The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-05-05

pay, not even expenses, accompanies ap- pointments of this sort, and some of the appointees, at least, have to work like beavers from the beginning to the end of the convention, helping to keep things
 in order But for the brief space of
 time during which the convention is in isession the assistant sergeant-at arms
 is person of some consequence. He
 wears badge which admits him to all
 parts of the convention hall; he Is in
 great demand among those in attend ance as one who can do favors for his friends and his face is reasonably sure
 to become more or less familiar to some
 of the party magnates. More than one holder of petty government place has
 made his start on the remunerative side
 of politics by serving as deputy ser seant-at-arms at convention time.
 After the deputy sergeants-a come the doorkeepels. They are not so
 numerous as the deputies and their
 number varies according to the nature of the hall in which the gathering is
 held, the rule being to appoint two, one for day service and the other for night
 service, for each door. They are drawn
 from the ranks of those generally known as henchmen, though the term is I not used here in any belittllng sense,
 The doorlleepers, like the deputies, serve
 without pay and for similar considera- tions; their facilities for making them- selves known to the real powers in the l party are not much less than those af-
 forded the deputy sergeants-at-arm but they have less chance to see the fun
 on the floor of the hall because their du-
 ties keep them outside at the doors
 much of the time It is possible, hoWev-
 CT, for the clever doorkeeper to slip in-
 side some of the time, and, of course,
 the day man can see the proceedings of
 the night sessions. and vice versa
 As might hR conjectured, the ser
 geant-at-arms has to have many other assistants besides those who help while
 the convention is actually in session. l In the weeks of his preliminary labors
 he has to transact as much business as l the manager of a great commercial en- terprise, and this requires typewriters bookkeepers, messengers, clerks and all-
 round assistants of several grades. It
 also requires rather extensive office fa- cilities, and D. G. Wiswell, of Wiscon- sin, who will be sergeant-at-arms of the iNPobilNail NpilN tIlilOll llilo year, HdS dl-
 ready chosen his headquarters at one of
 the Philadelphia hotels. When the con- vention is at hand he has likewise to engage a corps of watchmen and scrub-
 women to keep the big building in ap- ple-pie order.
 Though he is kept constantly busy all through the weeks of preparation, his
 real rush doesn't come till the first day of the convention. From then till the, adjournment he is the most harassed and put-upon man in the whole country, and If he isn't physical wreck by the time the gathering disperses it's because he is blessed with an iron constitution. Unlike the deputy sergeants-at- arms
 and the doorkeepers, the office help.
 messengers, watchmen and scrubwomen are paid for their services, but the ser geant-at-arnS himself receives no direct
 pay. His expenses are borne by the committee, but he goes through all the work and worry of getting the conven- ton preliminaries into shape and keep ing the crowds in good order during it's sessions for the honor there is in it, and the wide acquaintance 1t will give him among the prominent men of his own party. Because of these things the place is in great demand every four years, and some of the liveliest fights in the history of the two national commit tees have been waged over the conflict ing titles of various candidates
 The sergeant-a t-arms of the democrat | ic convention will not begin his prelm- nary work this year until some time in May, the democratic convention being bo1I h tv,o i, republican gathering, and the work to | be done on the Kansas City hall being | of less magnitude than on the one in | Philadelphia The convention ser | geant-at-arms always has the friendly | assistance of the sergeant-at-arms of | the national committee. Colonel H. l.. | Swords, now deputy collector of customs | in CIV York, has held that post with the | republican committee for a number of | campaigns, while James Oliver, of Para disc Park in the city of New York has held the same place with the democrat ic committee. Each of these men knows every important leader in the party well, and is therefore able to give inval- uable pointers to the convention ser geant-at-arnls. MT, Oliver will not as sist the sergeant-at-arms this year. however, having determined to spend the summer in Alaska. This years na- tional democratic convention will be the first he has missed for many years
 The local expenses of national con- vention, which are directly controlled | by the sergeant-at-arms make up only | a fraction of the total sums such gath ering puts into circulation There are nearly a thousand delegates and as ] many alternates, making two thousand, while the assistant sergeant-at-ar messengers and cores pondents will swell the essential attend ance to three thousand. Besides, there are probably thousand visitors daily, and if each of the resulting four thou sand spends one hundred dollars for ho- tel bills and the like while the conven- tion is in session the total is four hun dred thousand dollars. Add railroad fare, news telegrams and other inci- dentalS and the grand total can't we'll be less than q million Some estimates by men who have attended many na- tional conventions place it much higher. New York Sun.
 WILD ANIMALS IN CAPTIVITY. Why Thpv are SO Restless as is Com |