The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1908-06-27

for some formal occasion. Yesterday
afternoon the sibilant lisp of the great
crowd in the Coliseum fell like great
wave on the shores of the place, in
idle conversation as the proceedings
of the convention droned on. The
committee on credentials made its re-
port, and the great crowd Tapped it
up as the sea laps up the sand-im-
personally, uninterested, utterly idle
There was no fight, and evidently the
crowd knew there would be no fight
The regular order proceeded. and
Senator Lodge was installed as per-
manent chairman, and the great crowd
the great bun sea, rocked idly 10
look at him. He began to speak with
some fervor, and little ripples of ap-
plause played across the tide. His
earnestness deepened the pillows
slightly.
And the waves lulled and were quiet.
And then, not while he was at eli
max, but as the man before them was
reaching deeper and deeper into the
soul of the place and the occasion, the
sibilant lisp Of the crowd hushed. and
in the great silence the man spoke.
simply and strongly and without ora
torical flourish or emphasis. He has
enforced the laws as he found them.
and so he is the best abused and most
popular man in America"
1t was not much of a tribute But
wave of sincere feeling swept over
the quiet tide OF humanity It was not
strong wave-not much stronger
than the first wave that came rolling
in. But another wave followed il. ana
another higher and stronger came af-
ter it The speaker, who did not rea-
lie what was about to come, put out
his Land to beg silence, but a huge
wave of applause came over him. and
he ducked and backed of good-na-
turedly and let the wind of emotion
play as it would across the restless
sea before him.
At Flood Tide.
In another minute, perhaps two. Sen
ator Lodge rose again to face the ris
ing tide, but it rolled in on him with
great roar, and men knew that jae
storm of applause had come which
Theodore Roosevelt's work as an
American citizen had conjured So
the waves of that storm broke and
roared in that place.
Then the crowd, in that hour of Joy.
gathered individuals in and they
ceased to be individuals and became
the crowd. At times the delegates
were swept of their feet State after
state rose, like black pillows on the
face Of the waters, and cheered and
waved pennants and sank to equilibri-
UNI only to rune up again and cheer
with the crowd. No state was able 10
keep its mooring. And in the tumult
and the shouting there were no re-
dictionaries. New York was as bois-
ferrous as Wisconsin, and Kansas
Joined Pennsylvania.
Roosevelt, Roosevelt, four years
more" they roared, and the cry
SKINNED over the waves of applause
like gull, and like gull it was evan
scent. 1t signifled nothing And then
slowly, when the deep answered deep,
the calm came and the speaker went
on with his speaking.
1t was all Sc simply and so natur-
ally done, all so evidently sincere.
without claque or Encouragement,
that there was In its undercurrent an
element of sadness. For it seemed a
good-by rather than a bait to Theo-
dore Roosevelt, and those who have
feared him feared him no more, and
those who have trusted him were hap
Ply, but rather sad than joyful
Once the big show-the presidential
nOminatiOn-was over, the remainder
of the work of the convention, the Sc
lection of a running mate for Secre-
tary Taft, was completed in short
order on Friday morning when Hon
James S. Sherman of New York was
named for second place on the ticket
WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE
Copyright 1905, by Geo. Matthew Ad 1rns)