The Washington herald., 1908-07-10
BY SAMUEL C. BLYTHE.

by the celebrated Nesuvius OF Lincoln and
tailed by that cloudburst Of language.
Alfalfa Bill. Of Oklahoma, so-called be-
cause he grows three crops OF whiskers
every year on the same soil, everything
between is vocal
Thus far the Democratic national con-
.ventiOn has been wordfest. and 80 It
will continue TO the end. We have had
oratory in all the known styles. from
that Of the late Mr.. John ]. Demosthenes
TO that of Jimmy oliver, of Paradise
Park. n. Y The English language has
been burned at the stake. has been taught
to do double fiiphaps through the air, has
been macerated, lacerated. and chased.
screaming in agony, from pillar to post
So soon as one orator fell fainting In the
stand another jumped up to take his
place. Any man who had two connected
thoughts in his system was allowed 70
take them out and exhibit them TO the
audience. We have reveled in apostrophes
TO the grand old Democratic party and
all the time the grand old Democratic
party has been sitting in its shirt sleeves
up at Fairview. just outside Of Lincoln.
sitting on the front porch and thinking
thoughts that have never been thought
before. thoughts which. by the way. will
soon be reduced to speech.
Getting Ready to Nominate.
And as this is being written they are
preparing 70 nominate Bryan-nominate
him with a flood Of language that will
rise 10 the second galleries and exude
through the windows: nominate him with
words. phrases, periods. paragraphs. and
peTorations. complicated with sufficient
votes 70 make Mr.. George Gray. Of Della
ware, and Mr.. John johnson, Of Mime
sofa, look Ike two Tammany men who
have been rudely assailed by the high
altitude. said altitude being especially
remorseiess on Tammany men, most of
whom live in diving bells of the coast
OF Manhattan. or who are at any rate
only normal when below the level Of the
sea.
Il seems an error that Bryan should
be nominated only once by this conven-
ton. Time, money, worry. and all sorts
OF political bother could be saved II the
convention would arise to its opportunity
and nominate him four times. say. pro-
Vlding Tor the next sixteen years and do
Ing away with the tumult and the tour
moil Of nominating him In sections four
years apart
If some patriot. having the best IN
terests Of the Democracy at heart. had
the foresight 20 arise in his place and
demand that this convention should
nominate Mr.
country would recognize the act as a
graceful recognition, not to say projection
OF the Inevitable, and settle down 10
sleuthing nickcls from one another. II
would allay discussion and give the
Democracy a fixed basis. which. although
fixed as it is. would then have the stamp
OF approval on il. and We could all be
happy and content.
Foresight in Grent Demand.
Instead OF this. this purblind conven-
ton will nominate Mr. Bryan but once
rcserving the future nominations 10 fu-
ture conventions. and recklessly and i'm
prudently wasting a chance 10 be fore
handed. We should conserve our re-
sources. as we have been told from
Washington. and, as Mr.. Bryan is the
most resourceful resource we have. II
seems a shame not 10 grasp this op-
portunity and 90 marching down 10 his
tory as a convention that was gifted
with foresight inasmuch as hlndsight Is
one OF the most noticeable attributes OF
the usual gathering Of this kind.
Lamenting this, there was another
phase Of the convention to-day that
struck n chill into the hearts Of those
who believe in precedent and regularity
All day long and all night long. too. they
felt something was lacking. There was
sort Of an indehnable longing, a reach
ing out for a sensation that had become
part Of our lives.
The flags. the bands. the cheers OF the
delegates. the massing Of the standards
the professional SOutherners jumping up
every time Dixie was played. the bang
OF the gavel the cries OF Choke il on"
Charles F. Murphy giving an imitation
or a clam. the glowing periods of the
nominators, the raucous screams for
Bryan Bryan! Bryant" Alice Roosevelt
Longworth's new hat, matching perfectly
in shade the pinkness OF Nicholas Long
worth's bald head: Col. John /. Martin
hopping wildly from crag 20 crag to get
into the fiashlight pictures. the Denver
people sitting calmly and wondering what
II was all about, ollie James giving a
complete representation OF a ton Of beef
BIZ Sapp with the only high hat owned
IN Kansas. hundred and fourteen Vice
Presidential candidates in their last
throes-all these things were there. but
the twang was lacking
Guffey Not Hit with Club.
At no time during the sessions to-day
and tonight did they throw out Col
James NJ Guffey. of Pennsylvania. No
Democrat arose and put the boots 20
that indurated patriot. Not a tattoo was
played with a hickory club on his IN
bowed head. Every person in the han
used TO the spectacle OF the Bryan man.
ayers beating Guney to a pulp turned
down thumbs and yelled for the sacrifice
We had had It every time before. We
felt we were being deprived OF our rights
to-day.
They produced the platform. a new
little thing Of some umpteen thousand
words, warranted TO work backwards
sidewise. up and down. or catacornered.
The committees had labored faithfully
They had condensed from six columns 10
nine and revised it from nine columns TO
sixteen. They put ii in the hotel duck
press and squeezed Il, and then borrowed
bicycle pump and blew Il up They
cut Il In two sections and played crib
bage with It, and they pasted II on a
tetrahedral kite frame and flew Il over
toward Pixies Peak. They maued man.
handled. petted, cajoled, and nlassaged
this immortal document. and when Il
came out IL unequivocally and In ringing
phrases denoted one thing to wit:
! That there is n bald and portly gen.
tleman in Lincoln. Nebr.. who is very