POWER BEHIND THE THRONE
Difficult Dalits of the Bniimss Manager of
National Conventions.
TROUBLES OF THE SERGEANT-AT-ARMS
Executive Ability of n High
ripijulrcil Arniy fit Helper
SimilojM-rt To! u I Cost of
l'nrty Convention.
Order
Are
it
In tbo eye of tho publlo the permanent
chairman of a national convention is by far
tbo moat Important official connected with
euch n gathering. And, In truth, no one
may gainsay tho chairman's position or
powor. For a brief period they nre supremo,
at least nominally, and moro than ono chair
man bas so conducted himself whllo wielding
tho gaycl of a nominating PV'y conclave as
to chango tha history of hlw pfirty, tbo nation
and' perhaps tho .'World.- Somotlmcs Indeed,
perhaps Kenerally.tbo chairman Is only a fig
urehead, put In to carry out a program
agreed upon beforehand, and pcwislbly those,
who preside over tho two national conven
tions this year will 'bo chairmen of this sort.
Dut at all events they will fill necessary
function). No convention could deliberate
without a presiding officer; no man whoso
party standing was not of tho host would
b chosen permanent chairman in any cir
cumstances whatever. It's a great honor to
bo permanent chairman of a national con
vention, an all men who buvo over held tho
post will agree.
nut Indlnpcasablo and powerful as tho per
manont chairman may seem to be, there is
ono other national convention functionary
-who Is qulto as Indispensable and often of
greater actual power. In a certain prac
tical way ho Is almost Infinitely moro power
ful. The chairman bas no patronage, or next
to none, at his command, but this other func
tionary officially known u the sergt-ant-nt-arms
gives It out In chunks. His title would
bo far moro accurate wero he termed tho
convention's business manager. It Is trim
that hln functions are those of a sergeant-at-arras
-whllo tbo convention Is In actual
fusion, but tho greater part of all his duties
ara thoso of a business manager, puro and
simple. Theso duties extend over several
weeks always, sometimes tbo weeks length
ened out Into months.
Jlmt llnve Incentive Force.
Tho scrgeuut-at-arma In appointed by and
Is under tbo direct control of the conve"n
tlon subcommittee of tho national commit
tee. On tho republican side this year tho
subcommittee Is composed of Messrs. Scott
of West Virginia, Kenno ot New Jcrcoy, Man-
lay of Maine, Poyno ot Wisconsin and Kerens
of Missouri, .besides Committee Prosldont
HUnna and Secretary Hick, ex-ofllclo. Tho
subcommittee held Ha tlrst Important meet
lng In Philadelphia the other day and the
democratic subcommittee met recently In
Kansas City, lloth will hold meetings at
Intervals from now on to tbo convening of
tho national gathering. All matters of gen
eral convention policy will bo discussed and
settled at theso meetings, but tho carrying
out ot tho details will 'bo intrusted to the
sergeant-at-arms solely.
Tho moat Important duty ot tho conven
tion subcommittee, ot course, Is flxlug tho
city In which tbo convention Is to bo held,
and In tho main this Is properly enough
a question at money. From somo of tbo
rathor loosely worded dispatches Bent out
about tbo rash required to bo put up by
tho convention city tho Impression has gono
out that tho republican subcommittee made
a definite demand for 1100.000. To bo ex
act, tbo authorities of Philadelphia and other
cities wero told, as they hnvo been onco
In four years for several decades, that tho
lecal expenses of tbo convention must bo
guaranteed. Tho sum of 1100,000 was men
tioned 'beraiif the expense nt St. Louis
last year reached that tlgurn, or approxi
mately so. Should the running expenses
fall under thn estlmuto tho rc3lduo will bo
turned back to the citizens' committee.
Bhould they exceed It tho deficit will have
to bo tnailo up, of course.
