The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1908-06-25
STIRRING SCENES MARK
NOMINATION OF TAFT
Vote on First Ballot Is 102,
One Vote Short of His
Managers Claim.
MAKE IT UNANIMOUS
General Stewart L. Woodford, Hughes
Booster, Presents the Motion
Outpouring of En-
thusiasm.
AXE IT UNANIMOUS
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES

Chicago, June 22.-For president OF
the United States, William H. Taft, OF
Ohio.
Taft on the first ballot; Taft by ZOE
votes; Taft by the luminous choice OF
the convention.
Such is the result of the eliminating
day of the republican national CONVEX
ton of 1908, effected amid scenes of
tumultuous enthusiasm, and after a
nerve racktng continuous session last
Ing nearly eight hours.
The picture within the walls of the
amphitheater as the presidential can
dfdate was named was truly grandiose
In Its magnitude. In front, to the right
n left, below and above, the billow-
Ing sea of humanity, restless after
hours of waiting, and stirred from one
emotion to another, was in a fever of
expectancy for the eliminating vote.
The favorite sons of other states had
been named except Knox and LaF'ol-
lette, and now on the roll call came
Ohio. AS the Buckeye state was reach
ed the tall, gaunt form of Theodore E.
Burton advanced to the platform to
nominate Ohio's candidate. He spoke
fervently with the singing voice of an
evangelist, which went ringing through
the great building.
Ohio Starts Things.
The close of his speech of nomination
was the signal for loosing the long pent
up feeling of the Taft legions. Instant
ly the Ohio delegates were on their
feet, other Taft states following, while
the convention hosts In gallery and on
the floor broke into mad demonstration.
Taft, Taft-W. H. Taft" came in a
roar from the Ohioans. Megaphones
seemed to spring from concealed places
and swell the Taft tumult into
A huge blue silk banner bearing the
familiar features of the statesman-sec-
rotary was swung before the delegates,
awakening a fresh whirlwind Of en-
thusiasm.
All semblance of order had been
abandoned, and the delegates arena
was o maelstrom Of g~esticulating men,
the guidons of the states We're snatched
up by the Taft enthusiasts or borne
under by the storm of disorder. The
ban was inaudible-a mere whisper
above the deafening volume of sound.
For 10, 15, 20 minutes this uproar con-
tinled. 1t was a repetition OF the
scene of Wednesday when the name of
Roosevelt broke the convention into a
frenzy, repeated in intensity and almost
in duration. But there is a limit to
the physical OF throat and
lung, and at last the tired voices died
down to a hoarse shout and then sub
sided.
This lull now gave the opportunity
for the speech ~seconding Taft's nomi-
nation by George A.. knight. of Cali
fornia, his big round face beaming
forth on the sympathetic multitude
and his splendid baritone voice yelling
forth like the tones of a great church
crgan. CALIFORNIA; tribute to Taft was
brief and eervid.
o there was another lull in the
Taft movement, while the remaining
candidates were placed in nomination.
1t was late In the afternoon before h
convention, now literally sweltering in
the intense heal and weary after near
~ seven hours of the session, reached
the end of the iood Of eloquence and
the decks We're at last feared for the
elimination But no, just as the last
swell of oratory, the seconding speech
for LaFollette, had died away like a
cyclone from n clear sky burst a La
Toilette demonstration which swept the
convention from its very bearings.
LaFolIette, Then Roosevelt.
It was the same deafening wave of
sound that had greeted Roosevelt and
maddening. and with the vital ring of
genuine enthusiasm. 1t seemed as
though Wisconsin had suddenly peo-
pied every foot of the galleries. The
delegates sat calm and waiting, except
the frantic Wisconsins, but the nve
ton for the time being was in the pos
session of the gallery.
Now a singular transformation oc-
CURED. Gradually the whirlwind
veered from LaFollette to Roosevelt. A
banne bearing the Roosevelt portrait
and waved from the gallery was the
signal sfor the change, but In the con-
fused babel of voices there was no dis
tinguishing where the LaFollette cheers
ended and those for Roosevelt began.
Roll Call Starts.
Amid this pandemonium and with the
galleries In full control, Chairman
Lodge decided upon heroic action in
erder to again make the convention
master of its affairs. He ordered the
roll call OF states to begin for the vote
on president. Such a cali under such
circumstances OF intense confusion has
probably never occurred In the history
of national conventions.
A ballot was taken to nominate a
candidate for president while the con-
yention was cheering frantically for a
man whose name had not been pre-
scented to the convention. The votes
were being counted for Taft while the
people we're shouting for Roosevelt.
The delegates, however, cas- their votes
uninfiuenced by the clarmor OF the
crowd. More than this, the first states
on the call, Alabama and Arkansas,
had been relied upon by tire Roosevelt
enthusiasm to start the stampede for
Roosevelt. but they held by their in-
structions while the stampede ragged
about them.
The secretary was powerless to
make his call or the states heard above
the deafening clamor. Selling a meg
Nphone he shouted the roll OF states