The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-06-12
Is Regarded as Ideal Build ing for Housing the
 Crowds
SPEAKERS WILL
 STAND IN CENTER
To Facilitate Ingress and Egress Hall Has Been Divided Into 76 Sections = Space for
 200 Musicians

ZOO MuSlc1anS
 Baltimore, June 1.-The democratic candidate for President of the United States will be nominated in a huge Ma tional Guard armory situated in the residence portion of Baltimore When this city sent its representatives before the democratic national committee to bring the national convention here the possession of an ideal convention hall was one of the strongest advantages Baltimore had to offer Since that time, at the expense of many thousand dol lars, the hall has been made 10 answer every requirement of the delegates who assemble here on June % and the Alterations.
 The democratic national convention will meet in the Fifth Regiment armory, which occupies nearly whole city square in the Mount Royal district, fronting on Hoffman street and bound ed by Preston street In the rear. At the two ends of the block are Park and Lin- den avenues. both of which carry troll ley lines connecting with the business center. Two squares distant is the main station of the Baltimore and Ohio rail- road and only little further, barely five minutes walk, Is the Union sta- tion, where passengers arrive on the other railroads entering the city. Close at hand, within easy walking distance, Is the citys largest hotel.
 Built for Big Conventions
 When the state spent S450,000 for this drill hall to house Baltimore's fla nous regiment, the Dandy Fifth," big conventions were in mind and the build ing was situated and designed with ref erence to affording such accommoda- tions Exterior establishment was a secondary consideration. The Fifth Regiment armory is surrounded by massive walls of grey granite. two stories high, from which rise 12 steel trusses that carry the arched roof to height of S5 feet. It Is lighted by windows in the side walls and by a skyllght that runs the whole length of the apex of the roof From the out side the appearance of tho structure Is not particularly impressive, probably because the principal dimensions are lateral and too extensixe for the eye to appreciate unless the beholder could look down on the building from an ele- Vation. The armory extends 364 feet in width on Hoffman and Preston streets and is 2S4 feet deep. The great drill hall inside, where the convention will assemble, Is 300x200 feet.
 To adapt this building further to convention purposes the state appro- priated ss5.OOo The greater part of this sum has been sqent to increase the seating capacity by putting in tenn porary balconies at the two ends of the drill hall. Decorations, which in clude the construction of a false ceil- ing to improve the acoustic properties, cost s7OO0 Several thousand dollars has been spent in the construction of the speakers platform on seats. and on remodeling the military company quarters at the sides and ends of the building for use as committee rooms
 Endless Vistas of Seats
 As one enters the hall through the main gateway on Hoffman street the eye first is impressed by the magnifi- cent distances and the seemingly end less vistas of seats. Under the hands of the decorators the place has lost its military, utilitarian look, transformed by the more than 10000 yards of bunting that hides the roof beams. drapes the walls and covers practically every foot of the interior except the windows and floor spaces. The back ground is soft effect of cream, gold and white, which makes an effective setting for the national colors dis played in countless arrangements, and the insignia and colors of the various states
 The seating arrangements here are the result of long study on the archi- tects part, aided by the pract.cas ex- perience of men versed In tho practical problems of great conventions The hall will seat comfortably more than 15,000 persons, and those In charge of it's preparation believe they have worked out their problem so that every member of this great audience can command a view of the speakers stand and understand what is being said. To bring this about the location of the speakers platform was the matter of first importance.
 In the Baltimore hall the speakers will stand well out toward the middle of the auditorium, directly opposite the main central entrance midway between the ends of the hall and about 60 feet, or more than one-third the distance. from the rear wall of the interior. This rostrum, the heart of the convention hall. is not large enough to permit part. It measures about 15 feet long by 10 feet deep. It is elevated six feet above the main floor.
 Have Secretaries Platform
 Back of the rostrum, two feet above it and communicating by steps. is another platform of the same size for the use of the secretaries of the convention. Back of this are 600 seats, banked at the rear to height of 14 feet. which are reserved for the officers of the national organiza- tiop. Grouped about the speakers plat form, at both sides and in front. are iS5 through passageways under the banked up seats behind with the company rooms out side the drill hall which have been fitted up for the use of the newspapers and pres3 associations and telegraph and tele- phone companies From these offices, within sound of the speakers voice and of the secretary as he announces the re- suits of each ballot, run wires that will carry the news of the convention to the world.
 In front of the platform, separated only by the narrow row Of press seats and an aisle are the places for the delegates who come to Baltimore 10 register the presidential choice of the party in the various states and territories of the union. Although the number of votes these states and territories may cast aggregates 1094, the architects have provided seats for 200 delegates, because some the states. Mary land among them, send to Baltimore twice as many delegates as they have votes, each delegate being the custodian of half a vote. Back of the delegates sit an equal number of alternates, and these 2f00 seats occupy the center of the floor between the platform and the entrance. These four