Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 June 1896 — G. O. P. CONVENTION. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

G. O. P. CONVENTION.

ST. LOUIS GREETS THE REPUBi « LICAN HOST. Fourteen Thousand Workers and Shonters Will Have Seats in the Great Auditorium —Splendid Funding for the Convention. AH in Readiness, It. Louis Correspondence: Thirteen thousand six hundred and one persons will qave'-seats in the great auditorium erected for the Republican national convention. A few more chairs may possibly be squeezed in. The contractor and architects planned a building big enough to hold 14,000 chairs, and when the real push and crush begins, the full number may be utilized, but if there were twice 14,000 chairs, it is doubtful if thg. number would be large enough to seat all the people in St. Louis who want to see the doings on the fifst day of the convention. This great white auditorium will shelter the ghosts of many dissipated booms before the nation is much older. The building is of wood, covered witli blocks of whit.e staff, which give it the»appearance of'glistening marble. The .building stands bn the site of the new Icily ball, and must be completely removed by Oct. 1. It cost $70,000, and triilny people

would like to see it remain for future use of conventions and the like, but others who remember the fate of the Chicago World’s Fair buildings, regard it as a menace in case of fire and will be happy when tho last of it is torn down. There are 100 and more exits and entrances, and in case of panic or fire, it is estimated that the building could be emptied in five minutes. In this and many ether respects, it is superior to the build-

Ings in which national conventions of the past have been held, although it is the largest. The Minneapolis convention hall had but 11,000 seats, and there was smaller space at each of the preceding conventions. An Immense Structure. The auditorium has a frontage of 260 feet and a depth of 180, covering an area Of 46,800 Square feet. The space allotted to the delegates and alternates covers an area of 18,000 square feet in the center of the auditorium. The seats in this immense inclosure are on a level, and not in tiers. Immediately in front of the speak-

er's stand are 924 seats for the accommodation of delegates. There are two inclosures for alternates, oue-to the right and the other to the left of the delegate*’ seats. Each of those inclosures have accommodations for 4(12 alternates. The entire space allotted to the delegates and alternates is open, with no pillars to obstruct the view. The speakers’ platform occupies a central position on the northern side of the hall, just, in front of the delegates, and just opposite the main entrance. The root immediately above the spaces assigned to the delegates and alternates is really a canopy of glass. The glass frames can be raised or closed nt will, giving the hall an abundance of both light and air. Should one of tbe famous hot blasts of St. Louis hit the town nt the time of the convention the building will,not be the bake oven which some of the’delegates fear. Dozens of ventilating funs will keep the air In the nuditoriunt In motion, although the efforts of some of the cyclone orators conld be counted upon to perforin that feature of the program. ; Around the square pit assigned to the, delegates anjl alternates on three of tbe sides are vast tiers of seats for the public. The fourth side will be apportioned among specially invited guests and tbe public. On either side of the speakers’ platform are the tables for the newspaper reporters. Each press table has been fitted With • pneumatic tube connecting with the telegraph offices located under the tiers of •eats nt the back of the speakers' pintform. While more than a thousand newspaper men will attend the convention, it is not expected that more than 400 will do active work in the auditorium. Two hundred wires or more will run oiit of the building and there will be operators enough to keep them red hot with news al) the tuue.

f A gallery, forty feet wide, which runs around the four aides of the building, extending back up to the roof, has chairs for 6,000 of the public. Of the 8,000 chairs down stairs the public will have the use of about 4,500. At least 50,000 of the good citizens of St. Louis and the nearby towns expect to sit out the convention from the beginning to the end, so it is quite, evident that some of them are going to be disappointed. 'From the Outside, however, they can at least hear the band of 150 pieces play the campaign airs. This band is to be located on a stand in the central part of the northern gallery.

Leading Lights.

