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#i Details About the Republican, Democratic S,
C i and Populist Gatherings. Ci
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Final arrangements for the political
national conventions whioh will sig
nalize this year have been made. The
Republicans will meet in Philadel
phia on J tine 19th, the Democrats will
gather at Kansas City on July 4th and
REPUBLICAN N ATIONAL CONVENTION HALL,
the Populists will decide their plan of
campaign at Sioux Falls, South Da
kota, cn May 9th.
The main Philadelphia Export Ex
position Building, in which the Re
publican National Convention of 1900
will be held, is built of structural
steel aud brick, with plaster facing
». N. WISWELL, SERGEANT-AT-ARMS RE
rrBIiICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION.
aud staff ornamentations. It will, at
* comparatively small cost, be con
verted into a convention halt that wili
seat several thousand persons. The
»roades aud connecting buildings are
aostly of wood, with brick walls, so
ihat the threa couuected buildings
OF CONVENTION HALL IN KANSAS CITY.'"
make one mammoth exhibition hall of
1000 feet in length by 400 feet in
width. The entire area of the main
building is 167,200 square feet. It in
divided into six sections, whioh can
be readily converted into one vast
auditorium, the length of whioh, in
stead of extending north and south,
as at present, will, with the side wall
taken out and the hall enlarged, ex
tend east and west.
The body of the hull will seat 2000
persons. The number of delegates
and alternates will be more than 1800.
That leaves- room on the main floor
for 200 persons—deputy sergeant-at
arms, doorkeepers and guests.
Rising on three sides of the hall are
tiers of seats which will hold 1000
guests more. The stage could be
made to accommodate say '2OO to 300
persons. But the committee hope to
seat 600 newspaper correspondents, as
well as the officers of the convention
and distinguished guests.
The sergeaut-at-arms suffers most
nnder the new order of things. He
will be bombarded with applications
INTERIOR OF HALL WHERE THE REPUBLICANS WILL MEET.
for tickets which he cannot fill, and
every delegate is going to hold him
responsible for Lis disappointment.
The sergeant at-arms will be overran
with applications for appointment.
because a badge will admit the wearer
to the floor of the hall. When he
tries to fit 10,000 visitors and clamor
ing citizens into 500 seats he will find
his office most uncomfortable.
The organized bodies whioh attend
national conventions will be bitterly
disappointed in the Convention Hall
arrangements at Philadelphia. Their
favorite performance is to march into
a hall headed by a brass band and
with banners flying. There will be
not room at Philadelphia for any
brass band exoept the one hired l to
fill the pauses between the speeches.
George N. Wiswell, -who has been
appointed sergeant-at-arms of the Re
publican National Convention, is a
man of acknowledged ability for or
ganization and executive work. In
the handling of political conventions
he is already experienced, having
HALL FOB THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION, KANSAS CITY.
been assistant sergeant-at-arms of the
Republican National Convention at
Chioago in 1888, at Minneapolis in
1892 and in St. Louis in 1896. Mr.
Wiswell is a Wisconsin man by birth,
and is now forty-eight years old.
Convention Hall, Kansas City,
where the National Democratic Con
vention will be held Jnly 4th, is situ
ated at Thirteenth and Central streets,
four blocks from the retail district of
SIOUX FALLS AUDITORIUM IN WHICH
POPULISTS WILL MEET.
the city. It has been classed by
travelers as one of the largeqt and
most perfectly constructed auditori
ums in existence.
The building was erected at a cost
of $225,000, whioh was raised entirely
by public subscription. It occupies
a pieoe of ground 314 by 200 feet in
extent, ia two stories high and is
built of native atone, oream briok and
terra cotto. The first story is of th<
Renaissance style of architecture, anc
the second story is of Peristyle form,
with groups and oolamns. The build
ing is of bridge construction, with
out a column, the roof being sup
ported by great steel girders that
span its 200 feet of breadth. Its gen
eral seating arrangement is modeled
somewhat upon the plan of the Metro
politan Opera House, New York. The
floor space is divided into arena,
arena baloony, balcony and roof gar
den, boxes skifting the arena and the
arena balcony. The stage is situated
in the center of the arena. The total
seating capacity is nearly 20,000, and
with standing room the building is
capable of holding more than 22,000
people. The arena alone seats 4000.
