Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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( V r ' / * McCORMICK MESSENGER, Mc^ORMICK. S. C.. THURSDAY, AUGUST 3, 1939 Plans for the 1939 American Legion Convention In Chicago's Famed Coliseum Brings to Light a New Chapter in Nation's Presidential History Interior of the Chicago Coliseum, where the American Legion 1939 national convention will open September 25. The view was taken during the Republican national convention of 1912 when a plan to stampede the delegates with the appearance of Theodore Roosevelt, who was later named as the National Progressive candidate, was abandoned. The plan to smuggle “Teddy” to the speakers’ platform is told here for the first time. declared F^hil Collins, to whom Mr. Hall was relating the inci dent. “I remember what hap pened at that convention—a wom an delegate mentioned Roose velt’s name and it started a dem onstration which lasted for two hours before it could be stopped.” “There’s not a doubt about it,” agreed Mr. Hall. “I’ve often wondered why the plan was nev er carried through. All I know is that George Porter and his friends dropped the matter. I never asked him why and he nev er volunteered the information. . . . But I wish they had gone ahead. I was ready for my part in it.” As the 73-year-old Coliseum man ager fingered an old-fashioned scarf-pin in his tie, he continued: “Maybe if they had gone ahead I wouldn’t have had this pin. You see, it was given to me by ‘Ted dy’ himself. But that was six weeks later when the ‘Bull Moos- By ELMO SCOTT WATSON (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) T HE work of preparing for the 1939 national convention of the American Legion, which meets for the first time in Chicago’s Coliseum, scene of the nomination of three Presidents of the United States, has brought to light a new chapter in American presidential history. It is the story of a plan to smuggle “Teddy” Roosevelt into the regular Repub lican convention back in 1912, which, if it had succeeded, might well have changed the course of events in this country during the last 25 years. The story was told for the first time recently by Charles R. Hall, veteran manager of the Coliseum, while he and Philip W. Collins, executive vice president of the Legion convention corporation, were making arrangements for the big gathering of thousands of Legionnaires from all parts of the country in that historic convention hall on September 25. The incident has addi tional interest because of the fact that a prominent figure at the 1939 session will be “Teddy’s” son, Col. Theodore Roosevelt, who helped organ ize the Legion just 20 years ago. Bearing his credentials as a delegate he will walk, un hampered, into the very hall which his father was kept from entering by the use of barbed wire! But, let Charles R. Hall, who was one of the 1912 “plot ters,” tell the story himself: “The Democratic party at Bal timore already had nominated Woodrow Wilson and Thomas R. Marshall when the regular Re publican convention opened in the Coliseum on June. 18. Although the logical thing for the Repub licans to do was to renominate William Howard Taft, who was just completing his term as Pres ident, there was an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with the record which Taft had made in the White House. And there was repeated talk of ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt—still a magic name for vote-getting. So the sessions dragged along while the delegates debated in their minds whether or not to renomi nate Taft. “While the convention marked time, I was approached by the late George W. Porter, a Chicago capitalist, who was a strong Roosevelt supporter./ “ ‘Roosevelt is in Chicago,’ he whispered to me. ‘Could you get him into the convention unseen?’ “My answer was: ‘Of course! I’ll put him on the front of the platform, right beside the chair man of the convention.’ “ ‘What’ll you charge?’ Porter wanted to know. “ ‘Hell’s Bells!* I answered, ‘You don’t think I’d charge for giving those convention delegates the thrill of seeing Teddy, do you?’ “But the very next day I found out that news of our ‘plot’ had leaked out. The sergeant-at-arms of the convention ordered me to stretch rolls of barbed wire along the footlights in front of the speaker’s platform. I guess they thought we were going to have ‘Teddy’ planted on the floor of the convention, start a demon stration and then rush him up the center aisle and on to the platform. “They didn’t know that their barbed wire wouldn’t have stopped ‘T. R.’ if we had gone through with our plan. I was go ing to admit him through a secret outer door, rush him into a tunnel entrance a few feet away and then through the tunnel and up a short flight of steps. When he hit the top step, he would have been be hind their barbed wire, directly facing every delegate in the building. “If he had done that, it would have stampeded the delegates.” of 1893 were under way, a move ment was started to purchase Libby prison and move it to the city on the lake as a Civil war museum. Prominent in this movement was the Chicago his torian and collector, C. F. Gun- then The work of moving the prison from Richmond to Chicago be gan in December, 1888. Each board, beam, timber, and block of stone was