Aside from Maj. McKinley the two most conspicuous men at the convention will be the great Marctfs Aurelius Hanna and the Hon. Joseph Benson Fbraker. Hanna expects to replace Tom Carter, of Montana, as chairman of the national committee, and upon Foraker has fallen the honor of presenting the name Of the Ohio statesman to the convention. The centers of interest when the convention is not in session will, of course, »be the headquarters of the various candidates. There rumors' will fly quicker than rain drops in an April shower, and I extraordinary tips, “straight from the ! inside,” will circulate with'the freedom of i a green goods man’s circulars. Some of I the Ohio boomers have their headquar- [ tors nt The Planters’, but a considerable portion of the delegation sleep at the Southern. Ohio is.well represented at the Southern. 4 One large room is used as general headquaters for Ohio people. These rooms are on the ground,.or office, floor. Upstairs on theinarlor floor, adjoining the Reed headquarters, are the McKinley headquarters, taking up five rooms. The Morton headquarters and the Allison headquarters are also at the Southern. Senator Quay has the ladies’ ordinary at the Planters’, the ladies’ parlor at the Lindell and tiyo parlors at the Laclede for his headquarters. The personage of greatest importance at this stage is Sergeqpt-at-arms-Byrnes, of Minnesota, who has been on the ground off and on for several weeks, attending to the details of the convention arrangements. These are thd days when the Ser-geant-at-arms begins to perspire. He is the busiest man in .town—the one who receives the greatest number of letters, answers more questions, is the most sought after by the incoming politicians, and the one who is supposed to present the most unruffled front all the time. The man with the silver platform plank in his pocket is among the early comers. He is P. H. Lannon, publisher of the Salt Lake Tribune. Among the other celebrities early on the field are National Committeeman M. H.

De Young of California, known familiarly as “Mike,” who is fond of anything there is excitement in, from a political convention to a running race, and National Committeeman Powell Clayton of Arkansas, one of the stanchest of the original McKinley men and a political fighter from the ground up. Cy Leland of Kansas, who has represented that Stale on the national committee foT National Committeeman Grant of Texas also got in early. Then there are ewCongressman A. C. Thompson of Ohio, who has been in charge of the McKinley forces in the field while waiting for the larger hosts to arrive, and Col. Swords of lowa, who occupies die important position of ser-geant-at-anns of the national obmmittee. Col. 0. B. Wing, of Cincinnati, a member of Gov. Bushnell’s staff, has come in advance to prepare the people of St. Louis for the advent’ of the Young Men's Blaine Club of Cincinnati, one of the largest marching organizations in the country. Discrimination Is Denied. James Cox, secretary of the Business Men’s League, denied emphatically that the negroes were being discriminated against by the hotels. He said that Committeeman Hill of Mississippi had no right to complain if he cou|d not find hotel accommodations. A letter had been written to him more than a month ago, telling him that unless early application was made all the rooms at the hotels would be taken. In this letter the Business Men's League offered to engage rooms for Mr. Hill and the Mississippi delegation. He did not reply to this. “Furthermore,” continued Mr. Cox, “Mr. Hill has not been to see us since he came to the city. If he will come here we will find him good rooms and board. All this talk about the color line is nonsense. We made the promise to take care of the colored delegates nnd will do. it. If they refuse to conic and let us know they desire lodgings, then the fault is not ours.” - This convention is unique for two reasons, and before it is over it will probably be unique for several more. In the first place it is the first time that the leaders of the G. O. P. have taken a Southern city for its meeting place since the war.

In the second pl.ice, exactly forty years ago the first convention. of the Republican party wns held in Philadelphia on June 16, 1856. It is the opinion of shrewd politicians that tbe Convention will be either a very short or a very long one. There will be njore than 900 delegates to handle, the greatest number that has ever attended a national convention, and the number of contesting delegation* will be very

large. This lattertjfcfact means man? dreary waits before actual business begins. .

PICTURE OF GRANT’S LOG CABIN. This hangs over main entrance to Auditorium.

SERGEANT-AT-ARMS BYRNES ENTERTAINING APPLICANTS FOR POSITIONS.

PRESS BUREAU AT M'KINLEY HEADQUARTERS.