The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-31
LEvIES
 TOLL ON EARLY
 COP. VISITORS
Prices Soar As Advance Crowd Arrives For Re
 publican Convention.
HEADQUARTERS" ARE
 $1,OOO FOR ONE DAY
Season Tickets For Big Gathering Cost $25O Each
 and Many Pay.

shows that ever played the Windy City is not unlike that of preparing the county fair grounds for tbe an nual exhibit of fat steers, e1derberry pies and crops.
 A large and industrious army of exhibitors, press agents and manag- CTS and a score of delegates who will try to graft two Republican factions into one are industriously setting up the tents, making 8 lot of foolish pre- dictions and gumshoeing for tickets that, like everything else in the Win dy City, have a substantial market value.
 It is obvious 60 the most casual ob- server that, 10 days ahead of the meeting of the Straight Goods Re- publican and Progressive National Conventions, tickets of admission are of vastly more importance than can didates for President. Vice President and platforms.
 It is also superhuous to add that the tfbest seats' are to be obtained from the gent1eman1y spectators. Quotations today for front row season seats range from $15O to $250, with lots of takers.
 Political activities are confined to the idle gossip of Headquarters man agers,'' who have been sent on ahead to spend the money of their respective ''favorite sons'' and send back glowing reports of prospects. Prosperity is the keynote of these managers. They all appear to have fat bankrolls to leave with the managers of the Chicago ho- te1s.
 Not less than seven headquarters in tended to promote the aspirations of men who think they stand a chance of drawing the privilege of running against MT. Wilson have been opened so far. with more to come. i
 A few of these quarters come as high as $1,O0O a day. starting next Thursday, when the first actual fea- ture of the program is scheduled to to take place-the meeting of the Re- publican National Committee to pass on half dozen contests between del egatfons, mainly from the South.
 None of these battles promises any thing like the fun of four years ago, when the committee ran the Taft steam roller over the friends of Col. Roosevelt in patches of a dozen a day, and provoked a wall that made the process vastly entertaining for the spectators There will be few con hicts which may decide whether one of the, favorite sons is going to have nine votes on the first ballot for Presi- dent or only six.
 The only man mentioned in con- nection with the Presidential nornina- ton who is apparently without inter est in either delegate contest or head quarters is Supreme Court Justice Hughes. He has not even taken a hall bedroom in any of the leading or second class hotels; nor does he or his friends seem to care whether any of the delegates secure seats or not
 Yet the name of MT. Hughes is more often on the lips of the head7 other of the, 15 or 20 men who are regarded-by their managers+as having a "chance.'' The justice mon opolized pretty nearly all the political gossip that helps to pass away the time of the managers and swell the bar receipts of the hotels.
 The mystery about him is fascinat- ing. The very absence of spokesmen for him attracts 8 lot of attention to him. Nobody knows whether he will permit his name to go before the straight goods convention. There is not the slightest information as to what delegates from his own state will present his name, or how many delegates really favor him.
 What will be the attitude of Col Roosevelt toward hirns~or any of the men who are frankly ambitious to lead the fight against the Democratic President whose nomination is a thousand to one shot, also is proble- nautical.
 The colonel himself is not the same sort of man of mystery as the justice because all of the managers and, dele
 
 he is after and a lot of them are not so sure that he viii not get it after the gong sounds for the actual hos tilities to begin.
 The colonel is destined to figure more actively than the justice. All calculations as to the final outcome of the attempt to combine the two fac tions turn upon his plans and those of his friends in the straight goods'' convention.
 For the time being the coIonePs supporters, who outnumber those of | other men figuring any number of | improbable com binations of eventual ities, are playing in with the regu- lars. for the purpose of trimming l the justice.
 It is conceded by the men who are | determined to prevent the colonePs that he practically holds the fate of 1 the justice in his hands. They agree that if he turns down his thumbs or puts the Indian sign opposite the name of the distinguished New fork jurist the latter will not figure in the l finals.
 | Consequently, the old line bosses are centering their efforts on the col | onel to convince him that MT. Hughes is really the greatest obstacle that stands in his way of landing the | nomination for himself. One of the l most surprising features of the situa- ton, as seen through western eyes, is that there is little or no denuncia- 1 ton of the colonel at present among 1 the regulars.
 The regulars are confident that they l have their convention stacked to make | it impossible for the colonel to get the nomination. But they make no se- l cret of the fact that they want him | to tcome home" He undoubtedly can frame the leading feature or fea- -I,-4 e.. c drop a lot of the nonsense about l recall, social justice,' etc. They 1 will not give him the nomination, but he probably can have everything else