To each side of the arena and under
the first balcony are numerous com
mittee rooms, which have their sepa
rate street entrances. The building
has no stairways, the upper seatings
being reached by means of inclined
planes. Separate exits are used for
the balconies and roof garden, anil it
is estimated that the hall can be
emptied at the rate of 5000 people a
minute. 4
Convention Hall has, sinje its dedi
cation, a year ago, housed some of the
largest audiences that ever gathered
under root in this country. Its acous
tic properties have received especial
praise. Hon. William J. Bryan, who
last June addressed the Head Gamp
of the Modern Woodmen of America
in the hall, said later:
"It is hard to conGoive how Conven
tion Hall could be improved upon for
the purposes of large public gather
ings."
Maurice Grau, whose grand opera
company sang there November last to
record-breaking grand opera house
audiences, said:
"It is a wonderful struoture, com
plete in all its appointments, and has
uo equal in America," while Dwigut
L. Moody, the evangelist, who a month
later faced in this hall some of the
largest crowds that he had ever ad
dressed, said from the platform:
"I came one thousand miles to find
the best hall I have ever spoken in."
The leading hotels of the city are
the Coates, the Baltimore, the Mid
land, the Savoy, the Victoria and the
Washington, all of which are located
from three to ten blocks distant from
the hall. The Coates, which has al
ways been Mr. Bryan's stopping place,
will, it is said, be made the headquar
ters of the National Committee.
The accompanying illustration
shows the Sioux Falls auditorium,
which has a seating capacity of about
5000. Had it not been for this build
ing, which is the largest of the kind
in South Dakota, Sioux Falls would
not have been able to capture the na
tional convention of the Populist party,
which will be held May 9. On May
23 the Republicans of South Dakota
will also hold, their State conventiou
in Sioux Falls for the purpose of nomi
nating a Congressional and State ticket
and selecting delegates to the Repub
lican National Convention at Philadel
phia. The auditorium is anew build
ing. Not until after a delegation ot
Sioux Falls rustlers, in the fall of 1898,
succeeded in capturing the conventiou
of the National Creamery-Buttermak
ers' Association was the construction
of the building decided upon. The
structure is well arranged and is com
plete in all its details.
Cereal* In Algeria.
The growth of cereals has alwayt
been the staple industry in Algeria
but of late it has become unremunera
tive, and the returns both of Europeac
and native culture are very small.
Even among Europeans agriculture if
in a very elementary condition. Nt
forage is used save what grows spon
taneouslv; no manure, or very little,
is put on the land; no cattle are kept
beyond what are required for plowing
the land is impoverished, badly kept
and full of weeds and noxious insects,
■which smother and devour the crops
Ninety-eight per cent, of the lane
sown every year is devoted to tin
growth of cereals, and too little of I
te the rearing of cattle. The great
obstacles to agriculture are the uu
certainty of seasons and the impossi
bility of competing with such countries
as America, Russia and India, where
land is abundant, and, in the last twe
at least, labor is cheap.—Chambers'*
Journal. 1
Automobiles Used For Towing.
The haulage of boats by automo
bile along the canal between Brussels
and Charlerol has demonstrated, aftei
a long trial, that the new method ol
of towing iB three times quicker than
horse traction. The automobile de
rives its energy from a railway com
posed of six lines, three of high teu
sion (6000 volts) and three of low
tension, on which the trolleys ruu.
The electricity is furnished by three
dynamos, each of 120-horse power.-
Philadelphia Record.
More than 20,000 Parisians earn
their living as (ortuns-tellers.
WOMEN AND WAR WORK.
Uniform Cloaks Designed For tho Red
Crou Nana,
The Bed Cross nurses who were sent
to South Africa for the Imperial Yeo
manry Hospital were provided by the
authorities with a uniform cloak of
REGULATION 1 " CLOAK.
dark blue, having a rod-lined hood.
Ihis is for the purpose of protecting
the nurses against the extreme chilli
j aess of the night when they have to
; ruu to and fro from the tents. For
this reason the hood is made so that
it can be quickly thrown over the head,
i A picture of this cloak is here shown.