After the selection of the convention city
tbo noxt moKt Important step U tho selec
tion of tho Borgeant-at-arms, for he will
epend tho thousands guaranteed for local
expenses; bo will have to hco that tho con
vention hall Is in good shape when the gath
trlng Is called to orJor; through blm, largely,
tho convention authorities will hold rela
tions with tho press, tho local authorities
f the convention city, the railroads and
tho publlo generally, in short, tho con
vention scrgeant-at-arms Is In iho wuy c.
doing either a gcod deal ot g.od or a good
deal of harm, according to his lights, Fi
nancially, his responsibilities nre heavy,
since, besides the largo amounts ho pays
out In local expenses, ho has to arrange
In a measure for tho expenditure of scvo:al
times as much moro, and thus tho total
expenses cf a contention may bo greatly In
creased or decreased by tho scrgeant-at-arms.
It certainly may bo said with truth
that bo must bo u man of exceptional Judg
ment, great capacity and unusual cxecutlvo
forco.
Convention Hull.
Naturally, one of tho first things to which
tbo sergcant-at-arais must give attention Is
tho building In wfilch tho convention Is to
be held. It is nt sufficient for it to con
tain a big enough auditorium to seat tho
delegates and others in attendance; It must
have many auxiliary features tbat aro pos
sessed by few of the great balls. U Is not
too much, perhaps, to say that thero is only
ono building In the United States, not built
or remodeled expressly for the holding of a
national convention, that could bo used for
that purposo without many changes and ad
ditions. ThlB is tho Madison Square Garden,
In Now York, but it Ib hardly probablo that
Its roof will ever sholtor a body ot men
gathered to nominate a president of tbo
United States. In 1S96 a building had to
bo specially erected for tho republican con
vention In St. Louis, the city then having
no structure nt all adapted to convention
uses. This made tho total convention c:st
of that year very large, but the building re
mained after the adjournment of the conven
tion, and will bo available for any llko na
tional gatherings tbat may hereafter bo
held' In St. Louis.
Many thousands of dollars must be spent
on tho hall In Philadelphia, In which the
republican convention Is to bo held this
year, before It will bo ready for tho big
gathering. Tho auditorium Itself must bo
remodeled, a number of waiting, subcom
mittee and other special rooms must be put
In, new sanitary and ventilation system
must be provided and facilities for the cor
respondents and reporters must bo created.
Theso Include desks and seats In tho big
hall, n writing room Just oft tho hall, rooms
for tho operators of the two big telegraph
companltM and tho press associations and tho
Installation of wires and Instruments.
In making the hall ready for the conven
tion, then, tho sergeant-at-arniB must have
dealings with architects, builders, electric
outfitters, plumbers and all sorts of trades
pojple, 'besides the newspapers, tho prcs-
association and the telegraph companies,
nnd this part ot bis duties alone will test
alike his patlenco, bis tact nnd his capacity
for work.
.NiMiniier anil the Convention.
One of tho most difficult tasks of the scr-
ALL TUB UM.UL3 ARE LEFT TO THE
SERCEANT-Ai'-AitMS.
;o:tnt.a'-arn: will be to satisfy the nowa
pa.icre. Readers of tho full convention re
j Jr!a that will ap.icar In the newspaper)
qixt June and July may occasionally give a
.bought or two to the immense amount of
labor Involved in the dally prcscntat on or
the news hoc from the bat- But no ono who
ha not had something to do with the work
can have any eavo the most Inadequate no-
TTTE Of ATT A DATLT BEE: WEDNESDAY,
tlon of tho preliminary detailed work that
alone makes them possible.
To begin with, tho sergeant-at-arms must
bo absolutely Impartial In arranging the
press facilities. Tbat Is, he must see to It
that no ono nowspaper, press association or
telegraph company has undue advantage over
any of tho others. Of course, greater facil
ities aro given to tho great metropolitan
Journals of Now York, Chicago, Philadel
phia and Hoaton thou to pnperB In tho
smaller towns. Tho number of men repre
senting each to which accommodations aro
furnluhed U fixed, as a rule, according to
precedent, but nearly every Important dally
asks for more than It can have, apparently
on principle, and thero are hundreds of pa
pors nil told that demand special conceo
slons which must bo grnntcd. Resides tho
legitimate requests for press facilities appli
cations for privileges as reporters and cor
respondents aro always mado by largo num
bers of Individuals who have no rlffkt what
ever to expect them, and these mako llfo
nothing leas than a burden to the over
worked sergeant-at-arms from the moment
ho takes olllclal charge of the preliminary
conventlcn details.
