The Washington times., 1920-05-13
tCs.ti.ssl fro. Yesterday

Somebody brought In a large
Teddy bear and passed II around,
almost causing a riot. IL nnally
rolled beneath the feet of a lot of
people who were nghting TO get pos
session OF IL, and the police arriy-
ing on the scene suppressed the ex-
element. while the Teddy bear dis
appeared for good and always. Tn.
cheering for La Toilette was mixed
In with that for Roosevelt-a sort
OF Eood-by ovation. There was
much voting and orstory on the
question OF reducing the represen-
tation from the Southern States-a
colored delegate spoke remarkably
well. but II all amounted TO nothing,
for no change was made.
Scene of General TumuIt.
On the third day the session was
opened by a woman singing. and
by clubs marching through the
aisles with bands and much cheer
Ing. We sat In one spot for eight
hours. again on the platform, with
a bottle OF water for our only re-
freshment. 1t was more than
crowded and you could not leave,
for you would never get your seat
again. A man near us talked con-
tinually during the speaking, and
getting no encouragement. finally
got up, saying he guessed he would
leave because the man next him
was SO nervous. The other retail
lated by exclaiming, no wonder-his
neighbor talked so loud he couldn't
hear a word OF the speeches.! A
knock-dow night resulted. There
were many comments in the news
papers next day-it was charged
that the ushers had admitted SO
many of their friends that the
ticket-holders who arrived late
were not allowed entrance.
Much OF the speaking was of the
wild West order, fiamboyant and
high-flown, with ranting and antics;
several of the "orators" were so in
toxicated with their own verbosity
that they talked too long and were
guyed by tho crowd. This was un-
dignified, but so amusing that 1t
gave variety to the proceedings.
uncle Joe" Cannon received
much applause from his native
State. Fairbanks had a moderate
amount, too, but Governor Hanly's
speech nominating him was very
long, and everybody became so hot
and tired that they called Time!
Timer But he declared vehement
ly that he would stop when he got
ready whereat everybody shouted,
Get ready! Get ready" AS the
Governor talked, he clapped his
hands to emphasize his words, and
the crowd clapped with him, SO we
all got into gales of laughter.
Little enthusiasm fell to Hughes,
but the excitement over La Toilette
was perfectly amazing. In the
light of recent events, we can hard
ly be thankful enough that the lat
ter has never been elected to the
chief office of the nation. Claauers
were posted about and a burly,
long-haired man from Wisconsin
howled in our ears for at least fif-
teen minutes, la Toilette! He's
all right! La Toilette and the
square deal!- Then Roosevelt's
picture was produced - -Four
years more, Theodore" After
wards there came twenty minutes'
applause for Taft, and he finally
was nominated by seven hundred
votes.
Excitement continued in the air
on Friday, for no one knew who
would be Vice-President. Fair
banks was out of the running, for
his friend, Governor Hanly, had
said in his speech that Fairbanks
was a builder. not a destroyer, q
remark which, we heard, made
Roosevelt very angry. Consequent
ly the administration did not wish
him chosen for the office and de-
cided instead upon Congressman
Sherman. There was great en-
thusiasm for him, and he, too. re-
ceived about seven hundred votes.
So the convention Of 1908 ended,
and we were very happy at the way
things had turned out.
CHAPTER v.
Enter Mr.. Taft.