The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-07-10
Forced His Way TO the Platform.

conically.
Forced His Way To the Platform.
But Hill protested. mo. no. I cannot"
he replied and then. breaking away from
the two leaders. he forced his way through
the crowd to the stage There he asked
Grady who was waiting for the demon
s:rs ton to cease. to let him speak. Grady
shook his head. Hill fell back beside
Chairman Richardson and Senator Jones,
Of Arkansas. and appealed Ia the latter
10 come to his aid. Jones' he said
stop this thing. II is not wise. 1t must
not be forced upon me-"
wait until Grady gets through and then
decline" advised Jones. 'Then l will 20
down on the floor and keep the delega-
tiOnS in line. You are right"
With an occasional muttered sentence.
as If talking 10 himself, declaring II Will
not take it," Hill waited for Grady 10 fin
ish. The words Of the speaker pledging
the seVenty-twO votes of New York to
Hill were still ringing through the vast
hall when Hill appeared before the multi
tude OF people. At the sight Of him the
cheering began afresh, and for several
minutes the pale-faced man stood silent.
Then. I'm few brief, imprisoned sem
fences which left no doubt Of his sincerity.
he announced that he could not accept the
nomination. From every quarter of the
hall. from the delegations upon the floor
and from visitors in the packed galleries
came loud protests. which Hill quieted
with a commanding gesture Of his arm A
few moments later a large-lung Georgian
was eulogizing Stevenson as a man who
was a Democrat before and after the cleo
ton. The storm had passed. Hill was no
longer a factor in the situation. Croker
had, however, accomplished his purpose
He had blocked the nomination of TOwua.
But the followers of the Minnesota candi-
date had not been idle As soon as HIS
name had been mentioned they gathered
in little knots upon the crowded floor and
decided TO swing Immediately from Towne
TO Stevenson should New York's action
create a stampede to Hill.
Remarkable Interest in Closing Hours.
Apart from this episode of Hill the day
was without feature. All that came be
fore and all that came after was as fat
as dish water The oratory was thin and
| stretched over five solid hours, during
| which time the tremendous audience mani
| Tested its Impotence in no uncertain tones
| II was by the way, the most remarkable
| Outpouring of people ever seen on the last
! day of a convention. Ordinarily a Vice
| President is nominated with the hall halt
| full of people and with great gaps of "a
| cancy in the space assigned to the dele
gates. To-day the crowd poured in through
| the thirty entrances in one unceasing
| stream, until the floor. galleries. aisles
| and even rafters could hold no more True
| the rules regarding admission were not sc
| stringent as on former days, and if one
4 was without a ticket 1t took nothing more
| than a pleasant smile to get past the
| doOrkeepers. The presence Of the enOr
nous throng testified to the continued in
| terest in the work of the convention anC
was an object lesson of some significance
| 1t was largely a local gathering, as wa.
evidenced from the noisy and prolonged
greeting given to ex-Gov. Stone. of Mis-
| souri,. when he rose TO pledge the vote:
| or his delegation 10 Stevenson.
| Representative SOwden, of Allen
town public building fame, was tie Gov
| Mount, of this convention lie appeared
| TO second the nomination of Stevenson
and was provided with a huge pile 0
| manuscript, from which he proceeded {,
read a speech prepared with much labO
under the midnight oil. The crowd caugh
onto his game in a moment and began t
make sport of him IN iTrcVerent. not I,
say cruel, fashion. For five minutes tn
convention was on the verge OF a riot
SOwden attempted 10 stand up against tn
tumult, but a triumphant shout whicl
arose from the impatient thousands
few minutes later as he rolled up hi
undelivered manuscript and disappeared
showed that the victory of the crowd wa
complete. The last man in the long lin
of speakers was the iridescent Jane
Hamilton Lewis, who waved his sun
kissed whiskeTs and with graceful gestur
but inaudible speech, Withdrew his nam
as candidate for the Vice Presidency
Lewis dude-like attire was in marke
contrast to the shirt-sleeved yeomanr
! around him, and the pair of gloves whic
| he wore seemed like a satire on the ele
/ waited mercury which made the day in
suffera6ly hot.
All Recorded for Stevenson.
II was so apparent from the beginnin
that Stevenson would be the nominee tina
the calling Of the States for the baIJo
was followed with comparatively littl
, interest. Alabama came. first with thre
, votes TO Stevenson, and nineteen for Hi
but Arkansas, following the advice {
Senator Jones' gave eleven Of its sixtee
4 votes TO Stevenson. From that time unt
d. the rOll-call Was concluded every Stat
I gave either its entire vote or large ORC
portion of its votes 10 Stevenson, save IN
, | silver States. which voted for Town,
\ Louisiana, North Dakota. and Tennessee,
. which went 10 Hill; Ohio, which honore