Tho intention on his part always Is'to-afford
very posslblo facility to newspaper
men actually employed to report the pro
ceedings, but thero are physical limitations
to the amount of space that can be given
to the newspapers and this makes the bogus
"Journalists." friends of tho editors of
who wish to '
small wooklles and the llko
have seats among tho real correspondonts
for the fun of It and nothing mors, a
nulsanco puro and simple. Literally thou
sands ot this class, somo of them Intro-
WAITING TO SEE THE SERGBANT-AT-ARMS.
duced by editors who should know better,
bcslego tho convention scrs?ant-at-arms
every four years and are perforce turned
down; even were ho Inclined to afford tho ro
quested facilities ho could not do so with
out withholding them from men who an
Justly entitled to thorn, and tbat would
never do.
An Army of AltiiiitK.
If tho duties of the convention sergeant-at-arms
were fully Indicated by the fore
going paragraphs he would havo a com
paratively easy time, but his work would
bo only partially dono were ho to stop with
getting tho hall In good order and making
tho iiriangeinents for tho press. Providing
for the comfurt and cnnenknco of tho dele
gates Is really tbo nust Important ot all his
tasks. This Involves arranging tho seats In
tho body uf tho hall and the galleries so that
nil shall be satlsfli d, furnishing tho various
subcommittee rooms and the like. There
urc tickets and badgci to be printed, and.
though you mightn't think It, this Is a Job
of no small magnitude Giving out the con
tract for printing tho tickets Is one of tho
llrst things attended to. It has nlready bocn
luokol after by the republican Borgcant-at-a
nil's of this yjenr's convention, and prob
ably by tho carrtBpondlng democratic func
tionary also. Arrangements have also to be
made hy the crgeant-ut-arma with tbo
hotels as to hoadquartors for tho vnilous
dologatlons, dickers hno to bo entered Inn
with tho railroads concerning rates of faro
and tho running of Bpoelal trains. Cordial
rolitlons muiit be cultivated with tho l cil
police nnd lire departments, and there are
almost numberless other matters of detail
that the convention's business manager
nuist seo carried through to a succoiful
Mulsh.
Tho appointing of assistant sergeants-ut-arnra
la by no means ono of the lrast of Ms
troubles, There aro generally 160 of thrse
at least, apportioned nmong the various
states, and the demand for places on tho
staff of tbo convention's manager Is ex
tremely lively. Nominally he decides w
I
shall tvc but actually his decisions nre
based upon tho recommendations of
tho delegates. Each of these Is al
most suro to ask for moro places
"BOOUS JOURNALISTS" WHO OET TUB
ENDORSEMENT OF EDITORS WHO
SHOULD KNOW BETTER.
than can bo given, and tho sorgennt-at-arms
sometimes has a hard time to avoid
making enemies In turning down those for
whom places cannot be found.
At first blush you might wonder why nny
ono would put up n fight to bo an assistant
sorgeant-at-arms, 3lnco no pay, not even ex-
penses, accompanies appointments of this
sort, and somo of tho appointees, at least,
havo to work llko beavers roni the begin
ning to tho end of tho convention,
helping to keep things In order. But
.'or tho brief i.paro of time during which tho
onventlon Is In session tho assistant serjeant-at-arms
Is a person ot some conao
quence. Ho wears a badge which admits
him to all parts of tho convention hall; he
Is In great demand among thoso In attend
ance as ono who enn do favors for his friends
and hln faco Is reasonably suro to becoma
moro or less familiar to somo of the party
mngnntes. Moro than ono holder of potty
government placo has made his i tart on the
remunerative side of politics by serving as I
deputy sergeant-at-arms at convention time.
