The San Francisco call., 1898-08-17


 had made Mir. Land is not an orator. His intentions were honorable and so recognized When he said: We done what was right" I for one, believed him fully. Certainly the prodigal dis play which frightened the interior oF the great structure showed that Sacra- mento had neglected nothing and the spirit of hospitality so manifest every where needed no rounded periods to set it forth.
 The Star -Spangled Banner" again. The strains rose up to the radiant | canopy, echoed among the swaying banners and at last the convention | noticed it. A nan arose, gesticulating violently to his neighbors, and one by | one they got up and stood until the | sound had died away. There were three cheers. It would be pleasing to | describe them as rousing, but it would not be veracious. They were pitifully | weak The whirr of the electric fan sending comfortable waves across the room almost drowned them, and it was but a modest Whirr. a I do not write this in a spirit of fault l finding, but to teach the Democrats to be a little more enthusiastic. They | will find it profitable political specu- lation. People are said to have been benefited by whistling in a grave yard. The analogy may be imperfect. The first real speech of the day was made by a distinguished-lo gen. | tleman from Los Angeles. introduced as Dockweiler. He is very dark, with black beard and hair, a pallid yet healthy countenance, suggesting re- l fined Svengali MT. Dockweiler's de- livery is ornate, and l opine that he could, under the impetus of circum- stances, rise to considerable heights of oratory. He adverted feelingly to the row in the delegation of which he is a member and which had lost to him the opportunity of becoming temporary chairman of the convention. In specific terms he resented the islander which | had branded him as tool of the Southern Pacific, and his charge that Patton, his opponent, knew the charge | to be false, was so evidently sincere that it won instant sympathy.
 | Dockweiler, freely relinquishing all claims, nominated Governor Budd to the temporary chairmanship.
 l The motion was seconded by Patton, who, in so doing, freely acquitted his rival of affiliation with the railroad. It seemed to me a gracious and grace full incident.
 Patton seconded the nomination of l Budd and of course there was no real opposition-the one frantic No" from | the rear being ascrlbed to some joker. There had been cheers for both speakers. and there were more when | the two were appointed a committee of two to fetch the Governor to the chair. From the celerity with which the er- rand was performed a suspicion arose | that Budd had suspected what was going to happen and had generously re- | trained from going into hiding. There
 were more cheers when the Governor | came forward, but no such volume as threatened the integrity of the walls. The name of Mcguire. which, I forgot to say, was mentioned ny Patton, had excited a modest round of applause,
 and the bouquets he tossed around seemed to win approval.
 The temporary chairman began his
 address by expressing regret at the
 news which had crept into the papers
 of the State concerning Los Angeles.
 I tell you that news does not creep into the papers. It is projected into them
 by design. He also stated clearly that Dockweiler was free from any taint of corporation control, the Governor being
 thus the third prominent and respect
 able gentleman to accuse the Examiner of falsehood before the convention was | twenty minutes of age.
 Then came a recess, which for the
 dreariness of it will haunt me long. It
 was due to the necessity for appoint
 ing a committee on credentials, to in
 clude fifteen delegates. The recess was
 for half an hour. Men went out afar
 to get sundry drinks. The women lin
 gered. One delegate fell to peaceful
 sleep. An hour passed. The delegate awoke, looked about him and went to sleep again. Three hours had gone by | before the Governor reappeared Of course, I do not understand the delay. | In fifteen seconds fifteen men might 1 have been named I am told that wires | had to be pulled. and possibly some l were pulled so hard that there was 1 breakage, necessitating repairs.
 But the Governor came back.
 | A buZZing as of political bees was
 suddenly stilled. The chairman apollo l giZed, stating that as the situation had | been thrust upon him as a surprise he | did not have a slate in his pocket. He
 had done the best he could under the l circumstances; but 1 do not suppose
 that everybody was pleased.
 | There was a second committee an | nounced, but I did not take down the
 names of either, and they can be dis | covered by a glance at the news re-
 ports They were both to meet in the evening, and the prospects were for an
 immediate adjournment of the conven-
 tion until tomorrow.
 Here Grand Sachem Ruddick was in
 vited to make an address. It was not so inspiriting as the recess had been
 but it was wholly proper and probably
 necessary. I hope, however, that he | will not do so any more.
 At this point there was the first smell of gunpowder, and battle seemed i'm | minent.
 A motion was made by Tarpey, and
 had direct bearing upon the Sar
 Francisco fight, the advocates of either l side meanwhile glaring at each other