The Portland daily press., 1900-07-06

had got -en abroad that there would be q
fight on the floor over the adoption Of the
platform and anticipating a session which
would be long and hard after it had once
begun, they preferred to come only at the
last minute that their stay in the
crowded hall might be no longer than
necessary. The crowd was anxious to see
Senator Hill and on two occasions when
a baIdheaded man came through the door
leading to the delegates seats they set up
a cry of HIP which had proved so sen
sational feature of both sessions yester-
day. The senator, however, was one of
thu last of the New York delegation to
arrive. The police arrangements OF the
hall were a decided improvement over
those that characterized the opening Of
the convention yesterday. During the
sessions on Wednesday dense crowds of
spectat1rs1 were allowed to congregate in
front of the speakers stand, in front of
the press seats and up and down the
aisles. These were at times so dens9ly
packed that it was impossible to pass
through them all. These people were also
largely responsible for the confusion that
made it utterly impossible during the
greater part of the session yesterday for
the voice of any man to be heard ten feet
from the rostrum. To-day swarm Of the
local police were on hand and they started
in well, by promptly hustling down the
passageWays all persons Wo had no
badges.
Once the delegates began to come they
came in streams and the space reserved
for them filled up rapidly. At 10 80 the
time set for the opening of the conven-
ton, two-thirdsr of those were seated and
the remainder were in the hall, or crowd,
ing through the doors.
The number of handsomely gowned
women around the speakers stand was
even greater than yesterday. The old
familiar tunes played by the bands in the
galleries brought forth the old familiar
yells from the crowd AS usual 'sDixie''
and IA Hot Time were played repeated
~ and cheered enthusiastically. The ar
rival of Richard Croker called forth few
cheers from the galleries, and as usual
when d Yammany man shows up there
was the cry Of "Hin,3 just to remind
The audience began to manifest signs
of impotence as the time went by for
calling the convention to order and the
officials made no motion to proceed. The
hum of the multitude increased with a
dull roar. The aisIes were jammed and
the area in front Of the platform was
choked with a shuffling mass. Of people.
Many OF the we'll known leaders went to
the platform to confer on the status of the
conventions business-White of Califor-
mia, Slayden of Texas, Gable Of Illinois,
McCreary Of Kentucky.
4 The band Iabored incessantly to Offset
the confusion and the medley of patriotic
airs served to keep the audience in good
humor and maintain the patriotic fervor.
When the Texans raised to the top of
their standard the huge horns of Texas
steer, surmounted by the legend ''Texas
gives 200, 600 majority there was a roof
cracking shout and an enthusiastic
tribute to Texas Democracy.
Gov. Beekham of Kentucky was given
an enthusiastic reception as he came in, a
large number of delegates crowding
around to shake him by the hand
At II o'clock the slender figure OF
Chairman Richardson doomed up above
the platform assemblage. He swung the
gavel Justify and above the din family
could be heard his calls for order. Slow
ly quiet was brought out of confusion
and the chairman presented Right Rev.
John Glennan for the opening invoca-
tion, the entire audience, delegates and
spectators, standing reverentIy with
bowed heads while the words CT PRAYER
echoed through the building.
With the conclusion Of the prayer Chair
man Richardson made an earnest appeal
to the delegates and spectators to preserve
order SO that the work Of the) convention
might proceed without undue Interrupt
tion. Sergeant-at-Arms Martin added an
other appeal, particularly to the delegates
not to bring their wives upon the floor
reserved for delegates as it kept other
delegates from seats to which they were
entitled Mr.. Richardson now announced
that the platform committee was not
ready to report, and pending work from
them he invited to the platform ex-Goy.
Hogg of Texas to address the convention.
The Texan advanced to the front and
was greeted with enthusiasm. He was
in good voice and his words reverberated
through the hall. When he declared that
his party did not propose to surrender one
iota of its attitude in 1896, as promulgated
by the Chicago convention, there was
round after round of cheers but this broke
into whirlwind of approving shouts
when the governor asserted that the
party's platform must contain an IN
equivocal and specific declaration for l6
TO l. 1t was noticeable that the delegates
joined with the body Of spectators in the
tribute to the 16 to 1 idea. GOV. Hogg ar
raigned the policy of the present admins
tration in the Philippines and on foreign
affairs generally and it's subserviency to
trusts. He closed with prediction that
platform appealing to the people for a
correction of existing evils Vo11ld hrino