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Show BBf t IBt I ELBERT HUBBARD I i FINDS CONVEN- I ; TION AMUSING Hn i i i Admire The 8ytem, Tho "Granc H I 1 Opera" Crowd And Hadley The M Ctiesterfield Advocate Of The H'J Rough Rider Candidate. H ' i Lnlc.igo, Juno Is. Tho arrange- li j monts wero porfoct. Like tho zealous Bi! bdiL-8iiiun Mho was kicked downstairs, jj1 "" mutter what your political prefer- h' onceit )uu could not but admlie tbo luj ' Bjstein. There was no Jam at tho B?' ' (lours, anil nono In tho streets. When Bti I ou I eatlied the lintl you wero gently jj detained by men In blue, who evident- Ijl ly bad received orders to bo courteous f! and keep their tempers above, all K I, things. T,i Tuesu men asked, "Can wo bo of B Vj service to joti?" You might hovo sup- B, J'. posed they bud been reading "Shel- H" don on Salesmanship." BB ' They apologized and exiiiiilned your H j tickets. H j l t Then they directed you where to BB i '. Thcie were enough policemen, so B I I f thoy kopt tbo crowd well back, bo B there was no Jostle within tho sacred H I lircclncts. At tbo doors you were H i rgain carefully looked over. H I l Lrtnklng Men Barred. BB ) I'sittj with a smell of liquor on B i them oi a suHpiclou of firearms never H I l cuced the doors nt all. If they had m tickets tins pasteboards wero politely BB , I ' declared Irregular, or counterfeit. BB I I saw two men from "tho provinces provinc-es i I cb," who weio needlessly convcrsa-H convcrsa-H i tj tlonal, wulklng orm In mm. These H j Jj men wero gently but firmly turned B ' j ' back, ufter tbo patrolman had railed B !j ' the captain. H ' it Tho men had tickets, all right, nut BB ,j tbo paities were In n condition whero BB j they might majo u needless amount K II of noise; and the noise of this ton- 1 jj vontlon must bo simultaneous. That. BB 'i Is to say, there must bo no shouting B t off the key. The vibrations must be, B ' insnlifl lij political enthusiasm and, BB f not by'mero Miliar booze. I BB ' ! - Tbo liol.teineii had no clubs In H t sight. Tlioy wore whlto gloica. Thci. , BB ' shoes weie shlued. They cio clew.- L I shaven, brushed and g.t.ou.cu. Tne , B were picked men, not too old, and not B ;' absurdly young. ! V I i And so tho throng passed quietly 8 f ' ,1! Into tbo gieat building, nni tit t 1 , t nlsle were more policemen. , i Then there lady policemen who Bf !' asked the ladies to removo their hats BB , and bo careful about hatpins. BB A Grand Opera Crowd. i BB '' I It was a throng which America S might well bo proud. Thoro wasn't n BB i I' poor man insight certainly not a' BB , poor devil. Everybody was well BB i dressed, well fed, sblned, manicured. BB i , The proletariat, the sans eulotte, BB ' ' , the plebeian, the agrarian, wero not BB ; ' In evidence. Tickets wero worth for- PI , I. ty dollars apiece. It was a grand BB ; ' opera, crowd. 9 r ' If there was anyone with elbows BB I' slight!) shiny, they wero In tbo space BB set apart for delegates, not among tho BB visitors. BB Tho day was perfect. Tbo sky was BB , blue, and a cool, refreshing breeze BB , f. r canto purling In from the lake. M. f At exactly high noon I trust I use BBj tho right phrase there was ti panto- mlnlc presentation of a gavel, and a little speech by Victor Rosewater, ivulcli no one beard excepting the stenographer, is -.10 Sardonic Laughter, i uui came an invocation, brief and i (.licit, ending with tho Lord's Prayer. , evidently tho clergyman who olflcliit- i it; th's capacity expected that tho .' would Join with him In the cp-loguo. cp-loguo. Hut be bad to plow through alone, and nt the end n rlpplo of mild sardonic laughter ran over tho con-ention. con-ention. The atmosphere wns tenso with suppressed sup-pressed excitement. A lino of helmotcd policemen stood Bolld betweeti tho platform and the .ludlence. M the Intersection of every aisle ii;oi iolk'e In twos. Interspersed I tli these were otllccrs In plain clothes, but with badges In sight. Tho police had evidently been thoroughly thor-oughly