The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-10-20
tON RATE REGULATION
Aside From the Informal Portions of
His Address its Serious Purpose
Was to Declare His Belief in Giving
Commission Supervision On Rail"
roads. The Scene at the Fair
Grounds Yesterday. Largest Crowd
in History of Fair.
BIZ X. T.. GRAY.

After day of excitement for thous-
dndS on thousands of people who
overtiowed the entire city and during
the time that the President was in
the Fair Grounds congested i'm the
long and brOadened midway i'm
mass of humanity such as has scarce
ly been seen in Raleigh before, The
OdOre Roosevelt went away in the
early afternoon, himself apparently
happy and proud of the occasion and
cheered to his train by the plaudits of
the many who had journeyed to the
city to see and hear him
The message that the man bore
was characteristic. What he said IN
his speech was be good, honest, be
brave-and have common sense!
This was characteristically spoken
in a speech which was at. times en-
| liVened with humour and which
breathed from first to last the spirit
of high sense of civic duty follow
| ing upon the idea of clean govern
ment by men who are clean them
selves. During the speech, which
took careful note of local and State
pride, the applause was at times en-
thuSastc. In the main the strain
of attention on the part of those who
were in reach of the Presidents voice
was as marked as, sporadically, the
enthusiasm was intense.
In the Grit of the Crowd.
Although the charm of eXtempO-
raneOuS utterance won the Presidents
hearers, the more serious portion of
his speech, specially directed to the
great issue Of railroad regulation, met
with enthusiasm and deep applause,
although he read it from manuscript,
word for word. The serious who lis
tened to his deliverances on this sub
ject heard a word for which they have
been waiting for years and hailed it as
q re-aflirmatiOn of a hope which a
strenuous and honest President had
already inspired in their hearts. Lik-
ing him as they showed by their
actions they did as a man and a per-
sonality, his straightforward, unequiv-
ocaI declaration on the rate question
policy, fell most gratefully on the ears
of his hearers and won instant and
sustained response.
Also the remarks on the subject OF
forest preservation and the statement
that in that matter North Carolina
should have all the help he could give
her, aroused deep applause. 1t was
the discussion of railroad regulation
the strong way in which the matter
was put forward and the earnestness
of the President during it's delivery
which was the significant thing about
the speech, aside, of course from the
more personal significance attaching
to the meeting of a big man with the
people who come critically to judge
for themselves of his worth
The scene from the speakers stand
was a marvel of humanity and color.
AS far as the eye could reach the
people stretched away like a great
blanket of faces turned upward.
There was constant movement i'm the
crush but it was not distinguishable
The people We're too tightly wedged
against one another. To the casual
eye it was an unmoVing, plastic
mass, set there in stolid patience
waiting, waiting on the main it
looked black and white as all crowds
do, and yet it was alive with color.
Looked at specifically. it was a quiy-
ering thing, shouldering, ripping,
with the voice of the crowd monoton-
Gus, single-keyed constant. Here
there was a ripple that passed on the
surface in an instant. One marked it's
insignificant progress as it burrowed
its unknown way and disappeared. {
was an instructive thing to watch,
this slow suFging crowd with its
thousands and thousands of human
atoms, centrally COIlpOSeu. III the
crowd. itself, lost in that stream, one
battled as at sea. Faces were every
where. 1t was impossible to move at
will The motion was for a while
passive, slow, crushingly forward.
Then there would come an upheaVal.
Something was happening ahead. No
one knew what. Yet every one felt
an interest. a personal. a compelling
recognition of the disturbance. 1t
fought with you, held you i'm its grip,
impeded your progress. Great shoul-
ders of men heaved and showed.
Arms flung high above the jammed
mass of heads. You struggled or lav
i'm the NAV of the multitude placid,
as was your nature. Presently the
agitation ceased. The cause. what
ever it was, no longer existed
Something gave way. inch by inch you
felt yourself creeping forward again
1t was a desperate emotion. From ii
there was no appeal. The strongest
was as little of moment as the weak
est. Tall. brawnv six-footers created
their infiritesimal areas of dis
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