The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-07-15

speaking in a public hall. One night at
Nebraska City, when he WAS making a
short speech in the midst Of heavy
rain, some Of us who were q quarter OF
a mile away heard It as clear as q bell.
At the famous race track IN Lexington,
KY, one moist afternoon, we caught
snatches of sentences at a longer distance.
A raw October night, at Bath, Me-, Mr..
Bryan started to speak in the open air.
talking in sea breeze which was sweep
ing along at the rate of Western cy-
clone. He was very hoarse when he be-
gan, yet after five minutes talking his
voice began to clear up and in another
five minutes he could be heard several
blocks away. All the time the weather
was becoming more foggy.
Mr.. Bryan himself always said that he
knew little about his marvellous vocal or
ganism. He had practiced speaking all
his life, and early had learned the neces-
Kinley, he begins a speech in low,
softly modulated tone, and the hend
who cries louder" has no terrors for
him. Unlike many political orators, his
voice never gets on the higher keys and
then breaks He has sufficient control
over it to prevent that anti-climax, but
as to its volume and its clearness OF
horseness he has less the mastery. /
have heard him become suddenly hoarse
when speaking in halls where all the
acoustic surroundings were good, and
again in the open air, when the atmos-
phere was clear and apparently he was
under no strain. The truth seemed 10
be that his vocal organs did about as they
pleased, with tendency to show them
selves at their best when the conditions
were most unfavorable.
Notwithstanding his excessive speech
making, Mr.. Bryan was always saving
with his voice. That is. he always look
ed ahead. He had become an adept IN
campaign talking long before the world
knew it, and he had a special faculty for
making short talks of three minutes or
five minutes when longer addresses were
ahead for the same day.
PHYSICAL ENDURANCE.
Mr.. Bryan's physical endurance was the
wonder of everybody who passed those
four months in his company. he had
youth, energy, self-confidence and an
Astounding vitality to support his ambi-
ton in the contest into which he threw
himself with such tremendous Iorce;
Throughout the campaign ne enjoyed
good appetite and good sleep, and the Or
binary fatigues Of travel and speech
making seemed to make no draft on MS
strength. He had also rare fund OF
good humor, which enabled petty VeXa-
perience as a canpaigner enabled him TO
handle the crowds with a minimum OF
inconvenience to himself. The ART OF
handshaking, which consists in grasping
the hand of the other man before he has
a chance to take yours he had mastered
to perfection.
The mental stamina which Mr.. Bryan
showed during that campaign was equal
to his physical endurance. His buoyant
temperament enabled him to recover
quickly from most depressing circum-
stances. 1t was no secret at the time
that he felt keen disappointment over the
reception given him when he went into
1.-The enemy's country and made his ad-
dress at Madison Square Garden, New
York city. But within a week the cpl
sode had ceased to annoy him. lie went
I'D to Red Hook on the Hudson, to write
his letter of acceptance and do some nSn-
ing. He made no record as fisherman.
but he learned to talk philosophica1ly OF
the Madison Square demonstration.
Though Mr. Bryan showed great ply
steal endurance, there were two or three
occasions on which he did come near
breaking down. The trip from Lincoln
to New York was made during period
of intense heat, and this told on his
strength Nevertheless he carried out his
full programme of speeches. Onzanother
occasion, in New York, a teport was cir
culated of his ply Sical collapse Just as
he was about to leave. the city for the
South Later the true story was told
and its humorous side was appreciated.
Mr.. Bryan had been waiting a change
of some linen from the hotel laundry,
and the inability Of some persons to see
him while he waited gave rise to the
story of his illness.
NEAREST TO a BREAKDOWN.
The nearest he came to a complete
breakdown was in Chicago, where he had
been making a series of speeches in
different parts of the city. The night
the train was to leave he was several
hours late in reaching it, and 1t was
said he was suffering from fatigue. The.
real facts were that in addressing a meet
ing in the Polish section of the city he
had almost collapsed, and, as he after
ward stated, had nearly tainted from eX-
haustion He confessed to a blur be-
fore his eyes and to bringing his speech
to a close mechanically and then stag
bered off the platform. But the audience
did not discover his weakness nor did
those who were with him fully appre-
ciate it until he asked to be taken to his
hotel. In spite of this he made his usual
number of speeches the next day, and he
wound upsSthes campaign showing fewer
signs of nervous strain than those who
We're with him and who had nothing at
stake. AsEs{ ts.f
1t was always a wonder to those who
We're Mr.. Bryan's travelling companions
that no serious accident occurred. The
chances were greater than most persons
understood. When he went from Chicago
to his old home at Salem, ILL.,, Immediate
~ after his nomination he Travelled on
tAiC ACeS ulci Tram ana CnlS method
kept up during part of the campaign.
Then specials would be provided by the
political committees to carry him from
pace to place. 1t was not until the last
month Of his campaigning that a regular
train was provided for Mr. Bryan. which
traVeled on It's own schedule and which
enabled. him to close up the gaps of
geography eNp' u
One. of the untold incidents of that last
month travelling was the way the BRYAN
SpeclaI ran wild one night through Iowa.
1t left Madison, Wis, late in the evening
ana was switched to one of the roads
leading through Iowa It made rennarlx1
able time and was at its destination in
the morning, but for several hours after
naldnlght there was a panic in two or
three train dispatchers' offices In some
way the Bryan special had picked up the
schedule of one Of the regular night
trains. By the rarest chance there was
no accident, though the engineer had bean
running at high rate of speed. and had
assumed that the way was cleared for
MIN. 1t was always the ambition of tha
engineers to make a record, and this par
tieular engineer made it.
Ihe panic among the railway officials
was ended at daylight when they located
the Bryan special and received no reports
OF collisions or other accidents. The mat
Ter was Kept very quiet and Mr.. BRYAN
hlmself did not know Of the chances he
ana his party had been taking during
that night railway journey. Il believe
there was an official investigation to de-
termine. the responsibility for the r11na
way Spec1af but 1t was kept very quiet
CumStanceS - 49, NAA