Instructed. Everything In the lino of action was to be supplied Instantly, In-stantly, and quickly, too. If threo men, delegates or visitors, happened to move In a certain dlrec- ion together a policeman pushed In tween them and nccldently stoppd heir progress. No riot could possibly have started itul that talk about soma one rushing ' and seizin? the gavel, or 'two con mentions being held nt the same time, was an Impossibility. - J Uttlo Victor Ilosew.ntei Jwjb ,bang-ing ,bang-ing light onto the safety valve of tho steamroller. " When Victor, In a olce that Just reached tho stenographer, named Willi! Wi-lli! Hoot ns temporary cluilrmnn'ot the convention, Governor lladley, ten feet away, arose and was recognized by the chair, n.dley Chesterfleldian. juornor Hadley carried his manuscript manu-script in hand, but ho hud his speech thoroughly In his mind. He was dignified, dig-nified, strong, erect and not riotous. His language was that of a Chesterfleldian. Chester-fleldian. Missouri cortalnly should havo been proud of him and whoever put hi in forward as a spokesman for the Hoosevelt forces has wisdom incarnate. in-carnate. This vast assemblage was In mood for rough talk or rough action If any rough riders were here they wero white waistcoats and had their trousers trous-ers freshly creased. And bo Governor lladley made his plea that tho delegates assembled had no right to appoint a temporary chairman. chair-man. Tho case was argued In twenty minute min-ute speeches and Victor Rosewater, without winking an eyebrow, voted tho revolutionaries down and out nnd announced that tho question of the chairmanship was before tho house. Joj Hodges did himself proud nnd got tho first laugh by quoting the highest authority that could be brought as to Iloot's character and qualifications Theodore Roosevelt. . "Cheers For Roosevelt. Then thcro were cheers. When there came a lull tho speaker said: Oh. you can't cmbarass me by cheering cheer-ing for him; I cheered for him seven yeurs ago." Then Bonie one among tho delegates dele-gates was recognized by tho chair and a man was boosted upon the platform who made a vigorous speech for I.a Follotte. This man made It clear and unmistakable that no matter what happened the Wisconsin delegates would vote for La Follette first, last and always and go down to defeat, If necessary, crying his name. And thin man nominated as temporary tempo-rary chairman Governor McGovern of Wisconsin. Moth tho Taft and Hoosevelt delegates dele-gates seemed to feel kindly towaids La Follotte, evidently considering that ho was of no consequence one way or tho other, and they wanted to" treat him respectfully nnd "give him hla little twenty minutes In court. Then came Governor Hadley again, tall, spare and sinewy, nnd speaking straight to tho point, ending up with a small sized oratorical bomb when, Instead of nominating Senator Uornh as the Hoosoveltlau candldato for temporary tem-porary chairman, the governor seconded secon-ded the motion of tho delegate from Wisconsin, Then camo Pennsylvania, nnd tin old political warhorso with wavering voice but unmlstakablo In Its mtont declared Pennsylvania's sixty-five Instructed delegntes voted for McGovern Mc-Govern as temporary chairman. That Stubborn La Follette. Teddy had compromised. Ho was not ready to test his strength In tho convention and the belief of ovory-body ovory-body was that the La Follette dele-gates dele-gates wero going to stick truo to their colors nnd go down to defeat voting for tho man with tho pompadour. For whatever La Follette is, ho Is not a trimmer. Stubbornness Is his long suit. Theodore Roosevelt. Is a very wiso man. Ho will go Just as far as ho can, hut he, above all men, will not go further than tho peoplo will back him up In going. And this tlmo ho receded nnd saved his political life allvo. His strength Is still In doubt, If ho goes down to defeat, It will bo dofoat with honor, or at least, what ho considers honor. Profaco has beon made, hut the end Is not yet. Elhort Hubbard. |