The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1908-06-05
TIMING THE OVATION
A Custom Born In the Political
Conventions Of 1892.
THE oUTBURST FOR BLAINE.

II Lasted For Nearly Twenty five Min
uteS and Almost Swept tho conven-
ton on Its Foet--The Cleveland
Demonstration Was a TriHe Longer.
Timing the oyations at political con.
yentions for favorite candidates was
born IN the national convention Of
1892. Notwithstanding the fact that 1t
was pretty generally understood who
would bead the tickets In that year.
there were interesting and even excit'
Ing incidents In both conventions.
At Minneapolis the Blaine men fought
nobly. but 10 no purpose The gal
lerIes were with him. but majority
OF the delegates. contemptuously re.
ferred 10 by Senator Edward Wolcott
OF Colorado MS the "bread and butter
brigade were for Harrison. and they
could not be swayed by oratory. emo
lion or cash
For d brief half hour, however, the
Harrison men we're plainly troubled.
Chauncey NJ. Depew was on the plat
form secondlng the nornlnatlon Of Har
rison. He had spoken about ten min
utes when he mentioned the name OF
Blaine. The effect was similar to that
produced By touching lighted match
to a powder magazine. The conyen-
tion "blew up" Then and there be-
gan what was destined In the future
10 become Fl regular convention feature
the timed ovation. The Blaine men,
aided Justify by the galleries, took up
the rhythmic cry OF "Blaine. Blaine,
James G.. BlaIner' The chairman OF
the convention was absolutely power
less to check the wildly enthusiastic
crowd. Mr.. Depew's face was a
study. He stood disconnected and
helpless, smiling nevertheless. The
first outbreak was OF perhaps ten min
utes' duration At the end OF that
| time the crowd was nearly exhausted.
The chairman raped vigorously for
order. and the convention was about
10 give It's attention to Mr.. Depew
WHtu Suuic ichhhCi luHEGu uN'SeNS
again started the Blaine. Blaine,
James G. Blainer' slogan. AT the
same moment Mrs. Carson Lake, the
wife OF well known newspaper man.
who was seated on the platform, jump
ed TO her feet and began to lead the
cheering. keeping the crowd In perfect
unison by using white parasol as
baton.
No similar scene has ever been wit.
messed In national convention. The
first Blaine outburst was more than in
spring. This one was simply over
| whelmlng Even many Of the Harrison
men were caught In the wave OF en-
! thuslasm, and the next fifteen minutes
; were anxious ones for his political
managers. Mrs. Lake did her part
we'll Assuredly hers was the greatest
parasol Irritation ever carried on In
! the United States. She dominated the
, 10000 men who stood before her for a
quarter of an hour. In the opinion of
many persons she came very close to
upsetting the convention programme.
Had less adroit speaker than Mr..
Depew been before the assemblage she
might have done so.
However the Blaine cheering lasted
between twenty-five and twenty-five
minutes, Then the convention nomi-
mated Harrison and Reid,
Ten days later the Democrats assem-
bled In Chicago. The late William c.
Whitney was in charge of the Cleve-
land forces Notwithstanding the well
understood fact that he had the situa-
! ton under perfect control several ad-
herents of David b. Hill, notably Ed
ward Murphy, Jr., Of Troy, insisted
upon having Mr.. Hills name presented
to the convention.
The day Of the nomination was un-
pleasant enough outside of the conven-
ton hall Inside 1t was almost unbear-
able, Hardly had the delegates seated
themselves when heavy thunder and
lightning storm broke out. Parts Of the
roof were leaky, and some of the dele
gates raised umbrellas. While the
storm was raging one Of the arc lights
became loosed from its position and
came swinging down over the heads of
the New York delegation, barely miss
Ing Roswell p. Flower. Some time was
required to restore order, but the storm
abated, and the convention proceeded
to business in the most humid spot on
the North American continent. The
morning session was unimportant.
When the convention reassembled In
the afternoon 1t was generally under
stood that it would not adjourn until
nomination had been made.
Mr.. Cleveland's name was presented
and was seconded nearly all the way
down the alphabetical list Of states
until New York was reached. During
the early part Of the session there We're
a great deal Of cheering and enthusi-
asm, but finally the crowd tired Of
oratory. AS the hour approached mid
night the galleries became a hooting
mob, and many Of the delegates We're
thoroughly disgusted.
Mr., HIPS name had been placed be-
fore the convention, and every person
In the hall knew his nomination was
to be seconded by w. Bourke Cochran
Of New York. Mr.. Cockran's fame as
| ~, ouatnu Hal ,noaa5oI Iin, Tho