Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-10-22

orA g~tu.,>;aDs
by Victor Rosewater

CAMPAIGNING by auto is pretty strenuous,
" but | doubt if it is as strenuous as special
train campaigning. ! went around with the
Hughes party on the tour OF Nebraska last week.
and while it was not the first experience OF the
kind, il emphasized the fact that without, such
an insight no one can have any adequate idea OF
what special train campaigning really is,
For the outsidef the candidate and his wife,
who accompanied him. engrossed all attention,
but there is regular staff organization installed
in the train which is bee hive Of workers with
no eight-hour day limit, either With Mr.. and
Mrs Hughes travelled not only the attendants
necessary to their personal comfort ana the
household economy of the train, but also a regu-
lar Office force secretary stenographers, puDlicty
agents, train master and secret service men, OF
course not government secret service men, but
men OF experience in that sort OF work. In ad-
diton to this, large corps OF press ASSOCIATION
and special newspaper correspondents are SUCKING
close to Mr.. Hughes and constantly pounding out
their copy for the consumption OF the respective
newspapers which they serve.
The stenographic work in connection with the
Hughes tour is the best organized that l have
ever seen in this connection, everything ne says
being taken down by relay and transcribed almost
simultaneously, so that mimeograph copies are
available within a very few minutes after the
conclusion of the talk Out at Hastings, for ex-
ample, | remember that complete stenographlc
report OF the address delivered there was ready
for the local newspapers before the train pulled
out ana mere at the OHldHd tnC sPSSSH
was furnished to the men at the reporters table
two sheets at time as it progressed, and they
scarcely had to wait at all for the finish.
As campaigner, Mr. Hughes is in class
BY himself He has distinct personality of his
own and never overooks the dignity Of the &C.
casion. He realizes that he is aspiring to the
highest position within the gift Of the nation
the greatest elective Office in the word-and that
they expect him to appeal to their reason rather
than to their risbilities. He uses apt illustra-
tons, but never tells funny story. His language
is precise and well chosen, direct and forceful In
all the speeches | heard during two days, the
nearest he came to colloqualism was when he
used the phrase They have another guess COM
ing" He speaks with earnestness and conviction
and wholly extemporaneously, except that he has
his treatment OF different phases of his subject
we'll thought out and doubtless from repetition
uses the same words as the natural vehicle for his
thought. At the conclusion of each speech he
retires to his train apartment to make sure against
colds from the preparation with which he is COW
cred, emerging at once with freshened appearance
to wave from the rear platform to the lingering
crowd as the train pulls out Mrs Hughes also
often appears on the platform at this stage and
frequently responds to the demand for buttons
making them doubly priced. Her presence in
the party gives Mr.. Hughes privacy which he
would not otherwise enjoy and keeps people from
breaking in on him when he is resting or study
ing. Mrs Hughes is a good traveller, too, always
smiling and never complaint and always ready
and prompt on the dot for each move.
} 1t is hardly necessary for me to repeat that
the crowds out to greet and listen to Mr.. Hughes
at the different stopping points were uniformly
tremendous, though varying in number with the
size of the place, and that the people OF these
different communities did wonders in perfecting
their local arrangements and taking care Of the
visitors when consideration is had OF their accom-
modations and resources for this purpose. In
small towns, even more than in large cities, diff
hcultyNis invariably encountered in keeping the
roadways open for the visiting party clear
approach is maintained at the outset and until
Mr.. and Mrs. Hughes with the local escort pass
and then everyone in the sidelines seeks to break
through and follow, with the consequence fire.
quently that the remainder of the train party
have to literally fight their way to the platform
or stand, and the same is true for the return to
the train at the conclusion Of the speaking
came in for no little good-natured chatting
over mishap at York which has been duly ex-
plotted in some of the papers. The sum and sub
stance of it is that when an inventory Of train
occupants was had after departure there, it was
found that National Committeeman Howell and
myself had been left and were among the miss
ing. The party had debarked from the train at
the railway crossing nearest the court house
square, where the speaking was to take place.
Our autos were trife behind with the result
that the closing in of the crowd left us on the
outskirts and Mr. Howell suggested that for the
sake of exercise we walk back to the train We
retraced the route to the crossing, only to find
that the cars had gone on to the station, and by
the time we reached the station they had gone
still farther. The only saving clause was that
both Of us were left. why did you choose such
dry town as York;" was the first question
met with after catching up at Lincoln. IF only
one Of you had missed out, we would have
thought the other put up the job ventured an
other member of the party
I admit that ought to have known better
than to separate from the rest of the company,
for in political campaigning, as in military cam
pagnng, the price of safety is to keep up with
the procession at all times, and always in touch
with the base of supplies