This hospital is the largest civil
i hospital ever sent out of England by
1 public subscription, and is due prin
cipally to the indefatigable work of
the women of Great Britain. The
wardrobe allowed to eaoh nurse, aside
from the cloak, comprises a dark blue
bonnet, six pairs of strings, cne serge
dress, three gray zephyr washing
dresses, three triangular caps, six
linen collars, six pairs of cuffs, six
pairs of linen sleeves and eight lineu
aprons.
The pay of a Yeomaury nurse is at
the rate of about thirty cents a day,
and begins on the day of embarkation
for South Africa, ceasing on the day
of arrival in Euglaud. If she survives
the service the nurse receives a gra
tuity of SIOO. The nurses sign a con
tract whereby they shall have no claim
whatsoever on the Yeomanry Hospital
Committee iu case of death or Injury
by accident or otherwise.
A Boor Wedding: Journey.
The accompanying picture is of pe
culiar interest at the present time,
showing aa it does a typical Boer and
his "vrouw" trekking back to the
farm after having gone through the
marriage ceremony at the Dutch Re
form Church, in Barberton, De Kaap
Valley. Our photo shows the happy
pair sitting on the back seat of a
wagon, which is drawn by a team of
no fewer tlian sixteen oxen. During
the long "trek" home to the lonely
farm this crude conveyance is their
dwelling by night and day—living
room, sleeping-room and kitcheu all
in one. Before reaching the happy
consummation of his fond hcpes,how
ever, the youug Boer has had many an
orduous ride to see the lady of his
choice. If his suit is approved of by
the old folks, the father, before retir
ing for the night, hands the young
gallant a lighted candle, in which he
has cut a notch; the understanding be
ing that when the candle has burned
down to that mark the lover must sad
dle up and be off. Many tricks, of
course, are played with the caudle—a
fresh one is substituted by the lover,
A TYPICAL BOER FARMER HAS JUST
MARRIED THE OIRL OP HtS HEART,
AND IS NOW OFF HOME AGAIN* DRAWS
BY SIXTEEN OXEN.
or the thing is snuffed out at judicious
intervals in order to prolong the even
i"g-
Fully Kqalpped.
Sir Robert Peel was once going
through a picture collection with a
friend where there was a portrait of a
prominent Englishman who was fa
mous for sayiug sharp things.
"How wonderfully like!" said the
friend. "You can see the ijuiver ou
his lips."
"Yes," replied Sir Robert, "and thf
arrows coming out of it."
The output of ooal iu the United
State* last year was 244,000,000 tons,
or about one-third ef the total product j
of the world.
ff — 1
I CHILDREN'S COLUMN. 1
The four Ki( Broom*. I
"O mother, why does the big wind blow
And rattle the window-pane? .
If I close my eyes to sleep just so,
It wakes me up Again,
If I bide my head beneath the spread,
You speak so soft and low
That I cannot hear what you have said,
Ob, why does the big wiud blow.
"Let us play, my darling, a merry play,
The winds are four big brooms
That sweep the world on a windy day
As Mary sweeps our rooms.
The south wind is the parlor brush
That sweeps in a quiet way
But the north wind oomes with roar and
rush
Ou the world-wide sweeping day.
''Like Mary sweeping the halls and stairs
Is the work of the good west broom,
And the sweetest odors, the softest airs,
Flo it over the world's wide room.
But tonight tho broom from the east is here,
And with it comes the rain.
Like John when he brushes the por.-h, my
dear,
And hoses the window-pane."
The little boy laughed and cuddled close
In bis warm and downy bed.
"I hear the broom and I hear tho hose,
And I like them both," hu said.
And so, though the rain tnay pelt away.
And the big wind loudly roar,
He remembers tho wide world's sweeping
day.
And thinks of tho big brooms four.
—Mary Bailing Street, to Youth's Com
panion.
A Most Wonderful Creature.