numbered and let tered and the task of transport ing these and the 800,000 bricks in the main structure required the use of 132 20-ton cars by the Ches apeake & Ohio railway. The pris on was rebuilt on the site of the present Coliseum and re-opened as a war museum on September 21, 1889 (just 50 years and four days before the opening of this year’s Legion convention!) Ap propriately enough, its first meet ing was a G. A. R. reunion. Meanwhile a massive battlement, which was designed to provide a flashy “front” for the museum, was built along the Wabash ave nue side of the transplanted pris on from stone that was quarried within the Chicago city limits of that time. Thousands of visitors, before and during the 1893 World’s fair, were attracted to the museum and its historical relics. However, this old prison museum was torn down in 1900 to make way for the present Coliseum but the m Charles R. Hall, veteran manager of the Coliseum, looks over the official badges of some of the national nominating conventions held in that building. He is wearing a scarfpin presented to him by Theodore Roosevelt after the National Progressive convention in 1912. ers’ met in the Coliseum and nominated Roosevelt and Sen. Hi ram Johnson of California as their candidates on the Progres sive party ticket. In addition to contributing this “now-it-can-be-told” item to American political history, the veteran manager of the Coliseum is also an authority on another story which links this building with another historic structure. That was the famous Libby pris on in Richmond, Va., of Civil war days which was moved to Chicago, piece by piece, 50 years ago, and rebuilt on the present site of the Coliseum. During the Civil war Libby was known as the “Palace Prison of the Confederacy” where 40,000 Union soldiers, most of them offi cers, were confined. The main prison was originally a tobacco warehouse, made of 13-inch bricks which were brought to this country from England. While plans for the Chiravo World’s fair stone wall which was its “front” still faces on Wabash avenue. Relics in the museum became scattered, some of them being given to the Chicago Historical society where they are still pre served. 'c “Bricks of the prison were dis tributed to G. A. R. posts through out the country and some of them were sold for a dollar apiece,” Mr. Hall recalls. “But even in recent years, when we excavated to provide a pool for the diving horse of a circus or for other purposes, some of those old bricks from Libby prison came to light. The floors and other fea tures of the Coliseum have been altered dozens of times to meet the needs of special events. But one distinctive feature remains unchanged. Our outside walls, with their turrets and observa tion posts, today are exactly as they were when they surrounded the transplanted historic Libby nrison.” This year the American Legion “comes of age”—in more re* spects than one. Not only is it the organization’s twenty-first an nual convention, but, according to National Commander Stephen F. Chadwick, the 1939 assembly of the veterans will have a more se rious tone than ever before. It will be provided by “American Democracy,” first convention keynote in Legion history. More over, convention program plans call for large-scale participation by the wives, sons and daughters of the Legionnaires who will ac company them to Chicago. The history of the American Legion goes back to the year 1919 and to Paris, France. That story is told by Col. Theodore Roose velt, one of its founders, thus: “No one man can claim to be the founder of the American Le gion. I got the idea from a wounded sergeant in a hospital. He said we should form an organ ization of veterans of the war, adding, ‘we have stuck together in the bad times; let’s stick to gether in the good ones.’ “After that, I talked with num bers of people, many of whom had been thinking on these lines. The problem was to get the or ganization under way. The Arm istice had been declared. I asked some regular army friends at G. H. Q. if soldiers from each of the American divisions then in France could be ordered to Paris to discuss the idea. They told me they could not do that direct ly, but that they could order such a group of men to meet in Paris and discuss the morale of the American troops. “We held the meeting on mo rale. Afterwards, at a dinner, we discussed plans for a veter ans’ organization. All agreed on certain principles. The first was that no difference should be made m: y.'-y. ) COL. THEODORE ROOSEVELT between those who had served overseas and those who had not —as the desire to serve was what counted. The second, that the Legion was to be a democratic organization, in which there should be no question of rank, and privates would get a full chance to tell the generals what they thought of them. Third and last, the organization should con cern itself with policies, not with partisan politics. Next an organ ization committee was appointed. Eric Fisher Wood was named secretary, Bennett Clark, today senator from Missouri, vice chair man, and I, chairman. “We decided to hold two meet ings, one in Paris and the other practically simultaneously in the United States. Bennett Clark, Eric Wood and a number of oth ers took the responsibility for the Paris caucus. I had been or