Evening star., 1924-06-27
CONVENTION OBSERVATIONS
BY FREDERIC FILLIzN VILE

! prophetic symbol. 1t is known in Mary
| land as the Calvert cross. and the ban
| her is the family flag Of Lord Baltimore.
! who married into the Calvert family and
| eventually combined the coiors of the
! TWO houses into a coat-of-arms The
! fiass that fluttered in Madison Square
Garden showed combination of orange
and-black squares, the so-called "pa!ay
of six" adjacent to the Calvert cross in
| red on sea of white. Right gallantlv
cid the Marylanders parade with their
waving banners. while thousands Of
| voices joined them in MARYLAND. Nv
Ma ryIand a."
The convention is beginning to en-
JOY itself. Comparisons with the
deadly dullness OF Cleveland force
themselves into the thoughts of
every one who attended the Coolidge
ratification meeting. This New York
affair is fire and action and drama
every minute. The air teens with ex-
element. Men and women with no
direct interests in the convention are
| infused with its spirit of battle and
| enthusiasm. What it will be like
when balloting begins. or if the Klan
| issue develops into an honest-to-
Soooness stlusSa as on tne moor nobody
can ina gine. There is limit to
thrills even convention mob can
stand. Every promise is at hand
| that the limit will be reached before
the Democrats have chosen their 1924
standard bearers and principles
x X i: X
The belle of the convention is a
| former Washington society girl and
daughter Of venerated Democratic
| chieftain. Mrs. James Thompson of
New Orleans. She is still known to
her admirers as Genevieve Clark.
Her father was Champ Clark. Mrs.
Thompson seems as eternally Youth
ful and vivacious as when she was q
debutante during her fathers sneak
ership and celebra ted fight for the
presidency. She is now the wife of a
Louisiana newspaper publisher. Mrs.
thompson 1nherits the paternal hair
| for politics. She is as Immersed in
the politics of the convention as
george Brennan or Tom Taggart him
self.
Ralston's proposer is the first con-
sention spellbinder to draw upon the
radio for political metaphors. He said
that if the Hoosier statesman is sent
I to the presidency the country will no
longer have a White House that is
turned into a broadcasting station of
| silence and will get dynamic. NOT
static" from the Executive Mansion,
| * X X
| At least six wives of presidential
aspirants are on the scene to watch
and wait for things to happen to their
hopeful husbands. They include Mrs
McAdoo. Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Copeland,
Mrs. Robinson, Mrs. Davis and Mrs.
Gardner, the last named being the
wife Of a former Governor of Mis-
souri,. Several wives of vice presi-
Dental aspirants are here, too, among
them Mrs. Huston Thompson Of Colo
rado, whose husband, chairman of the
Federal Trade Commission at Washing
ton, looms bigger from hour to hour.
| Thompson once was a foot ball coach
in Texas after leaving Princeton. A
giant from Texas ran into him at
Madison Square Garden for the first
time in twenty years. The reunion
resulted in one Lone Star vote for
Thompson for Vice President
When Gov. Sweet OF Colorado be-
| gan to second McAdoo's nomination
at the opening Of Thursdays session,
he was the target Of teers and 'boos''