The chameleon has for a?e< been
an object of curiosity, not only on
account of its ability to change its
color at will, as one might suppose
who had read accounts which men
tioned only that one characteristic,
but also on account of a remarkable
power which admits of the creature
instantly changing its form. At times
it takes upon itself almost the exact
form of a mouse; again, with back
curved and tail erect, it is the exact
counterpart of a miniature crouching
lion, which no doubt gave origin to
! its name, chaiuel-leon, which clearly
means "ground lion." By inflating
its sides and flattening back and belly
it takes upon itself the form of an
ovate leaf, the tail acting as the
petiole, the white line over the belly
be oming the midrib.
When thus expanded it also has the
extraordinary power to sway iteelf
over so as to present an edge to 'hj
observer, thus greatly adding to it *
means of concealment. As is \el
known the least excitement, as i i
handling, will cause a change iu tlie
I color. In its normal state it is of a
! light pea green. When excited the
j groundwork remains the same, but
: transverse stripes, about 30 in number,
j appear on the body. These stripes,
which are of a very dark green to be
: gin with, soon change to iuky blnck
' uess. The prevailing idea that the 1
! chameleon takes upon himself the
| peculiar hues of whatever he is placed
upou is as curious and widespread as
it is erroneous. Placed in boxes lined
with red or blue silk, they retain their
pea green color with no leaning to
ward the brighter hues of tho sur
roundiugs.
Youthful Telegraph Operator.
Perhaps the youngest telegraph
operator in the country holding a
regular office in a courthouse town i3
"Willie" Barr, manager of the office
at Kingstree, the largest town on the
Atlantic coast line between Florence
and Charleston, S. C. There is just
business enough for one good-operator
at Kingstree, and "Little Willie" does
it all. He is in sole and eutire charge,
and has l;eeu for the last four months.
The boy is now just eleven years and
one month old, and he has been able
to do some work on tho wire for two
and a half years. When he was eight
years old an operator who took a
fancy to "Willie" came to Kingstree,
and the boy spent hours each day iu
the telegraph office, fascinated by the
strangeness of the thing. Gradually
he lea'ned the calls of the different
stations on the road by ear, then was
able to catch short words when a mes
sage was going through. All this
time the ambitious little fellow was
practising "sending" ou a dummy,
and Anally was permitted to "talk" to
operators on the line. When the boy
was ten and a half years old and it
became known that there would be a
vacancy in the Kingßtree office he ap
plied for the place. The authorities
were not disposed to put a boy in
charge, but "Willie" got on a train,
went, to division headquarters, and
stood a rigid examination in a satis
factory manner, and he got the place.
The boy will tackle with perfect un
concern a thousand word press dis
patch, and will send it faultlessly,
more than can be said for many adult
operators outside the cities. Vew
York Tribune.
Grandpa'* Snuffbox.
"Oh, dear!" sighed Dilly Burton to
her brother Joe, as they were trudg
ing home from school one day."it
is so hot! Let's go into grandma's
and rest."
"And get a ginger cake, may be,"
said Joe, wiping his sweaty little
face.
"O Joe, you a'e always wanting
ginger cakes! Now don't you ask
grandma for a single one! it isn't
polite."
And Dill.v looked very wiee as she
shut her mite of a blue silk parasol
and tapped lightly on grandma's door.
Grandma was not in the kitchen, but
the children went in and sat down on
the wide lounge to rest aud wait for
her.
Joe's eyes were very bright and al
ways very restless, and he had no
soouer sat down than he spied a small
box, black and shiny, -stauding on a
table beside grandma's worJchasket
In a moment it was in his hand.
"O Hilly, it smells just like mum
an>'" sweat box!"
"It' * grandma's suuff," said Dilly.
"Th re's the aceut beau in it." And
the children sniffed long and deep a»
the powder in the box.
Then Joe's nose began to tingle and
the tears came into his eyes, and
Dilly sneezed. Then Joe sneezed,and
the powder flew out of the box upos
grandma's knitting.
"Oh, dear!" cried Dilly.
"Dear! dear!" echoed little Joe
"Ah-chew!"
"Nuh-cho!"
Joe's hat fell off, and Dilly stepped
on it. Then Dilly's hat fell over hei
eyes, and she dropped her parasol.
The gray kitten crawled out frou:
under the lounge and stared, then rac
off with a big tail. Just then grand
ma came in.
"Why, Dilly! Why, Jo«! Wka»
ave you crying about?"
