The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-06-12
FIRST POLITICAL CONVENTION IN BIC ST. LOUIS COLISEUM IS
 TO BE DEMOCRATIC GATHERING.
National Convention Will Be Called to Order in Great Hall on Wednesday, To Name Standard Bearers For Coming Campaign.


 cratic National Convention which as sembles here on June 14 will be the first political convention to be held In the St. Louis Coliseum. The first pub lie meeting in this building was in the presidential campaign of 1908 when William H. Taft, Republican nominee, spoke there. At that time the Colise- um wasinot completed. Fifteen thou sand persons crowded into the struc- ture for that opening.
 The Coliseum was built in 1907-190S at a cost of $336,OOO. ] As arranged for the Democratic National Conven- tion it will seat approximately O,OOO persons This seating capacity is ob- tained as follows:
 On the platform are 512 seats. In the section for daily newspaper cor respondents and press associations are 472 seats.
 Sections set apart for the editors of Democratic weekly papers in Missouri and Illinois will accommodate 238 more persons.
 Seats will be provided for 1,O78 delegates and the same number of al- ternates, though there may be some slight change in these figures~fn case some states send extra delegates with a fractional vote.
 In the boxes are seating accomoda- tions for 546, in the arena balcony D. 494 and in the balcony 3,400.
 This makes total of 9,818. Extra seats placed wherever possible throughout the building bring the to- tai seating capacity to about 10000.
 The building is so designed that there is room on the arena floor only for the delegates, a1ternates and the daily and weekly newspaper men.
 The Coliseum is an octagon, consid- erabIy narrowed at one end by \di- agona1 side wall. The greatest length of the building is from north to south, and it's narrowest dimension from east to west has been rallied off for thea platform and press sections. The plat form is forty feet wide, and immedi- ately back of the speakers stand and the tables for tel1ers and clerks a plat form extending rises to the rear of the upper balcony. This extension con- tains seats for 512 persons. These seats were distributed by the national committee, and the members of the committee and their immediate par ties are to, occupy most of them.
 Around the arena floor on three sides are the boxes, which are reser- we'd for specially invited guests-aprty leaders of prominence, diplomats, etc.
 That part of the public which is not fortunate enough to have platform or box seats is to be accmm plated in the arena balcony, which rises inna ediate- ly from the boxes, and in the balcony which corresponds to the second gal lery in most public halls.
 The total number of seats available for the public therefore is 5,S94, and the distribution of part of these is ai- Iotted to the St.. Louis committee which raised the $10O,00O convention fund.
 On the west side of the Coliseum, back of the speakers platform are the work rooms for the press associa- tions and the telegraph companies As this space, as originally planned, prov ed too narrow to acconodate the press associations, an eight foot passageway through this section was abandoned, and by order of the Mayor an alley in. the rear of the Coliseum was vacated, and covered with awning. This serves as a passageway. A passage way under the platform leads from the press sections on the arena floor to the work and telegraph rooms in the rear.
 On the north side Of the building the Washington avenue side-is a large emergency hospital, on the south side are the rooms O. the Democratic National Committee, and on the east or Jefferson avenue side is the room of the sergeant at arms, and the con Vention postOffice. The decorations of the Coliseum were designed by Edward c. Dillman 1 of St. Louis. In order to obtain as much daylight as possible, the walls of the Coliseum have been painted white To get the full benefit of this reflection it was necessary to exclude decorations from the walls. The dec oratfons, accordingly have been placed around the front of the balcony and boxes and on the supporting columns that run around the building. Plaster relief meda1lions of Wash 1 ington, Jefferson, Jackson, Cleveland and wilson, each by feet, are clear around the building, and each medallion is surrounded by American flags The columns are covered with bunting, and the boxes are hung with | the national co1ors. To improve the light reflection, six thousand yards of white muslin cover the ceiling, except l for a strip down the center which is hung in the national co1ors. Altogeth- 1 CT 3O,0OO yards of bunting were used l in the decoration of the convention hall and 500 to TOO American flags The platform, of course, is 'draped with bunting and flags.
 The Western Union Telegraph Com pany has a cable of 100 wires into the 1 Coliseum, and the Postal Telegraph ! Company has more than fifty. These | wires do not include, the leased wires l of the press associations, but are for 1 private and newspaper telegrams. | Two hundred to three hundred po- licemen will be assigned to the Co1ise-
 nu during convention sessions to pre-
 serve order and block activities by pickpockets
 1 The St. Louis Coliseum is on Jef- ferson avenue, between Washington
 avenue and Locust street. It is two miles west of the retail business dis trict and from the Planters Hotel
 where many of the party leaders will be quartered during the convention; 1; it is a mile west of the Jefferson Ho- tel where the Democratic National | Committee is housed, and is about
 three quarters of a mile north and 1 west of Union station. The Coliseum is l about five minutes car ride from the i Jefferson Hotel and ten minutes from the center of the business district
 The Commercial Cable company an