The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1906-09-01
REPORTS GREATLY
EXAGGERATED

AZ WHAT TE fitc
DISPATCHES PicTpR-
Ep 1T.
Below Ii given in part the report
Of the Bryan meeting as published
by the New York Times, a Democratic
paper. 1t shows that the Bryan meet
ing was not such wonderful affair
as the exaggerated reports showedlt
to be- The Times says:
William Jennings Bryan got an en-
thusiastic welcome home last night In
the Madison Square Garden, but he
was not able to hold his audience
through the speech Of one hour and
a, half which .he delivered.
This seemed due TO the heat and
to the fact that the great mass of per-
sons in the big garden had gone there
to see the Nebraskan rather than to
hear him, and in spite of the fact that
he exerted himself to the utmost to
have his voice carry through the vast
hall, there were many thousands who
got only the thread OF his discourse
Nearly all of these left the place be-
fore the speech was half over, and
during the last half of his address MIR.
Bryan was speaking to empty seats all
over the place.
The garden was insufRerably hot.
Except in the boxes where there were
many men and women in evening dress
there were probably not five hundred
men in the hall who did not remove
their coats. The balconies were Of
the temperature Of Turkish bath.
and these emptied quickly within IT.
teen minutes after Mr.. Bryan began
his address. At no time was the gar
I den so crowded as to make 1t uncon'
Portable except in temperature. H-
cry one was provided with seat, and
thousands were allowed to enter who
were not even provided with the BAL
cony admission tickets.
According to Chief Inspector CoFt-
right, who had charge Of the police ar
rangement, which were admirable.
there were never over 10000 persons
I'm the garden at any one time. So
wen did the police have the throng in
hand at all times that even the depart
ure of thousands while Mr.. Bryan was
speaking did not cause enough noise
to interfere with the delivery of his
speech, which went on uninterrupted
ly for ninety minutes.
The seating capacity of the garden
with the chairs arranged as they
were on the main floor was about TO-
900. Several thousand chairs could
have baen put in without serious
crowding had the chairs been ayatfa-
bic. The Commercial Travellers An
Thrust League, under whose auspices
the welcome was arranged. had Is
sued nearly $4,000 tickets, and yet
according to the chief inspector, 1t
was not necessary at any time to close
the doors OF the garden, and 5000
more persons could have obtained
standing room had they presented
themselves at the doors.
The garden was almost devoid OF
decoration, and 1t looked larger than
ever on this account Only the speak
ers' stand, erected directly over the
Twenty.seyenth street entrance, was
hung with flags. and in the vast audi
forum there were but two banners,
one put up by the Iroquois Club OF
Chicago, and the other announcing
that the welcome was under the au-
spices Of the Commercial Travellers
Antitrust League.
1t had been expected that the
throngs that would come would have
Ito be entertained at an overflow
meeting in Madison Square, hut at no
I time was the overflow meeting real
necessity, although one was held. All
those in the park could have been
accommodated in the garden had they
made any effort to get in, but it was
cooler in the park, and the MetropOlt-
tan Orchestra was giving fine con-
| cert close by, SO several thousand per-
sons were content to remain under
the trees and wait to get a glimpse of
the Nebraskan when he appeared la
ter at the outdoor meeting, where
he made an address lasting few mIn-
utes.
Considerable surprise was manifest
ed when at O'clock the garden was
not more than one-third filled. The
doors had been thrown open at 6
O'Clock, and the tip had gone out that
reserved seat holders had better not
be later than unless they expected
to be caught in dangerous jam. The
jam did not materialize during the
entire evening,
Those who had only admission tick
cts ranged themselves in orderly lines
-, ,,,,,.e suyo1IOu,z.1 ,,n IN tho aar-