"We ain't crying, grandma. It'f
the b-box!" sneezed Dilly.
"Oh, you silly children!" cried
grandma. "You have been at grand
pa's East Indian root that he smellt
of for the headache."
"Will it over stop, grandma?" criec
Dilly.
"Certainly," said grandma, smiling
a little.
Then she took the children to the
kitchen sink, and bathed their poor
led eyes and swo!len noses till they
were quite cool again.
"I am very sure, my dears,you will
not meddle any more with things yon
fehould not," grandma said, as she
I gave them each a ginger cake and tied
on their liats.
And Dilly and Joe knew they nevei
should again no, never! Orea'
Thoughts.
<"■ rami m»'** Toot Stovfl.
The children had been rumagiug it
the garret, aud they brought down
such a funny lookiug thing—a tiu boi
set in a wooden f'ram.», with little
carved pillars.
"What's it for?" asked Jack.
"And whnt'3 its name?" asked Patty.
"That is a foot stove," said grand
ma, looking over her glasses. "Wa
used to till it with hot coals,and carry
it to church to keep our feet warm.
You see, there was no fire in the
church, and it was very cold in wiu
ter. The frost on the windows wis
often so thick that they looked like
ground glass.
"1 remember the first time that our
i folks let me carry a foot stove mysblf.
Mother was sick, aud father stayed at
home to take care of her, so I went to
church aloue. How grown up I fe.lt,
as I marched up the aisle, holding the
foot stove in my mittened hand, and
sat down by myself in one corner of
the family pew.
"The ba ks of the pews were all so
high that I could not see any one ex
cept the minister, 'way over my head,
l in the pulpit. He was a very wise
man, and used long words that I could
not understand at all,and I soon grew
tired of watching his breath make
little clouds of vapor in the cold air
while he was speaking.
"Then I thought how nice it would
be to curl up on the seat and take a
little nap. Nobody waß in sight but
the minister, aud he had taken off his
glasses aud laid them in the hymn
book; aud I knew without them he
never could nee me when he was out
on his morniug walk, and passed me
on my way to school. So I tucked
my big muff of gray squirrel's fur
under my hea l, aud put the foot stove
to mv feet, and felt so comfortable
that I fell asleep in one wink.
"When 1 awoke I was surprised to
sec the pulpit empty, and the sunset
sparkling through the frosty west
windows. I was astonished to find
that I must have stept a long while;
i the people had all gone away without
noticing me, and 1 was locked up
alone in the church!"
"O grandma! Weren't you afraid?"
said little Patty.
"Yes, for I kuew it would be quite
dark before ovening service, when the
church would be uulocked again. It
was stinging cold, too; and I put mj
little numb fingers on the foot stove,
and tried to get the tingle out of
them.
"Pretty soon I heard some one nu
lock the door. I thought it was th«
sexton, and stood up ou the seat to
see, peeping over the back of the pow.
0 Patty and Jack, how I felt when 1
saw it was the dignified old minister
himself! He left his glasses on the
hymn-book, and came back to get
tliem. How I wished that I had never
taken that naughty uap!
"However, I told him just how rude
1 had been, and how I went to sleep
in the middle of his sermon. I cried
pretty hard as I told the disgraceful
story, for I thought he would scold
me, and all in dreadfully long words,
too; but he never said a thiug except
"The poor little pussy!" and theu he
picked me up in his arms, foot stove
aud all, and carried me safe home.
"But what an ashamed little girl he
set down on our do.irstep!"—Youth's
Companion.
Caught the Cmr.
Peter the Groat was ouee very neatlj
caught in a trap by a jester attached
to the court. The jester was noted
for his cleverness in getting himself
and his friends out of dilticulties. II
happened one day that a cousin of his
had incurred the czar's displeasure,
aud was about to l>e executed. The
jester, therefore, presented himself
before his imperial master to beg for
a reprieve. On seeing him approach,
the czar, divining his errand, cried:
"It is no good to come here; I swear
I will not grant what you are going to
ask." Immediately the jester went
down ou his knees, saying: '1 be
seech your imperial highness to pat
that scamp cousin of mine to death."
The czar thus caught in his own trap,
oould only laugh and pardon thto oon
demned man. —Columbian.