Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-15
KEEP B00MS APART
Soundproof Walls Separate
Taft and Roosevelt Quarters.
ONE NOISY; OTHER QUIET
Similar Only in Their Interest in
Abraham Lincoln.
HOLD EXPERIENCE MEETINGS
Each Afternoon Unseated Delegates
Supporting the Colonel Tell
Their Own Stories.
HOLD EXPERIENCE MEETINGS
BY GEORGE FITCH.

BY GEORGE FITCH.
(Copyrighted. 1912 by the Associated Newspapers)
| CHICAGO. Ill. June 15.-The Congress
Hotel Of this city is a building Of ire
mendous strength and endurance 1t is
not only holding the headquarters of the
Roosevelt and Taft booms, but is keeping
! them apart. It accomplishes this by
means of thick brick walls which are not
only f1reproof. but soundproof On the
second floor close to Congress street the
Roosevelt headquarters are reverberant,
while block south and seven floors up
a little band of devoted adherents are
| maintaining a suite of rooms In the In
| terests OF our revered President.
| Both of these headquarters are much
| frequented by republicans who abhor
free trade and express great interest
| in Abraham Lincoln But there the
similarity between the two camps ends.
Pepper and milk are not more unlike
than those Taft and Roosevelt head
quarters. They are not even as nearly
alike as the fore and hind quarters
of an elephant They differ in voltage.
temperature. adjectives. whiskers and
cigars. 1t is only block south and a
few stories up and down by elevator
from the Roosevelt headquarters to the
Taft rooms. But the difference in tenn
perature Is several thousand degrees.
There is no more placid place than
the Taft headquarters. They would be
a rest cure for the custodian of a
gummy placidity. Delegates caparisoned
with large Taft badges wander in. rest
themselves on the plush chairs and
come away refreshed. The vain world
and its turmoil are miles away. There
is In these few simple rooms all the
space and confidence that would be pos
seSsed by a man who is sitting outside
large. cage Of lions. with the key in
his pocket.
Sightseers poke in the sitting room. look
around and then go away and look at the
sunset for excitement.
Roosevelt Quarters Different.
The Roosevelt headquarters are main
tanned in a large hall with great tensile
| strength just above the seething lobby.
One becomes aware of these headquar-
tiers long way off. They permeate the
| whole atmosphere. They are filled with
perspiring men who are conversing. ap-
parently, for exercise. They are free and
easy in their language and manners.
There is no dignity, no repression, no
coldness. Every one Is welcome to come
right in and contribute a new synonym
from the word burglary thief and
tyranny. II he can produce such a
word he becomes Immediately a hero and
attraction, and is invited to speak at the
afternoon prayer meeting This meet
| ing is called each afternoon by Deacon
| Finn of Pittburgh. short. gray-haired,
red-faced man with a frayed mustache
earnest spectacles and a large under
| jaw full of rude, rebellious words.
| Mr.. Finn. who comes from Pittsburgh.
does not like Senator Penrose, and al
ludes to the fact with great freedom.
| conducts these meetings for the comfort
OF the Roosevelt delegates who have been
unseated. AS fast as these delegates are
removed from beneath the steam roller
| they are folded up by loving hands and
dispatched under special delivery stamp,
to the afternoon meeting in the Roose-
| welt headquarters, where they are asked
to tell their story. Everything is frank
and open in these meetings If a man
wishes to allude to a spade he doesn't
merely call 1t a spade. but d spade.
| Men stand up and speak Of United States
senators and other supposedly noble men
in terms which make the assembled dele
gates clutch their pocketbooks and look
| nervously around and whenever the
meeting lags for want of a new and more
violent adjective Gov Johnson and Fran
els ]. Heney Of California get out and
fay the enemy. AS flayers both Of these
gentlemen are in the very front rank.
With dozen well chosen words they can
skin an entire national committee amid
| the wild cheers of those present. If the
national republican committee had as
| many skins as an onion it would have
come skinless yesterday afternoon from
| this throbbing room.
| Are Just Plain People.
They are plain people in the Roose-
Welt headquarters. There is not a frock
coat in sight, as a rule. The percentage
Of plug hats is dot. Plainest of all is
Gov. Glasscock Of West Virginia, who
has made plainness his speciality. He is
| a thick man, considerably out of plumb
as to BODY who wears straw hat,
which is prevented by his ears from
eclipsing him, and a red necktfe and
! trousers which are creased annually.
| Gov. Stubbs OF Kansas is almost as plain.
though he DISCUSSES the fact by wearing
new clothes. He is a plentiful man with
| a red face and with loosely put on guam
titles Of reddish gray hair. Gov. john
son is more dapper on the clothes. and
parts his back hair very carefully, but
| he also uses the unconventional trip ham,
position. Judge Ben B. Lindsay OF Colo
| RADIO is a vest pocket volcano in neat
/ clothes, and he makes a speciality in the
prayer meetings of expressing his earnest
| desire to accommodate any one who may
| feel offended at his conversation. es-
pecially big" Steve. his neighbor in
| Denver Next to Heney, Lindsay is the
| hercest man in the meetings, and his talk
yesterday was devastating.
| For two hours each afternoon the Roose-
welt delegates talk matters over and make
| suggestions for the conducting of the
campaign. Every one is welcome to come
| in and suggest and no one seems to hold
back One suggestion which was
Enthusiastically received was to the effect