Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-07-15
By kewboId Moves, Jr.
sfor SsoH Correspondent

PHILADELPHIA, July 15.-Yes,
today the Democrats know they
nave been to q convention.
It was quite q finish. In its ex-
element and color, it made up for
all the dizziness that had come be-
fore and then some. The excite
ment, Of course, was not the sus-
penseful sort. 1t had nothing what
ever to do with the outcome, which
never was in doubt. 1t lay In the
workings of that strange alchemy of
mass hypnosis that can make men
feel, and some times act, like giant
killers.
Whatever they may think in the
cold light Of this morning, there is
no doubt that many previously
despairing Democrat found himself
believing for . time last night that
his party was not licked yet. In
this sense, If in no other, yesterday
was as good q day as it could have
been, under the circumstances.
You can no more explain this ef-
feet by relating the separate Incl
dents which produced it than you
can describe what you see in
kaleidoscope in terms Of the little
bits of broken glass, string or pea
nut shells which somehow create
the intricate pattern there. No
kaleidoscope, certainly, ever con-
tanned a stranger assortment OF
materials than yesterday did in
Convention Hall.
Song Electrifies Convention.
The biggest piece of the pattern
was a song. Charles j. Bloch of
Georgia had finished his fighting
speech nominating Senator Russell
as the South's States Rights candi-
date-"You shall not cruelty the
South on a cross Of civil rights
For 10 minutes, a demonstration
Of sorts had been in progress in
GLIDING a small parade Of Georgia,
Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Vir-
ginia, Texas and Louisiana delegates.
And then the band struck up.
At the first strains of Dixie" hell
broke loose. The crowd opened its
collective mouth and let out one
deafening roar. You could feel the
physical thrill that passed through
it. In the center aisle, girl in a
red dress dropped the State stand
ard she had been carrying and
bounded forward in q savage cake
walk, her arms over her head, her
hoJ,, honf ho NJ SLa an fInooilipo
spring. A Confederate flag whipped
back and forth above = knot OF
delegates following her.
For maybe a minute after that,
the Southerners had their demon
stration to themselves. Then, as
the song went into its third chorus,
1t became too much for the rest
Of the convention. Everywhere, all
over the floor. Truman placards be-
ban to bob up and down In .rythm
with the music. A Massachusetts
alternate stood on his chair, beat
ing on the shoulder of the man in
front of him, singing at the top
of his lungs. From then on, the
song-and the mood-were every
body's.
A Little More Dixie"
After 20 minutes, when the music
had subsidized, things started to die
down again. Texas Sam Rayburn.
the chairman, who had attempted
to quell the demonstration at an
early stage. suggested it might be
good idea to play a little more
Dixie" And those familiar notes,
which required again and again as
the evening wore into morning and
which we're the last sound heard
when the convention adjourned for
the last time at 2:30 an, seemed
somehow to draw OH and absorb q
lot Of the South's resentment at the
course taken at Philadelphia.
This morning may be different,
but seemed so last night.
There was an unverified rumor