Roosevelt speaks tonight in Philadelphia
President parades through city
By Lyle C. Wilson, United Press staff writer
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania –
A damp, chill wind greeted President Roosevelt as he arrived in Philadelphia today for a motorcade sweep of the historic city and adjacent Camden, New Jersey, across the Delaware River.
Immediately after his arrival, the President entered his open car for a 30-mile parade under heavily overcast skies, in a bid for Pennsylvania’s 35 electoral votes.
The parade will be climaxed by a major political speech to the nation’s business men tonight at Shibe Park – the start of a five or six-state political swing.
WCAE and WJAS will broadcast the speech at 9:00 p.m. EWT.
Guffey, Lawrence there
In the open car with the President were Secretary Stephen Early, Attorney General Francis Biddle and Postmaster General Frank Walker.
A Secret Service car led the parade, and behind Mr. Roosevelt’s car – the second – came autos loaded with Democratic leaders, including U.S. Senator Joseph F. Guffey, Democratic State Chairman David Lawrence and candidates for various state offices.
The motorcade passed Philadelphia’s old city hall, passing under a street-wide banner of Governor Thomas E. Dewey hanging from the city headquarters of the Republican Women of Pennsylvania.
500,000 line crowd
Police Capt. Vincent L. Elwell estimated 500,000 persons lined Broad Street for three blocks below City Hall as the motorcade headed for the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
Two accidents marred the early Stages of the parade. Marine Col. A. E. Randall died of a heart attack while waiting with a group of naval officers at the main gate of the Navy Yard. At City Hall, the tail end of the motorcade was delayed for a few minutes when a police horse was knocked to the pavement by a car.
Mr. Roosevelt’s entrance into the Navy Yard was greeted with the traditional ruffles and flourishes, played by the Navy Yard band, and followed by the national anthem.
Welcomed by admiral
Welcomed at the main gate by RAdm. M. F. Draemel, Navy Yard commandant, Mr. Roosevelt was sped through the yard as thousands of workers braved the damp weather to cheer him all along the route.
A brief pause was made before the USS Olympia, the preserved flagship of Adm. Dewey and relic of the Battle of Manila Bay, before the tour continued.
A biting and intermittent rain followed the presidential tour through the Navy Yard. Witnesses caught no sight of Mr. Roosevelt’s dog, Fala, and it was not learned whether the President’s pet had been left behind because of the inclemency of the weather.
Stops at Wilmington
On his rain-swept tour through New York City last Saturday, Fala accompanied the President.
Mr. Roosevelt’s arrival in Philadelphia followed a brief stop at Wilmington, Delaware, where he told the station crowd that the Republicans were trying to prove “that a horse chestnut is a chestnut horse.”
Lincoln quoted
The President said at Wilmington:
A big vote in America this year will speak powerfully for the cause of democracy all over the world, the President said at Wilmington. We are holding a national election while the nation is at war – and this is the first time an election has been held under such conditions since 1864 – 80 years ago.
Which calls to mind a remark made by Abraham Lincoln when he was campaigning against Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln said, “In every way possible, he tried to prove that a horse chestnut is a chestnut horse.”
It seems to me that applies very neatly to some of the Republican political oratory which has lately been agitating the air waves.
…I think we all know the difference between a horse chestnut and chestnut horse.
Mr. Roosevelt will speak at Chicago’s Soldier Field, returning to Washington Sunday.
Chicago Democratic leaders said the advance demand for tickets indicated that 110,000 persons would crowd into Soldier Field to hear Mr. Roosevelt and it was estimated that 50,000 more would stand outside listening over a loudspeaker system.
One more major trip
The President has at least one more campaign journey scheduled in this extraordinarily bitter and personal contest with Governor Dewey to determine who shall be President for the next four years.
The President will pause for 15 minutes tomorrow in Fort Wayne, Indiana, for a short speech. Reportedly on the schedule is a train-end appearance either at Akron or Youngstown, Ohio, one purpose of which – if it takes place – will be to blast the reelection prospects of Senator Robert A. Taft (R-OH), a standout adversary of administration policy, both domestic and foreign.
In New York, Robert E. Hannegan, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said Mr. Roosevelt will stop briefly at Clarksburg, West Virginia, on his return trip.
Despite announcement of the Sunday return to Washington, there remained the possibility that the President would pack up early enough next week to speak in Cleveland, Detroit or Buffalo, New York, before an officially announced engagement in Boston on Nov. 4. That is the Saturday before Election Day.