The morning journal-courier., 1908-07-10
CONVENTION CHEERS.

ihu pNhNNi bNiVkhtts Niih thHli numerous guests cheered and howled and shrieked eighty-seven minutes at the mention of Mir, Bryan's name by Untied States Senator Gore of Okla homa which was full thirty minutes longer than the delegates 10 the Chl- cago convention and their guests cheered and howled and shrieked for President Roosevelt. The newspaper descriptions of the scene would be inn pressive If such performance could by any possibility be reconciled with calm and sane condition of mind.
 If one will hold ones breath sin gle minute one will be surprised to find how long minute Is. To actual | ly keep ones lungs In exercise for over an hour and half is such an ex- traordinary performance that 1t must be dismissed as among .he freak ln- cidents of an unusual occasion. A baseball crowd Is the most susceptible crowd in the world and finds itself moved by the most conflicting of emo tions one moment 1t is cheering as If the welfare of the nation depended upon the outburst and at the next 1t is roaring with spontaneous laughter. In either case the cheering Is of short duration, though the livellest of im- pressions lie at the bottom of the demonstration. Even when the um- plre gives decision against the home nine, the protests which arc emphat- ically formulated live but short per iod of time. At the college games where enthusiastic youth Is to be found In all of Its abandon, and where the emotions are subjected to con- tinued strain, the cheering Is con- trolled by cheer leaders. Even they have to be spelled by classmates SO severe is the burden of uninterrupted demonstration.
 At Chicago we find single man cheered for practically an hour and at Denver We find another man cheercd an hour and half. How is it 10 be accounted for? Do Theodore Roose- welt and William J. Bryan possess powers of stimulation whi.h arc with held from the baseball enthusiast? Is the enthusiasm which the mention of their names provokes more the real thing than that which is called forth by the successful run of q favorite player? Are men charged with a grave responsibility more human after all than the pleasure seeking sports on the blenchers? These are aues- tions which are lcgitimate'y suggested by the Chicago and Denver conven- tions in their separate reception of
 favorite names. Mir. Roosevelt has been before the public for many years and MT. Bryan has addressed more audiences than any man living to-day Neither was ever cheered tnis way be- fore, though numerous have been the opportunities given their admirers tc let themselves go. The conclusion Is l tl l. l,,a t,. walls of a political convention ex. clusively contain the human element. which make demonstration all thai can be made of it. It Is a physio. logical phenomenon, but 1t would bt perhaps a bit more so If In these two instances of prolonged cheering, ono of the beneficiaries had not been pre-. pairing to leave public life while tn,
 other was undertaking 70 break into
 it.
 We are rather inclined to the opin
 ion after all that these cheers be
 long to the category of human spel
 binding. It is the art of the orato
 carried to the Nth power; the skilfu use of human enthusiasm to sway crowd and force 1t to do the biddin,
 of a masters voice. It is absurd, Q course, but If there happens to be any thing in 1t, President Roosevelt shoul,
 admit that for once the breaking O Il records has been taken out of hi u hands.