Evening star., 1932-03-27
Continued from Eleventh Page

result that the center aisle was soon mass
of peelirgs The following day several hun
dred crates of fresh apricots were brought to
the hall, but the orange experience prompted
those in charge to leave the fruit in a corridor
Just outside the hall
Preposte-ous 1t may seem now, the Taft
managers in 1912 were distinctly disturbed by
rumors that former President Roosevelt would
literally stampede the convention by riding
in one of the halls street entrances on horse
back. Roosevelt was in Chicago at the time
and there was such intense feeling over the
State delegations contest as to which should
be seated Roosevelt or Taft delegates that the
convention officials were apprehensive and
placed additional force of police ins the
hall. to prevent any actual fighting the
contest to combat the Rough Rider and
his followers. 1t all seems absurd now, but
the report was taken seriously then.
A T the conventions there are always wen
known characters. They travel hundreds
of miles and some of them make 1t profitable
journey by selling photographs Of themselves
and otherwise extracting coins from visitors and
delegates. One-eyed Connolly was OF the
characters at Houston who appealed to me for
job, but when told him that If he were to
be given work his notable achievement Of
crashing the gate" at every important gather
ing would be impaired and minimize his pub
licity as gate crasher' he remarked that
"even 50, he had to eat"
The original telegraph report was a mere
skeleton Of the routine of the convention, COM
pletely devoid Of the human interest" element,
as the newspaper phrase gees Today not only
is every word uttered in the convention given
place IN the news reports of the press asso-
Citations but from the pens and typewriters Of
hundreds Of special correspondents-incl
the sob sisters'-hundreds of thousands of
words flow steadily over the wires directly to the
desks of the telegraph editor at home. Special
arrangements are always made for the radio
mikes and special privileges are given to the
movie and still" camera men.
Each convention has its dramatic moment
which stands out. Most frequently it is when
certain candidates are placed IN nomination,
but in the 1904 Democratic convention at st.
Louis, which nominated Alton B. Parker, it was
Judge Parker's telegram to the convention after
he had been nominated that caused great con-
sternation His message came in the early
morning after all-night session and stated
that he regarded the gold standard as firmly
and irrevocably established This statement
came with startling surprise, for the platform
had eliminated all reference to monetary
standards, which had prevented a big clash m
the convention. After a hurried meeting of
the Resolutions Committee, of which Senator
John w. Daniel of Virginia was chairman the
convention voted to send to Judge Parker q
telegram saying that, while the platform was
silent, there was nothing in his views expressed
in his telegram which would preclude a man
entertaining such views from accepting nomi-
nation on that conventions platform
The incident, as thought by many, might
vacate the proceedings and conclusions of the
convention, but the telegram drafted by the
Resolutions Committee saved the day. 1t was
probably one of the most startling pieces Of
information that had ever been received by q
convention when Chairman Sheehan, who was
managing Judge Parker's campaign, announced
receipt of the telegram. I do not recall any
thing else that have witnessed at conven-
ton that created such CONSERVATION as the
Parker telegram.
At every convention some one unusual feature
stands out. As an illustration, the "24 votes
for Underwood" was one of the main features
Of the New York convention. One of the most
amusing incidents Of any convention of recent
years was occasioned by Gov Hanley Of In
DIANA who nominated Mr.. Fairbanks at the
Republican convention in Chicago in 1908
Gov. Hanley had a way Of emphasizing his
remarks by clapping his hands together each