Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-07-03
THE NEW CONVENTION HALL,
KANSAS CITY.

few weeks have been steering course
for the hustling metropolis on the Mis-
souri,. They have in most instances
brought along their families, have load
ed down the old wagons with sides of
bacon. cornmeal and sweetening, and
the cost of the trip will be comparative
| ly nil Assuming that they and their
| families have to live even at home on
| something or other and their animals
have to be fed, travelling or standing still,
| 1t is about the same to them whether
they stay on the farm or jog along over
| the plains. Against the So u head
charged by the Kansas City hotels they
| twill probably be able to make show
| ing of less than 20 cents per diem for
each member of the caravan party. The
| trim will be something in the nature of
what the boy on the towpath gets when
| he essays a voyage on the canal-on
foot all the way-but these tough pro-
| ductions of a sterile soil and hard
work don't mind that "a little Bit
| Yes. they are coming in already and
are camped down in the outskirts of the
CITY along the bottoms. where fodder
is cheap and the necessities of life come
in every day on the cars. They don't
| have to crowd themselves all out of
shape in stuffy old hotels and boarding
houses. where no man knows in the
morning what he will get to eat or how
MANY he will have to share his pillow
with at night. No, sir, they are free
and independent, and the chances are
at least 16 to that they would pan out
more as a body than the whole outfit
of delegates from all over the Union If
it came to "a show down." If you visit
Kansas City, don't miss seeing the cap
tains and cargoes of these prairie
| schooners.
| And they are going to be in evidence
| in the monster parade that Is to take
place, forming unique feature at the
barbecues and coming out strong in the
attractions offered by the breezy west
| to it's neighbors of the effete east. 1t
| cannot be otherwise than that they
should entertain great contempt for the
kid gloved and soft skinned delegates
who smoke cigarettes. travel by palace
car and lounge around the barrooms
of the great hotels.
| 1t is the first time in it's history that
Kansas City has been chosen as ma
tional convention town, but its citizens
do not intend it shall be the last by any
means, for they expect to make it so
|
| gates and visitors generally that they
will want not only to come again, but
to stay here all the time. Although the
hotels cannot furnish accommodations
for more than one-third the expected
arrivals, or, say, 10000, there will be
boarding house accommodations for all
| the rest, estimated at 10000 more.
Mighty efforts have been put forth by
| the local committees and bureau of
public comfort, in charge of Mr.. A. D..
| l.. Hamilton, to provide for the visitors,
| the advance guards of whom have al
ready begun to flow in like a tidal
wave Though many of the delegates
will be obliged to board around" the
big hotels, some of them among the
finest In the country, will contain the
bulk of the distinguished guests.
The national committee, at the head
of which is Senator Jones, will occupy
the palatial quarters of the Kansas
City club, which, with it's reading, re-
ception and sleeping rooms, has been
turned over for their unrestricted use.
1t is quite near and in close communt-
cation with the vast Convention hall.
which is on the northeast corner of
Thirteenth and Central streets. The
three largest hotels are from three to
nine blocks away. 1t is estimated they
can room" $500 people and provide for
1000 more as ''mealers." But while
the attendance at the time will be vast,
1t is calculated that at least 60 per cent
of the visitors will come from adjacent
states and be in a measure independent
of the public hostelries, finding this a
good occasion for claiming the hospital
ity of friends. What this means only