The Washington herald., 1907-05-14

For three days Washington will look
well fed. The answer 10 this lies in the
presence Of some eight hundred hotel men
and their American plan families. Their
presence is due TO the fact that the secre-
tary Of the Hotel Mems Mutual Benefit
Association awakened a few weeks back
and said: Lets have an annual conven-
ton. With this happy thought in mind
the ring leaders Of the bandits looked
around for a soft spot in which TO gather.
Somebody suggested Washington on ac-
count Of its proximity 20 the jamestown
Exposition. and last night they all drifted
in
They came in four large detachments.
each properly installed In special cars
and trains Each Of the four trains dal-
lied on the way with sportiye hot boxes
and other obstacles TO rapid progress, but
they all arrived I'm time FOR the delegates
to hike to the Shoreham. register on the
book OF the secretary. and collect the
prize packages handed them by the souve-
mir and badge committee and old friends.
The All-Star Western aggregation. mum
bering l3l strong and weak. was the larF-
est Of the bunches that hit Washington
en- masse. Gotham got the place with 115.
and a Boston special drove IN IN Mr.
Pennsylvania Railroad Stations front door
and let loose about eighty dlgnIied down
Fasteners and their European plan fam
Hes. Baltimore sent over eleven of its
eleven hotel managers and proprietors in
a special car. and another eleven will GET
in this morning. Hundreds Of other dele
gates came on ordinary regular trains
from every neck Of the great American
woods
Hotels Are Attacked,
On arriving in the nations pricipal Can
RAJ, the delegations hurled themselves
upon the local hotels. The assault WAS
successful, and by 9 o'clock last night all
the big local taverns had capitulated
II has been exactly twenty years since
the first and last convention in Washing
ton Of the H. NJ NJ B. A. There have
been annual national conventions NJ the
organization, but the 1857 pow-wow here
was never repeated Most of the old
umers-that is. the ones that were the
leaders IN those days-have passed away
OF quit the hotel business in an unnatural
manner But there are a number of those
who were young men at the 1857 convan-
tion that are now the principals in the
present organization. and it was real
pathetic TO see them fall upon one an
others neck in the lobby of the Shorebam
last night
The business end Of the convention is
in the nature of a frame up" Certain
leading parties having already put their
feet under a table and chosen n ticket -
there remains but the formal calling TO-
gether of the clans this morning at the
New Willard for the purpose of casting
vote and eleCting Jerome II Jovce nro-
prielor Of the Hotel Joyce. Of Baltimore.
president: re-electing J. K. Blatchford
or Chicago, secretary-treasurer and the
other officers according to Hovle Tho
busy session will begin about 10 O'Clock.
and Will last just as few minutes as pos
sible.
joy Is UnconRned.
Joy is the real Of the gathering
No one ~ --i into the Shoreham
or the otlP hotels last night could
have suspected that the large numbers Of
jovial gentry wearing an assortment of
badges were national undertakers' So
Ciety delegates. They were jovial on ar
rival jovial while waiting in line at the
Shoreham to register and even joviaI
after ordering dinner at regular prices
This spirit OF convivlality is expected 10
all the devious varieties of en-
prepared by the local COM
mittees.
The main detachnlents did not begin TO
arrive until late yesterday afternoon.
After negotiations with the room clerks
had been satisfactorily conducted. every
body piled up TO the Shoreham and held
2n Informal reception in the lobby. pend
ing the arrival of the national secretary
and the subsequent registration cere-
monies. NThe Baltimore delegation left
their women folks to come over this
but all the others brought them
along They added much to the gayetv
Of the gathering.
The registration ceremony was con-
Quoted in a most business-like manner.
Each delegate advanced in line to a table
behind which sat the national secretary
and two Of the local committeeman.
Upon presenting credentials and having
his name subscribed in fhe secretary's
book. each delegate handed the money for
his banquet ticket to T. A. Mckee and re-
ceived a pass. This pass was redeemed
further down the line in paper bundles.
Co,tgr,,os4 -. NJ n -, .