The chairman had hardened his heart, but the voice of the gentleman from Fraser alone rose above the tumult, and in a moment of comparative calm he addressed the chair unrecognized and unpermitted.
"I beg to call your attention, sir, to the presence in the gallery of many of the fair daughters of the old Hoosier State.

(Applause.) They hover above us like guardian angels.

They have come in the spirit that brought their sisters of old to watch true knights battle in the tourney.

As a mark of respect to these ladies who do us so much honor, I ask the chair to request gentlemen to desist from smoking, and that the sergeant-at-arms be ordered to enforce the rule throughout our deliberations." (Long-continued applause.) The state chairman was annoyed and showed his annoyance.

He had been about to ingratiate himself with the ladies by making this request unprompted; he made it now, but the gentleman from Fraser sat down conscious that the renewed applause was his.
"Why don't they keep on smoking ?" asked Mrs.Owen.