After tho deputy sergonnts-at-arms come
tho doorkeepers. They aro not so numerous
as tho deputies and their number varies ac- I
cording to tho nature of tho hall in which
tho gathering Is held, the rule being to ap
point two, ono for a day service and the
other for night service, for ench door. They
nro drawn from the ranks of thocso generally
known as "henchmen," though tho term Is
net used here In any belittling sense. Tho
doorkeepers, like tho doputlfj. servo without
pay and for similar conflderntlons; their
facilities for making themselves known to
tho real power In tho party are not much
Iwm than thoso afforded the deputy sorgeantB-nt-nrms.
but they have less chance to seo the
fun on tho floor of tho hall because tholr
duties keep them outrtde ut the doors much
f the time. It Is possible, however, for
tho clever doorkeeper to slip nsdo somo
of tho time, and, of course, tho day man
cuii see tho proceedings of tho night sea
ilcns and vleo versa.
lie Serve for tin' (ilory of It.
A3 mignt be conjectured the fisrgeant-at-arms
has to have many other assistants be
e'des those who help while tho convention
t actually In session, In the weeks ot pre
miliary labors he haa to transact as much
APTITL 25, 1900.
business as tbo manager of one nt our greater
commcrcal enterprises, nnd this requlrm
typewriters, bookkeepers, mcfaeiigers, clerks
and all-round nwlstants of several grades.
It also requires rather extensive office fa
cilities and D. G. Wlswell of Wisconsin, who
will bo sergeant-at-arms of the republican
convention this year, has already chesen his
headquarter! at ono of tbo Philadelphia ho
tels. When the convention Is at hand ho bus
llkewlso to engage n corpa of watchmen nnd
scrubwomen to keep tho big building In
apple-pie order.
Though ho Ib kept constantly busy all
through tho weeks of preparation his real
rush doesn't como till the llrst day of the
convention. From then till the adjournment
ho Is tho mcst harassed nnd put upon man
In the whole country nnd If he Isn't a pliys.cal
wieck by tho time the gathering disperses
lt'o because ho Is blessed with un Iron con
stitution. Unlike the deputy sergeant-at-arms and
tho doorkeepers, tbo office help, messengers,
watchmen and scrubwomen aro paid for
their services, but the sergeant-nt-nrma
himself receives no direct pay. His ex
penses are borne by the committee, but bo
goes through all the work and worry of get
ting tho convention preliminaries into shape
and keeping tho crowds in good order during
its sessions for tho honor there Is In It and
the wide acquaintance It will give blm
among tbe prominent men ot bis own party.
Because of theso things tbo place Is In
great demand every four years, and somo of
the liveliest flghtB In tho history of tbo two
national committees have been waged over
tbe conflicting claims ot various candidates.
l)emocrne j ' llualue MiiuiiKrr,
Tho
sergeant-at-arms of tho democratic
tlon will not begin his preliminary
convention
work this year until some time In May, tbo
democratic convention being held more than
two weeks later than tho republican gather
ing, and the work to bo done on tho Kansas
City hall being of lees magnitude than on
the ono in Philadelphia. Tbo convontlon
sergeant-at-arms always has tho friendly
assistance of the sergeant-at-arms of tbo
national committee. Colonel H. L. Swords,
now deputy collector of customs In Now
York, has held that post with tho republican
committee for a nurabor of campaigns, while
James Oliver, of "Paradleo Park," In the
city of New York, has held tho same placs
with the democratic committee. Each of
these men knows every Important lender In
tho party well, and Is thcrcforo able to glvo
Invaluable pointers to the convention sergeant-at-arms.
Mr. Oliver will not assist
tho scrgeant-at-arms this year, however,
having determlnod to spend the summer In
Alaska. This year's national democratic
convention will be the first bo lias missed
for many years. I
The local expenses of a national conven
tion, which nro directly controlled by tho
sergeant-at-arms, mako up enly a fractlou
of tho total sums such a gathering puts Into
circulation. Thoro are nearly 1,000 delegates
and as many alternates, making 2,000, whllo
the assistant sergeant-at-arms, doorkeepers,
messengers nnd correspondents will swoll
tho essential attendance to 3,000. Besides,
thero arc probably 1,000 visitors dally, nnd
If each of the resulting 4,000 spends $100
for hotel bills and tho llko while tho (.on
ventlon Is 111 session the total Is $100,000.
