The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-06-09
lSIDELIGHTS AND GOSSIP OF NOTABLE FIGURES A T BIG CHICAGO CONVENTIONS
 to fu Factor Can Makeo Ia
By HUGH W. ROBERTS

mere mention of his name trembles.
 ''Roosevelt' is on every tongue. "Roose-
 velt is the essence of his every thought.
 He is the buoyant life of the progress
 sives' and the death weight of the
 standpatters He cannot rule but with
 what ease he could ruin!
 Hughes, cold, phegmatic, stoical, may
 win the nomination. But he can never be
 the idol of a great radical element, or
 the bete noir of conservative.
 Roosevelt, idolized on the one hand and
 heartily feared on the other, is the man
 of the convention" And no one regard
 ing that statement will take issue.
 The politicians who are regarded as
 'powerful'' are here in legions. In the
 progressive camp are George w. Perkins,
 Victor Murdock, Clifford Pinchot and
 other equally well known radicals Frank
 Hitchcock, former Postmaster General,
 is looking after the interests of Justice
 Hughes-though in the ''chaperonage' of
 the jurist, Governor Whitman of New
 York and the delegations of Oregon and
 Vermont are lending a hand. William
 B. Mckinley, millionaire member of Conr
 gress and astute politician, is the Sher-
 man pilot Senator Weeks, in the ca
 pacity of delegate, is looking after his
 own campaign. Henry Cabot Lodge,
 ready, it is said, to jump to Roosevelt,
 is aiding Weeks. And there are innum-
 erable others.
 And yet if Roosevelt, who is absent, is not the leader, there is none. The "old guard?" Yes, the "old guard is here. But even it does not-cannot- lead.
 Four years ago it led Then each of its integral parts moved with single purpose. Now it is a loose organization, an association of many men of many minds
 Four years ago none were greater than Root and Barnes. Now, the former, ab. sent, has only a minority of the New York delegation. And Barnes sits alone in the shadows, shuddering at his ap- preaching fate.
 Penrose and Crane, true, shine with undiminished glory. But neither domi- nates Crane, committed to Weeks, at heart for Hughes, will emerge, ire spective of the nominee, with his share of glory. And Penrose, even though possessed of majority of his delega- ton, cannot lead because he professes to have an open mind'-which is an- other way of declaring his purpose of ob- serving 'the way the cat jumps" He is determined so skillfully to play the game that the nominee will be compelled to duIUlL LHdL IluCH CIeQlL IOF HIS SuC- cess is due the Pennsylvania chieftain. The situation from it's very inception up to the present moment has been and is chaotic.
 This fact is traceable to the lack of leaders.
 Lack of leaders, or rather lack of or ganized effort to put candidate over | is traceable to the fact that the bosses 1 fear Roosevelt.
 And again, there is no man availabl I in the rallying to whom they can over- come in the noise and fervor of their enthusiasm, their deep seated fear o1 Roosevelt.
 For is not Hughes, after all, an iciclet l T. R. is represented by an entire con vention, half hundred delegates in an other convention and the following mem and Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr, ant | MT. and Mrs. Nicholas Longworth. T. R. Jr., Is quite character Alp l parently he is lacking in the virility o his father. He is tall and thin and il
 manner nonchalant, smokes a pipe. H. l is not at all worried on account of tn chaotic situation He probably knows hi dad can take care of himself. 
 I Nicholas Longworth boasted sometime
 ago that he had surrendered the offic l of official son-in-law'' to w. G. McAdco I However, in Chicago at the present time | he is again in possession of the honor
 A Texas delegate, stopping Nicholas to l day, inquired, Say, Nick, how's father?' I Longworth, evidently nonplussed, hesi
 tated moment and then. smiling, re l piled, "Oh! Father? Yes. Why, the olt ! y,1op will p1ri6onf1y oI, l
 l There is another wizard on th scene, receiving attention. Bryan. Cobl and Blythe are sharing honors with Mar! l Roberts Rinehart, author of "The Maj 1 in Upper Ten" and other lightweight l fiction. At the present time she is writ | ing politics for Chicago paper. On ! of the boys in the press gallery asked l Mrs. Rinehart today what she though | of the situation. Like flash she re
 sponded: Why, it's all bands, hustle ant
 booze" And perhaps she was not ia wrong at that.
 l Bruno Leasing, wel-known magazin, writer, is also in the popular" game
 Like Cobb, he is not trying to treat tn l situation seriously. However, he is clev | erly satirizing the positions of the chap
 erons of the several candidates and i
 otherwise adding to the gayety of tn, ! moment
 The progressives have a real, live | convention. full of color and spectac.
 ular features Its banners attract at. tention. One of them reads: Had T. R 1 Been President, Where Would Villa Bt
 Now?" Another solemnly announces l Columbus, N. M. Wants Teddy" Ant thus for the second time Columbus is 1 put on the map. Another of these ban ners contains the representation of | log cabin and in red letters one reads
 North Dakota Pioneer Home of Col I Theodore Roosevelt" Il Alabama has a conspicuous banner It is about 12 feet in length, On it fl