Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-18
IN FEAR OF STAMPEDE
Roosevelt Sentiment Made
Light of, But Respected.
"ANTIS" WERE TROUBLED
Yesterdays Demonstration Charges
Situation With Electricity.
SCENE IN CONVENTION HALL
District Delegation Raises Laugh.
Flather and Horner Get Compli-
ments for Active Participation.

Special From a Staff Correspondent
CHICAGO. June IS. 1908.
When the republican national conven-
ton was called to order at 10 O'Clock TINS
morning there was enough electricity In
the air to run a railroad or illuminate a
city.
The hall was charged with it. Even
these members of the Wiseheimer family
who pooh pooh yesterdays hour-lcnS
screechfest following the mention OF
1.-The President" were nervous and as full
of the current as a cats back.
Such of them with whom l talked. as
the Coliseum was filling. scoffed at the
idea that there were any stampede sur
prises in store, and said that when the
time came the various pledged delegates
would stand up and deliver like d trained
animal troupe. But you could see that
even while they are saying 1t the skilled
and licensed political mariners kept their
attention on the barometer, weather
eye to windward and took the feel of the
air every now and then with wetted fore
finger.
The Roosevelt demonstration is worth
n word or two-or mavhap three. In the
first place Mr. RooSevelt's name was not
even mentioned. and there was no ''Theo-
dore Roosevelt thundered out by Sem
ator Lodge. the permanent chairman. in
his excellent speech to break the dam
and let loose the waters Instead Mr..
Lodge said. 1.-The President at the
proper place in his canned speech and in
quite the most gentle way.
Stop-Watches Set.
But that was enough. The half-dozen
newspaper men sitting near me immedi-
ately pulled out stopwatches and set
them to going. Fifty minutes later they
agreed the uCroar had died down suffi-
GENTLY 10 call the time and swap them
off.
Let no one think that forty-nine min.
utes isn't long. long time to howl
Just try it some time and see. OF course
the baby can do it without turning a
hair. but it is something of a stunt for
grOwn-upS.
made the Roosevelt demonstration of yes
terday last forty-nine long minutes they
did 1t by working in relays. But. as the
yowlers and shouters and handclappers
and Chautauqua OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
waverS were scattered all over the hall
the vocal violence was evenly distributed
and seemed general all the time
II is true that the mere spectators on
the platform and in the galleries ac-
counted for a good deal of the noise
But isn't that only natural? Your aver
age politician isn't yelling himself into a
fit until the proper time. at least, GER
tainly not until you can show him soma
excellent reason therefor. And the reason
seemed lacking yesterday.
So. if the demonstration had depended
solely on the delegates on hand. there
wouldn't have been any forty-nine min
utes of continuous noise. But as there
were at least 120oO people in the hall
less than 10 per cent of whom were dele
gates. it isn't to b. wondered that the
delegates didn't make mCst of the noise
They couldn't have done it even if they
had been in the humor
"Antis" All Aquiver.
'Tis a bitter pill for your ally folks
and other antis to swallow-this demon
stration thing of yesterday-and now they
are going around trying to cheer them
selves up by saying it wasn't such a much
after all. that the delegates didn't howl
fearfully. that there were paid claquers
in the galleries, and a lot of other fool
ishness of this nature.
But they are looking over their shoul-
ders all the time for the third term spec
ter that they fear to see. If you joggle
them unexpectedly they jump up in the
air and are perspiring freely when they
light.
So, taking it all in ALL there doesn I
seem to be any doubt but that the DEM
perhaps even in a class by itself. For
while there have been some long-son-
tinued racketS at previous conventions
in fact, there are a lot of newspaper men
who are always provided with stop
watches SO that they can clock applause
record breakers-the racket usually comes
after the nomination and not merely at
the mention of the title of a man who
has declared in language about as une-
quivocal as can be framed that he amt.
don't, won't and SO forth.
Twas a vastly interesting thing during
that forty-nine minutes of unalloyed din
to sit and look out over the vast hall at
the waving flags and hats and banners
and arms and even coats and Vests-for
some folks got enthusiastic they had
to shed clothing-and to listen to the way
the waves of sound rose and fell. and
to note how these waves were Influenced
by even the most trivial of incidents.
Once after the cheering had been going
on for about twenty minutes and showed
signs of possible diminution. a delegate
way back in the rear of the hall-I could
not find out from what state-jumped to
a chair and from that climbed to the
shoulders of couple Of his fellows. Then,
standing there like an acrobat. he took
off his coat and vest and swung one In
each hand around his head, yelling all
the time. The crowd went crazy again
and for ten minutes it was too noisy to
think.
Teddy Bear on the Scene.
Ten minutes SO later there came the
widest scenes of all. For up in the speak
er's platform somebody materialized a
Teddy bear. not a little one-dollar size
but stuffed affair as big as a sizable
grizzly cub. After the bear had been
tossed around up there and made to wave
it's paws and nod it's wabbly head at the
madly yelling throng 1t was pitched down
to a member of the nearest delegation,
who threw it up in the air and over to
the delegation Immediately behind.
Every time the poor animal shot up
rOofward the applause from the 12.U1
rose to a hysterical E-string screech. The
bear was passed back in this way until
it came to the Oklahoma delegation.
which is exceedingly Taftish. There a
large person with a wide-awake hat and
wilted collar threw it to the floor and
sat on it's head. For a minute it looked
as if there was going to be fight. But
everybody was too good-natured to let
it go as far as that.
Nav, l won't let you have it," said
the Okiahomian sitting on the bear. to a
delegate who was threatening him with
things worse than death if he didn't keep
the animal moving round the hall.
Nav l won't Amt We going to nom-
mate Taft? What? Then let's quit this