Add railroad fare, news telegrams and other
Incidentals and tbe grand totnl can't well
THE ASSISTANT IS SOMETIMES A MAN
OF IMPORTANCE.
be less thnn $1,000,000. Somo estimates by
men who have attended many national con
ventions place It at a much higher figure.
Till: (tl. VllU (i OH 31 AS TIIAWKI).
Hut ot lntll I lie Wei. tern Polllliliui
Ituil Fun 'it till III its.
Not long ago a rathur prominent politician
from tbo middle wee was In Washington,
relates tho Chicago .Icurnal, Ho had board
of Gorman for years nnd wanted to meet
him. Ono day the opprrtunlty preterit. I
Itself and an introduction followed. The
two wore left together and then tho visitor
tried to draw the Maryland bos nut on vuri-
ous questions of publlo Interest -not nb
ruptly or with a view to making any ua ot
what might bo Bald, but more thrcugh re
Nprvtfttl curiosity than nnything else. Gor
man retired into bis hole, as usual. The
visitor wiih nettled nnd mado up his mind
to force tho fighting,
"lly tho way, Mr. Gorman." bo said,
"what nro your Initials?"
"My nnmo is Arthur Pue Gorman, sir,"
was tho reply.
"Oh, yes, nnd I believe you are from Vlr
glifla, or la It from North Carolina?"
"Mnrylund, sir," was tho response, Gor
man beginning to be n little annoyed.
"Of course, it is Maryland; bow stupid
of mo not to remember," Hold the visitor,
nddlng: "You were In tho house pnee, wero
you not or was It the sonato?"
Gorman nearly stopped breathing. Ills
faco grew red. Tho Idea that a man of this
visitor's prominence should not bo familiar
with the public career of tho gcntlcmnn
from Maryland was almost beyond compre
hension. Rather testily ho replied: "I was
n member of tho senate, sir, ond Hatter
myself that during my terms of service I
was not wholly a useless member and con
tributed in some degreo to shaping the
policy of my party. "
"What was your party, Mr. Gorman? You
were a republican, were you not?"
This was too much. Gorman grew ready
to utter a volley of high explosives, but
as ho turned to faco his visitor he bsw a
merry twinkle In tho caller's eye. The
westerner had been guying him, and he
was Just finding It out. It In needless to
suggest that tho remainder of tho Inter
view, which was by far tho longer part i
of It, was of a
most cordial and friendly
character, ami that the Marylnnder. to usa
n s'roct expression, almost "coughed up his
, '00s" 011 mn',;rH, " Phlie Interest.
nnd moro thnn fulfilled tho expectations of
tho man who hnd mot him for the first
time. Tho man, by the way. Is now ono of
Gorman's greatest admirers nnd would like
to seo blm president cf the United States.
e 0 C?)
Our
1 Islands
and
Their
People
As Seen With
Camera
and Pencil
0
Introduced by
lien. Joseph Wheeler
Descriptive
Features by
Jose Be Olivares.
Cuba
Isle of Pines
Porto Rico
Hawaii
The Philippines
A rit.VCTOIlIAIi A.XII UKSPfHI'
TIVB l'AXOHAMA OF 'I'HU IS-I.ANMM-TIIIJ
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Our Islands and Their People.
Rooms 500 and 501 Ware Block, Oinaliu, Nch.
00 0
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ha.aim: ci,i;.iii;i) at last.
r.niiiroA Kncrnlr Confrnncft tlint Ska
Ordered thf Sttrrenilrr of Mots.
