The Holly chieftain., 1900-07-13
THE CROWD AT KANSAS CITY.
Luried Description of the Persplring
Patriots.

| The correspondent of the Chicago
/ Record. writing his paper from Kansas
| City during the time OF the convention
says:
| \ convention crowd Is restless as the
sea. Like the sea, ii suggests n ire
mendous activity going TO waste. The
convention multitude marches and
| countermarches; II goes In at one door
way and comes out mt another: ii wan
| ders upstairs, and then wanders down
| again; 1t parades in loose order from
one hotel 10 another: 1t walks around
in circles and doubles on its own track.
never arriving anywhere or finding
! that for which 1t is vaguely searching.
y national convention, seen from the
outside. is chaos. II is huge, stew
ing mass of distracted and nerve
wrought men. far from home. who have
rum amuck through the banners and
electric light until they are dizzy and
irresponsible and forget why they came
to Kansas City.
: When bees become foolish and break
out in a swarm some one has TO beat
"A pan TO induce them to get together
and quiet down. Some one ought to
beat "A pan in Kansas City this week.
The swarming ceaters are the hotels,
or at least they would be hotels under
normal conditions. At present they
are large coops for holding Democrats.
The carpets are covered with canvas.
All fragile furniture Is stored away.
The corridors and Railways are cleared
so that the mob may not have to
trample on anything when ii begins to
rage through the building Painted
banners hang overhead. telling where
hat sf,.t. lNn- a II
the doors are thrown open, and any
body is at liberty to march into any
state headquarters or any overcrowd-
ed bedchamber and help himself to that
which is temptingly set forth on the
dripping center table. This is the Dem
ocratic hospitality of convention week.
Help yourself TO whatever you want
and shake hands at every opportunity
whether you know the man or not
To get into hotel you elbow Your
way through a wedge of people that
Hills the sidewalk and spills over into
the gutter. Every man with whom you
struggle is radiating heat like parlor
stove. and all the faces lifted above the
scramble are flushed and wet. The
whole rotunda opening ahead of you is
IN a seafhing uproar, from which you
catch now and then such words as
Bryan delegation" silver" and
then some others that can't he quoted.
In the gallery which runs around the
rotundn are seated women. provoking
ly cool in their light-colored dresses.
They are watching the turbulent per-
formnnce with only faint show of ex-
element, and when they smile you
have the painful impression that they
are amused to see men make such fools
of themselves. Underfoot there is the
rubbish of tattered newspapers and
fraZZled cigars. \ fine dust has arisen.
The temperature Is that of n haymow
You hear men all about you who moan
and complain of the heat. but they do
not try 10 escape. If you force your
way through the jam and get into n
state headquarters you find the same
condition. The room is full, the men
compressed together. elbow to elbow
lostening to some nobody who cannot
be seen. but whose voice is lifted in
frantic argument. and You escape to
another headquarters. which is desert
ed. save for two delegates. who are
asleep, with their heads against the
wall.
You get out of that hotel and fall in
to Il procession of men each of which
has his coat slung on his left arm and
palmleaf fan in his right hand. This
procession is on its way to another ho-
tel. The asphalt turns back blister
ing heat, and the puffy breeze from
over the hills is therefore worth dol
lar a minute
You follow your procession into an
other hotel. oyerfiowing with daft hu-
manity. The same irresolute thronCs.
the same idle vociferations, the same