AAdditional Games
- Chessgames
- Game, John Henry Smythe vs. Stasch Mlotkowski, circa 1903.
J. Henry Smythe, Jr. 11 Jun 1908, Thu The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Newspapers.com
Cheer Leader of Convention Is In This City 11 Jun 1908, Thu The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Newspapers.com
CHEER LEADER OF CONVENTION IS IN THIS CITY
“Grand Old Party Megaphone Man,” Who Came Into Prominence in 1904, May Repeat Performance
HAS ACQUIRED FAME AS A CHESS PLAYER
J. Henry Smythe, Jr., of Philadelphia, known throughout the State of Pennsylvania as the “‘Grand Old Party” Megaphone Man’,” and a member of the junior class of the University of Pennsylvania, is in Pittsburgh today en route to the 1908 convention at Chicago.
Smythe won national fame at the Republican national convention in 1904 by leading the delegates in the greatest ovation ever accorded a Presidential nominee. At this time he reached the front of the Coliseum platform just after the close of the nominating speech. Using a big American flag, he began with: “All together now, three cheers for the President. Hip, hip, Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!”
He then started a unison yell of “Roos-e-velt!“ “Roos-e-velt!” “Roos-e-velt!” The cry was taken up by delegation after delegation and soon the spectators joined in. In a short time 12,000 people were paying tribute to the President.
The sound made was terrific. A hundred steam whistles would have been drowned in the tumult. This was the way a number of the delegates described the ovation after the convention.
DEBUT WAS DELIBERATE.
Breathless after nearly ten minutes' exertion, Smythe made a bow of thanks to his audience, receiving applause for his daring, and retired.
Leslie's Weekly said: “The young man who made this somewhat sensational debut as a public character aspires to become a politician. His appearance before the Chicago Coliseum was deliberately planned by him, but it was a surprise to the officers of the convention. If the strategy and boldness of his debut be reliable signs of success, young Smythe bids fair to mount high on the political ladder. He is bright and intelligent above the average of his years.”
President Roosevelt invited young Smythe to attend the notification exercises at Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, and greeted him with the words. “I am pleased to meet such a typical ‘first-voter.’ Smythe accepted the invitation, and later made campaign speeches under the direction of the national, State and city committees.
Smythe the next fall entered the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce of the University of Pennsylvania, and he has been three times promoted without any conditions, having done meritoriously in the political economic and sociological studies.
His earlier history includes a visit to the Chicago World's Fair, where at the age of 9 he went around the grounds for several weeks all by himself. Two years later he made his first trip to Washington, and again last inauguration day. The Pan-American and the Jamestown Expositions received his earnest study, as did the St. Louis exposition, which he attended after casting his first ballot for President Roosevelt.
IS A CHESS PLAYER.
As a chess player Smythe has defeated Bampton, then champion of Pennsylvania, Schweitzer, then champion of New York, and Stadelman, all members of the International cable team, Goldberg and Sharp, later the holders of the State title and Mlotkowski winner of the St. Louis tourney, in match games. In simultaneous play especially Smythe excelled often winning as many as a dozen games at one time. He was three times elected to the presidency of the University of Pennsylvania Chess Club, but has been diligent only in an advisory capacity.
Smythe was born in Philadelphia, October 10, 1883. He was graduated from Eastburn Academy in 1901, and was admitted to Princeton. He entered business instead, and was soon promoted to a position “on the road.”
He is an energetic and well put up young man with a taste for business that will land him among the captains of industry when he takes his place in the war for dollars and fame.