After maintaining nbsoluto sllenco for ex
actly thirty yenrs Kmpret-s Eugeulo ban
nt length consented to reveal the pnrt
which she ployed In the capitulation of
JleU to the Germans In 1S70 that surren
der for -which the grizzled nnd toattle
Hcnrrrxl veteran, Marshal Itazalne, was con
demned by court-imirttitl to the death of a
traitor, his sentence hclmj subsequently
rommutKl to ono of lifelong Imprisonment
by his old friend nnd comrade, Marshal
MarMnhnn. who nrnlmhlv hnd nn lnlcllne of
1 the real circumstaneeH of tbo rase. In a
I letter HddresRtd to a member of tbo Wol
owsk.a family, nnd which not only bears tho
I slKnature of tho empress, but Is from bc-
ginning to ond in her own handwriting, rhn
1 admits that nhe not only urged but actually
rommnnded Marshal llazaJne to consent to
tho surrender of Metz, In tho expectation
that It would leuri to nu annlstlro and place
' nt her dlHponal tbo immonso French nrmy
shut up In tho beleaguered city, which she
could then use for the purpose of re-cs-'
tiiihllahlng her authority ns regent nnd re
I vlvlmr the monarchy. If not in favor of hor
captive hiifbaml, nt uny rate in behalf of
her boy, the lll-fatrtl Prla-o hnperlul,
Kaznlnn, It must be rotnombored, owed
everything to Napoleon III, during whoso
reign Jio bad workctl his way up from tbo
ranks to tho loftiest position In the nrmy.
Ho possf-ssed that vlrtuo which, It Is
said, Is rare In Frnnce, namely, of grati
tude, and when misfortunes overtook his
pntrnn and benefactor the sovereign to
whom ho hnd solemnly sworn allegiance
he felt It to be his duty to remain loyal nnd
true to his emperor nnd to bis empress und
to turn a deaf ear to that Gallic casuistry
preached by the great Prince Talleyrand, to
tho effect that a Frenchman's duty wns
prlmarl.y to Ills country nnd that a ehnng"
or governmeni ipso inoto relieved nim ot
I Vilu nilh f n 1 1 si ? I f i i i wi rt , n ani'iifnlnn n
regime." -.v...B.. -
After l.BKrlppe AVlint f
Usually a racking cough and a genoral
feeling of weakness. Foley's Honey and Tnr
Is guaranteed to euro tho "grlppo cough"
and mako you strong and well. For salo
by Stycrs-Dlllon Drug Co., Omaha; Dillon's
Drug Store, South Omaha.
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"I am not .given to Indiscriminate
pralao and you will believe me whua
I emphatically declare tbat 'Our Is
lands and Their roplei" Is beyond
comparison, and Is without exception
the most msgnlflcert production of Its
chnractcr that I ever saw. ... I do
not sua how any Intelligent person can
refuse an offer to become n BUtMcrlb
cr." J. W. flucl, Author and Traveler.
"The photographa aro undoubtedly
tho finest over mado und collected of
the places and s;onea depleted, and
tboy roprfaent a cost to tho publish
ers ot more than $25,000. No pralao
can be too cvxtravagant of tho artistic
and historical valtio ot these photo
graphs and the splendid manner In
which thny have, been reproduced.
Thoso Include- pictures of the people
and their homes nnd homollfe. noted
places, the marveloiialy beuutltul
scenery of tho tropics, historic locali
ties, famous battlo grounds, celebratoJ
fortifications, public building!, ca
thedrals, views of towns, village-),
farms, mountains, rivets, valleys,
lakos, waterf.illn, etc. There aro also
a number ot actual battlo scrmn, taken
under flro and showing war In Its
tragic and thrilling reality." Olob?
Democrat. "Let mo thank you most beartlly
for the numbers of "Our Islands and
Their Pooplo," which rame to mo last
week. They nro certainly superb
specimens of bookroaklng and before
they tako their place In the Compan
lon'o Library, I promise myself the
pleasure of reading your features of
the work. It was very kind ot you
to send tho volumes, and with my own
thanks I wish to Join thoto of the
Companion." Editor Youth's Com
0
0
panion.
"It Is tbo most olaborato work of
art to which our attention has boon
0
directed this season. Thn design ot
tho publishers Is to familiarize the
Amorlcan publlo with thn resourceri,
attractions, characteristics and possi
bilities of Cuba, Porto Rico, Hawaii
and tho Philippines." Atlanta Consti
tution. 0
0
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0
0
0
0 S Q lw
