present
voted for him. The chief contest here was
for the vice presidency, Gen. Joe Hawley,
Senator Fenton OF New York. Schuyler
ColfaX of Indiana, Henry Wilson of Massa-
ehusetts and Ben. Wade being candidates.
Ben. Wade led on the first ballot but the
tight was very bitter, and l have been
told that malicious story which was
circulated saying that insanity ran in
ms family, and that Wade himself was
at times mentally unsound, aided in his
defeat. ColfaX got the nomination and
became Vice President, but at the next
convention of 1872, when Grant was again
nominated; Colfax was beaten by Henry
wilson, whom he had defeated four years
before. =
Big Cincinnati Conventions.
Along about the seventies Cincinnati
was the great convention city. 1t was
there in 1872 that Horace Greeley and Z.
Gratz Brown were nominated; there in
1915 rutherford b. Hayes got the nomina-
ton which made him President, and there
in 1850 Gen. Hancock was made the demo-
cratic candidate, Samuel j. Tilden having
declined to run. All of these conventions
were exciting to an extreme-that of Blaine
being especially notable in that RIaines
nomination was prevented through a re-
port that the gas pipes were out of order
rms prevented an evening session and
$4,000 ~ i'idiiic OppOSltlOn TO concern
trate on Hayes.
Judge IEner of Indiana, who was one of
Giahts Postmasters General, told me that
TINS gas story was a trick gotten I'D by
the opposition to beat Blaine Said he
I'VE knew that if there was an eveniro
session that night Blaine would be NOM
1rated. If we could defer the baIIotine
10 .the next day we believed we could de-
ieat him. Hayes was from Cincinnati and
the man who had charge of the hall was y
friend of his. Just it began to grow
dark he came in and told the officers of
the convention that the gas fixtures wsra
out of order, and that if the lets were
llghted there might be an explosion. His
story was believed, and the convention adj
1ourned till the next day. We worked all
in doing So"
There will be no such trick played at the
convention this year. The halls of both
st: Louis and Chicago will be lighted
by electricity. and such trick as The
above could not be ATTEMPTED a second
time without its cause being suspected and
the real condition of affairs Investigator
inc Cartoonists of the Conventions.
The coming conventions will be pictorial
~ SHOWN up In the papers as never before
Every Dig daily has now it's own cartoon
ISL A NUMBER Of the newspapers will send
artists, and everything will be cartooned
and caricatured. The last democratic con.
vention was most ably treated here nv Mr.
Lederer, the artist of the Chicago Herald.
His sketches, which appeared daily during
H. were among the most humorous fea-
lures, and not few of them were repro
duced by Murat Halstead In an article in
the Cosmopolitan Magazine, describInp tho
convention. I saw Mr.. Keppler of Pu.k
making sketches at the convention of 1870
and both Puck and 5udge as well as the
great Illustrated weeklies, will have force
here next July. "
FRANK G. CARPENTER