By May 29, four days before the opening of the convention, trainloads upon trainloads of delegates, lobbyists, reporters, and campaign followers had arrived at the Union and Dearborn railway stations in Chicago. Candidate supporters channeled through the Chicago streets with daily parades and rallies. Pre-convention possible outcomes of the voting were published by a number of sources. One, from the "Albany Evening Journal", predicted Blaine with 277 votes, Grant with 317, Sherman with 106, and 49 for the other candidates. All of these predicted candidate vote totals were short of the 379 needed to win. Many in Chicago knew that a victor, most probably Grant, would only be determined if the unit rule, which postulated that all delegates from a particular state must vote for the candidate preferred by that state's delegation, was to be in effect. If that was not the case, then a long deadlock would result until one side succumbed to the other.