The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-10-05
CROWD OF $4,000
Topeka Broke All Records at
Taft Meeting.
Auditorium and Grand damned
to the Doors.
TAFT LED PARADE.
Dense Street Crowd Watched
the Political Procession.
Speeches Made by Taft, Dolliver
and Stubs.

The biggest political meeting Topeka
ever saw, and probably the biggest e-er
held in the state was that which took
pace in Topeka Saturday nigh. as a
welcome to William Howard TAFT, the
| Republican nominee for the presidency.
| 1t Is estimated that there were $4,000
| people On the streets of Topeka when
| the parade, with Taft riding in an au-
tomobile at the head. came along.
When the Auditorium was jamm@d
with crowd of 5000 people. and 1000
more were packed into the Grand opera
house, 1t did not seem to make the
slightest impression on the size of the
crowd on Kansas avenus.
| Comparisons are somewhat cd ous
but it must be admitted that while the
Bryan meeting was an immense politi-
cal demonstration the Taft demonstra-
tion had it badly beaten in magnitude.
1t seemed as though the whole town
turned out, and with the people of the
town, reinforcements to the extent Of
| about 10000 visitors.
Taft's march up Kansas avenue was
continuous ovation from Fourth
street to the Auditorium, The candi-
| date stood on the rear seat of Arthur
Capper's huge automobile. and with his
| hat in his hand bowed and smiled TO
| the cheering thousands who packed tho
thoroughfare. Mr.. Taft wore a big
| overcoat buttoned close up around his
neck. as though it was nnidwinter.
| 1t was evident that there were thou-
sands of people who wanted to hear
Taft worse than they wanted to see the
parade, for long before the parade
| started, the balcony of the Auditorium
| was packed with people, and the Grand
was filling rapidly. The lower floor OF
| the building was not opened until tha
parade was nearing the Auditorium /.
| was the intention to keep the Lower
| doors closed until the parade was ov az,
| but the crowd became so dense that
the doors were forced open by the tre-
mendous crush, and the people rushed
J in. Men and women ran at top sp sed
down the aisles, striving to get places
close to the front where they might
hear and see everything.
Was Noisy Reception.
When Taft and his party entered the
| building from the rear door, great
| demonstration started, and the cheering
continued for several minutes. 1t was
not quite as wild and unrestrained j
greeting as that which was given to
| Bryan when he made a similar en-
| trance a few weeks ago, but it was
plenty big enough to satisfy anybody.
| While the audience was rot quite as
wild in it's welcome. its enthusiasm
seemed to increase as the evening went
| on.
Just before Taft started to speak,
| little Ellen Anderson, the 10-year-o old
daughter of Major Tom Anderson, step
ped up on the speakers platform and
presented to Mr.. Taft a great bunch OF
4 two dozen American beauty roses, tied
with satin ribbon The little girl was
| dressed in patriotic costume, and the
! bunch Of roses was nearly as large as
| she was. The roses were secured from
| Chicago by contributions from num-
ber of Topeka Rep1blicans-price SO
| per dozen.
| The Auditorium was handsomely dec
GRATED with flags. bunting and palms.
| There was no music. People didn't
| have time to miss the music. From
the looks of the Auditorium crowd. 1t
can be safely stated that it was com
| posed to a very great extent of visit
| ors to Topeka The visitors We're for
tunate to be able to get into the build
| ing in time to get good large slice
of the available seats.
The building was never before so
packed with people. Every aisle was
jammed full of people clear to the
| stage, and these people stood at the
closest attention throughout the entire
| evening.
Senator Curtis introduced Mr.. Taft
and explained that his voice was In
AS. Mr.. Taft arose to speak, his
voice was bad, and he spoke slowly.
making his words as clear as possible.
/ -
much better, and he could be easily
heard in every corner Of the big build
ing.
Too Much Fireworks.
Just as Mr.. Taft got a good start,
the tail end of the parade consisting
| of the f1ambeau club. drew up In front
of the building, and proceeded to shoot
off the remainder Of its ammunition.
The crash of bombs and rattle of fire.
crackers and roman candles was too
| much for Taft. He sat down to wait
for the noise to subside.
| of Washburn students at the north
doorway let loose their college yell. Then
the crowd cheered and Taft said:
"This is evidently your night. Go
| ahead and make all the noise you want
II pleased the crowd to see Taft so
good natured about these Interrupt
AS Taft was getting started again.
huge picture of Taft, which had been
carried in the parade. was started up
| toward the stage over the heads of the
audience. Men passed 1t along on their
hands, and finally it was set up at the
back of the stage.
rats speech was divided into three
parts:
g. The trusts
g. His labor record.
Each of these sections was complete
| in itself and each was splendid pre-
sentation of the subject. Taft has a
| most convincing way of talking. He
talks like a man who means every
word he utters. He was frequently
interrupted by applause. One OF the
| hest portions of his speech was the
part relating to his labor record, and
his decisions on the Injunction suits.
Taft defended his decisions most ably.
and the crowd cheered him when he de-