Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1913-08-23
Take your hands of him, Bull No

So they bawled and Donahue "rls
gled But the hand of Nolan. ike the .
hand of Douglas. was his own, ana .
gripped fast Grogan, his face red
his eyes on fire. leaped from his place /
in his delegation. and started across
the chairs for Nolan. The big saloon
keeper gave him look out OF his III !
tie eye. His left shoulder dipped, his
left fist frightened. Grogan halted.
Vote. Jimmie. me lad" said Nolan,
in a soft voice
Underwood" said DOnahue, in a
whisper His weak. pinched, hungry
face turned appealingly toward Gro
gan. His blear eyes were filmy with
disappointment
He votes for Iohn ". Underwood,
Misther Chairman" said Nolan COM
placently The vote was unchanged.
The chairman ordered another ballot.
And then, all at once. as if breath
from a sanded desert had blown into
the room, Underwood was sensible of
change in the atmosphere. The air
was perhaps no hotter than it had
been for hours at the close OF that
sitting day, no bluer with tobacco
smoke. no heavier with the smell
borne in from Clark street on hot
winds that had started cool and fresh
| from the lake four blocks away,
smell compounded of many smells, the
| smell ascending from foul and dark
cellars beneath the sidewalk, the
I 80 oil tho an1mnni1c
smell of filthy pavements, mingled
with the feculence of unclean bodies
that had sweated for hours in the vi
tiated air of that low-ceilinged, crowd
ed room.
A hush fell. Muldoon, his black,
curly locks shining with perspiration,
was leaning on his improvised gaveL
his keen eve. the Irish eye that s."
readily seiZes such situations, dart
ing into every face before him.
And suddenly came that for which
they were waiting A man entered the
hall and strobe straight across the
floor into the Fifth ward delegation,
into the group where the Underwood
men were clustered about their lead
er. He wore evening clothes, his
black dinner coat and white shirt bos-
ON striking a vivid note in the scene
He walked brisklt, but his mind was
so intent upon his pose that it was not
until he had removed his cigarette
from his lips and had observed Un
derwood. that his white teeth showed
beneath his reddish mustache in the
well-known smile of George X. Bald
win. He elbowed his way into the
very midst of the Underwood mer
from the Fifth ward. and leading one
of them aside. talked with him an in
. slant. and then returned him, as i
were. to his place in the delegation
Then he brought forth another. whis
2 pered to him for an earnest moment
+ and sent him back. with smile ant
: slap on the shoulder. The thirC
. delegate detained him longer, ant
e once, as he argued with him, thu
slightest shade of displeasure crosse'
, Baldwin's face, but in an instant tn
!. smile replaced it. and he talked-con
r vincingly, it seemed. Before Baldwin
returned this man to his delegation
, he shook hands with him.
, The secretary was calling tn
n wards, and Nolan had announced tn
= result in his delegation. The FIT
o ward was a long while in preparin
!. it's ballots. There was trouble {
o some sort there. among the Undel
n wood men. Nolan was urging. expos
Y tulating, cursing, commanding. Tn
If air was tense. 1t seemed to Underwoo
d that 1t must inevitably be shattere
q by some moral cataclysm in the SO,
% of man Grogan's brow was knit. a
X he waited. hat in hand. The delegate
d voted Feverishly, with trembling fiji
gers, Grogan opened and counted III
bits of paper. Then he sprang to h
- feet. with wild. glad light in h
face.
y, Mister Chairman" he cried, "tf
Fifth ward casts twenty-five votes fl
-. Conway and four for Underwood"
The three boilers in the Fifth wal
delegation sat with defiance in the
u faces, but they could not sustain Il
II expression, even by budding close {
10 gether They broke for the doc
&c wriggling their way through mass
of men, who made their passage u
lie certain, almost perilous. A billow
n applause broke from the Conway me
20 and submerged the convention. Del
IN gates all over the hall were on the
feet, clamoring for recognition. b
o Malachi Nolan's voice doomed heavi
above all other voices. His fist was
o. the air above all other fists.
"Misther Chairman" he yelled.
ou challenge that vote!"
"Misther Chairman" yelled Groga
We "a point of order. The gentlem;
RI isn't a member of the Fifth ward de-
CATION and can not challenge
nd vote!"
OF THE point of order is well taker
he promptly ruled the chair. THE &c
tleman from the First ward is out
ed order-he will take his seat"
Men were screaming, brandishi
ID. fists, waving hats, coats, anythir
ot scraping chairs, pounding the flo
ed with them. There we're heavy, brut
nd oaths, and, here and there, the sma
of a fist on a face. In the tumult, {
nm five Simmons votes went to Conws
an Muldoon was beating the table wi