dered home, and agreed to ar range the caucus at home. “The Paris meeting went off in splendid shape. Everyone was in terested and enthusiastic. All units were represented, and pri vates as well as generals were delegates. Incidentally, there was no trouble in getting delegates to go. Paris was a lodestone. This group adopted the name, Ameri can Legion. The name had been used by my father before the war, when he formed a group of Americans who had experience which qualified them to serve in the army in case of need. “Meanwhile, I returned to this country, and with some other vet erans, arranged for a caucus. We rented an office in New York city and got in touch with ex-service men in every state, asking them to organize the soldiers and sail ors in their community, elect del egates and come to St. Louis on May 8, 1919. “The first order of business was the election of a permanent chairman. We selected Col. Hen ry D. Lindsley of Texas, a South ern Democrat, thereby giving the lie to those who said it was to be a Republican organization. Next, we confirmed the actions taken by the Paris caucus, such as the selection of the name, American Legion, and adopted a declara tion of faith and a temporary con stitution. We provided an organ ization to carry on until the fall, when the first real convention was called in Minneapolis. There representatives of both Paris and St. Louis meetings would be, and the American Legion could take final form. “At Minneapolis on November 10 our convention assembled. We elected as commander Frartklin K. D’Olier, of New Jersey, adopt ed a permanent constitution, and the Legion came into being.” HCW-fe SEW 4- Ruth Wyeth Spears c-S? Design luncheon mat and napkin yourself. \ATATCH any class of kinder- gartners cutting patterns from colored paper, and your fin gers will itch to pick up the scis sors and try it yourself. Why not? The luncheon mat and nap kin shown here offer a suggestion for a way to use your cut-out de signs for simple but effective applique work. The long sides of the mats are hemmed and the ends faced with one-inch bands of green, as at A. The napkins are also hemmed on two sides and faced with green bands on the other two. The stem for the bright red cherry follows a circular line embroidered in green outline stitch. The leaf is of the green material. Experiment with cutting the cherry and leaf in paper. When you have cut a design that pleases you, make a pattern in lightweight cardboard. Cut the fabric a little larger than the pattern, clip the edge as at B; then press it over the pattern with a warm iron as at C to make a firm crease. Re move the pattern, and sew the AROUND THE HOUSE Tipless Shoestrings.—If metal tips come off of shoe strings dip them in mucilage. This will stif fen the ends and make it easy to put them through eyelets. * • * For Mosquito Bites.—A little household ammonia added to the water with which mosquito bites are washed will remove the sting. » • * * Oil Up!—Don’t forget to oil your vacuum cleaner and electric washer. Oiling keeps them in good condition, and they wear longer. • * * When Making Blueberry Pie.— Mix one teaspoon of ground nut meg with two tablespoons of flour and sprinkle the mixture on the berries, then add sugar. • * • A Household Necessity.—A knife sharpener is as essential a piece of household equipment as the cof fee pot. Not even an expert carver is able to do much with a dull knife. * * * Cut Flowers With Razor Blade. —Take a safety razor blade with you when you go into the garden to cut flowers. It is more satis factory than scissors for cutting xlelicate flower stems. pieces in place with fine hemming stitches. NOTE: Readers who have not secured their copies of my two books should send in their orders at once. Your choice of the CRAZYPATCH QUILT leaflet showing 36 authentic stitches; or the RAG RUG LEAFLET will be included FREE with orders for both books, for the present. Ev eryone should have copies of these two bopks containing 96 How to Sew articles that have not ap peared in the paper. This offer will be withdrawn soon. Send or der with 25 cents immediately to Mr*. Spears, 210 S. Desplaines St., Chicago, 111., and both books will be mailed postpaid. 7K ruined eyes by neglect; they gef red and sore and you let them go. Don’t do it. Leonardi’s Golden Eye Lotion relieves soreness in one day. Cools, heals and strengthens* LEONARDPS GOLDEN EYE LOTION MAKES WEAK EYES STRONG New Large Site with Dropper—50 cents S. B. Leonardl & Co. Inc., New Rochelle, N. T ill I nimini' ll Righteousness Must Live If righteousness should perish it would not be worth while for men to live on the earth.—Emmanuel Kant. MOSQUITO BITES Use Penetro to sooths itching, stinging misi ery of mosquito, noni poisonous insect bites. ^ PENETRO Man-Made Misery A man is as miserable as he thinks he is.—Seneca. be miserable with MALARIA and COLDS when will check MALARIA fast and gives symptomatic cold relieL LIQUID, TABLETS. SALVE, NOSE DROPS Self-Favor I easily regain favor with my self.—Phaedrus. A A GREAT BARGAIN VESPER TEA PURE ORANGE PEKOE 50 Cups for lO Cents Ask Your Grocer w more to m ft AKES tuE 0 R *, i • •" •/I ,.• • •'* 1' Ihe world-famous fla- vor of Kellogg’s Com Flakes comes from a se cret recipe known only to Kellogg. No one has ever been able to match it!