Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1912-06-06
REAL FIGHT OPENS TODAY IN CHICAGO National Committee Will Hear 226 Contests This
 Afternoon. WILL SLUG COLONEL Must Keep Taft Men Cheerful or Y. R, Would Grab Nomination and
 Make Way With it..
WILL SLUG COLONEL

i Chicago, June 5.-With the nomina- tion of Taft mere side issue all the big guns of the reactionaries on the eve of the first skirmish are trained on Roosevelt The National Commit tee will get together at o'clock to- morrow afternoon and the real fight will begin, with the hearing of 226 contests.
 First slug the Colonel through the ropes, then nominate Taft if we can,' was the word that went out to the committeeman after Crane, Penrose and Mckinley, all of whom got nome today, had gone into solemn conclave at Taft headquarters.
 The Taft people have cheered up a bit. The big bosses want to keep them cheerful. If the committee loses its nerve T. R. will grab the nomina- tion in short order and chain Pen rose, Crane and Mckinley to his chariot wheels.
 In view of this alarming possibility Penrose was so busy buzzing around l committeeman all morning that he was half an hour late for the ball game. ,
 All the major generals got on the jo2b9, tadakAcK inley gotxin at g o'clock, Dixon came in an hour later, Penrose followed.
 From time to time typewritten statements, claiming everything in sight drifted out from both head quarters. Senator Dixon said in private conversation that anybody who had anything worth betting was bad financier if he didn't bet on Roosevelt at any odds he could get.
 The town began to wear pre- convention aspect early in the morn- ing. Men of national political inn portance were, to be found leaning up against every column in the congress.
 William l.. Ward, whose heart has been true to Roosevelt, hung out the welcome sign when Dixon arrived and had a short talk with him. He didn't keep Dixon long, however, for the Senator preferred to be up and going about the corridors, to find cut what was gonig on. Before he had been here twenty minutes everybody was pointing out his solid four square form the man who was boosting for the Colonel. Mckinley nobody saw for he operated from the inside, as he did in Washington, and sent messages to summons to him the delegates that he desired to brace for the coming impact of the Colonels forces.
 All day long the voice of the Roosevelt gang was loud for pub licity in the contest hearing. | Meanwhile Mckinley and Crane were busy with the committeeman, most of whom showed up early for work during the morning.
 Keep up your courage" he told him. "Go at the Roosevelt contests that look weak first. Dispose of them quick and be public about it, and we'll show them that most of the contests are bluffs. After that we can take up the contests that are on the level and deal with them on their merits"
 There are 226 contests altogether. Mckinley admits that about ten of them are really worth considering. He says that about 150 of them are phony. It is violating no confidence to say that these contests will be the first to be considered beginning with Alabama, and that this means the Taft crowd hopes to convey the im- pression that all the Roosevelt eggs are rotten in spots, and persuade the committee to throw away the whole basket.
 What is worrying Mckinley, Crane and Penrose more than anything else is the fear that the Colonel will jump on a train like Sherman jumped on 2 horse and come out and start some l thing. The Taft program for the Repub- lican National Convention is: fof Temporary Chairman Elihu Root For