The Washington times., 1924-07-03
Impressed
WITH BRIAN'S
Whisper
Writer Surprised Commoner
Never Rose Higher III
Ranks Of Party
BY JACK lat.
international News Service.

NAAs~AAANAsS0 NAlD USAC6h&C. E10 Gains
lere to the big burg, all fun 81
nigh ideals and hot air. You sec
aim now. He ID limp. listless, lack
adaisical. licked.
He IL hOmesiclK, probably broke,
and he IL a. debated az Z punctur-
% toy balloon. He has been taught
his place. which is anywhere from
l-1O98 of q muddled mess OF Demo.
Gratis up to 40 high as 1.20 of o
unit delegation In which, II he isn't
With the majority OF his clique. he
doesn't count at all.
They sit. They just sit and sit
and sit day after day, evening
after evening. They go out weary
Ind they come back Wilted. Then
hey sit some more and sit and sit.
They know the routine now, the
roll-cAll, the answers, the tone of
he voice Of each State spokesman
Ind each reading clerk. the stock
answers by the chairman on the
platform. the announcement of how
many OF them there are and how
many 1t takes to nominate and
hat, there being not enough Of
hem for any one nominee-the clerk
Will call the roll Of the States.
Time All Cheers.
They know when the gallery will
sheer and they know when the
Missouri delegation viii zip and
when the Oklahoma outfit viii yelp
Ind when the reporters will set up
md 20 downstairs to steal smoke,
which they can't do without get
ing black looks from the other
from their respective
States.
In every gang there is at least
)ne who takes himself tmore prob
ably HERSELF very seriouslY--still.
That one has a duty to perform,
the honor OF a district. q State,
yea, nation, to defend. So, no
aIackers tolerated. For after all
this dog fight is over, the thousands
of delegates and alternates VIII
scatter and go hack to their cross
roads and their one-night stands,
and then the earnest ones win Cos
sip and blame the whole disaster
on the one who went out to sneak
4 smoke. So the delegates are
to their hard. uncomfort-
able chair.
So they stand sit and sit and
SIT.
Another roll call ends, there ID
q brief interim while the human
adding machines compute the MALT
votes and get lot of brushing ur
on their rusty exercises In fractions,
then the announcement of the
totals, the monotonous repetition OF
the ritual about how many there
are and how many 1t takes and
how; there being not that many
the clerk will call the roll Of the
States.
Cramp Back IN Chairs.
Those who have risen to stretch
,ramp back into their chairs. They
may be in Wyoming, which won't
be reached for p long, dreary.
ironing, drclling time. But the
clerk is calling the roll Of the
States. The call and the replies
now sound far away. The dele
rates whisper the States and the
answers under their breaths In the
Of the man on the plat
porm and the men and women
iotted over the floor acreage who
will pop up like wooden soldiers
With all different sorts Of whistles
n their systems and give. back
heir cuckoo calls and sparrow
.hirps and bull frog grunts on cue.
Here and there, furtively, the
slide around from sector
10 sector-Brennan Of Illinois, Cuff
ley Of Pennsylvania the nephew,
for the old war horse,
1imself), Mack, of New York, Rock
we'll, of the McAdoo interests and
bless us--Bryan of Nebraskar-I
mean Florida-an Taggart, Of In.
Llama.
Has Great Whisper.
Bryan shifts about. He sits over
here and then again why over
else. He whispers. For
In orator with a famous set of
,axaphone pipes, he has a great
whisper. Strange that Democrat
With such good whisper never
'ose higher In his party.
Brennan and Taggart are buzzing
.Ogether now. For days they gave
Dne another the cold and icy. But
low they are behaving in man
Ter that would have them kept after
schools in class. Ah--maybe they
rave come to some understanding.
We shall see--the clerk IL calling
he roll of the States, and both of
heirs are in the I division.
"Intliana--SO," calls the clerk.
The gentlemen from Indiana
rises and, while breaths are held
or second, bellows:
Indiana casts thirty votes for
Governor Ralston."
"Pshaw-same old piffle."
And Illinois has just cut up its
over the whole field, lay.
ng Its tribute of not less than one
lalf Of one vote at the feet of every
light and dark horse in or out Of
What, then, are these conferences
nd low get.togethers about? Prob
bly, discussing the best bet In to.
norrow's card at Aqueduct, and
maybe agreeing that Governor
'ilzer is now out Of the balloting
or good.
Roll Call Goes On.
The roll call Is going on. 1t Is
low up somewhere around Utah
light for McAdoo-everybody knows
hat by this time.
The delegates IN the earlier let
ers have relaxed. They won't be
cached again, or their mouthpieces
Won't be. until the finish Of this
'oster, the pause for the count, the
'ronunciamento about what It takes
md why It didn't take, and--"the
Jerk win call the roll OF the
states"
So they sit. They just sit. They