, 1864-04-27
TILE SWORD CONTEST ;
Majority for q. S. G. of oTcr Fifteen
Thousand.
Interesting Incidents at til.
Count,


Aler TWO Q CLOCK yesterday SOIcs l0f tue
sword were received at Stand No. 10, in the
main building. 4 plain, substantial wooden
boz had been provided TO receive the votes.
Plenty Of envelopes and cards we're scattered
on the counter, and about dozen policemen
were stationed ut the stand to preserve order.
Two gentlemen were on duty inside the
counter to explain the r,ot1us opeTand; of the
voting to all deslrou. Of doing SO. One Of
them WAS provided with = bit Of led pencil
about two inches in length, which he very
ohligingly loaned to any one hho wished to
vote They wrote the name Of their fAvorite
on blank card, wrapped one or more green
backs around the card, then placed the whole
IN IN envelope, and deposited IL In the ballot
box, under the supervision Of the policemen
and about q lalf lnsdred lookcrs on. The
voting went on very brlskly-yery briskly,
/ indeed, on the part Of the lalies and Juveniles,
whilst the men formed IN outer circle and
canvassed the merits fthc two generals. 1t
is 4 singular fact, and one which may as well
be mentioned at this time as at any other,
that tho contest for the naval sword excited
but little or nc interest. The e}aims Of
Generals Grant and Mcclellan, on the CON
tra1y were al absorbing. Everybody had
something to say on tho subject. Betting
run high yesterday around stand No. 10 Nc
Cle]lan,s admirers were anxious to
show their faith by their greenbacks. When
about six people are talking at ths same time,
1t is somcN hat difficult to reproduce ttelr
ccnvrreation in writing, especially when
all ere 4 little excited, md each one bent
on convincing the other five by loudness OF
tonc rather than 6oundnees Of reasoning. At
the s1aud yesterday gentleman In the crowd
eyed several ladies who We're busy filling up
cards and t'klng ont grcenbasks IRON well
flled purses. he turned partly round, and,
addressing the crowd, said, "l'll bet q thou
sand dollars Mcclellan his received the great
est number Of votes, counting each name a
but one vote" 4 bomb shell could have
created but little more excitement taao this
short speech did. a red-faced 1nau offered
to lake The bet, but unfortunately had only
about five dollars in Ills pocket. Then the
crowd sailed in in6isci Intimately, and eyerr
body bad something to sly after the follow.
Ing fashion: Hive you read hcCle}laa's re-
polt!" TN bet Thousand dollass." t'Oh!
damn your tnousand dollars.'' s'nc WAS the
only man eytr got near enough to Richmond
to zee it" ''Srop, and I'll tell you some
thing about General Lees family when Lit
tie htac' was in tue ChicGa1ouiny swamps"
Now, Who do you suppose cares any thing
about that; ~ant to bet 4 thousand dollars.'
An irreve5ent persoa on the extreme edge Of
the crowd created a temporary diversion By
shouting out, "Why con't some Of you folks
either vote OF enlist s'' This had thc eHcct
ofscattering the crowd and voters commenced
to step up 4uite lively and numsrously. Ser
eral bulky envelopes were brought mp and
deposited in the box, and the voter lisap.
peared amidst a slight cheer, and blashing
deeply at The notice they had attracted
A. the hour for closing the box approach
ed, the crowd and excitement increased 4
double line Of policemen was furmed, nnd
every facility afforded those desiring to vote.
A membrr Of the Executive Committee act
cd as master Of. ceremonies. He stood, watch
in hand, and called out the time. Twenty
minutes to eight. Now's your time, gentle
men. Step ~ and votc. An obliging po-
Iceman, whilst pushing back the crowd,
added in loud voice, Ladies are allowed
to vote" The minutes were passing rapidly,
and the ba1lot-ho1 appeared to be pretty we'll
force the envelopes in. Many of them ap-
peared to be well filled, and several were OF
very large proportio.s. Ten minutes to
eight O'CLOCK" -" sang out the gentleman in
charge "Stcp up and Eote,'' added his dep
uty- Several juveniles walked up to the boz
ened and the policemen exerted their
strength and preserved their good temper.
t'Fiyc mlnntes to eight" was called out;
"Only. five minutes more" Everybody
stood on tip-toe, and > few more votes were
deposited. The clock Was just on tue stroke
of eight, when the outer edge Of the crowd
was agitated, and soon passage way clenr-
ed, und lad; walked up, filled up card
With pencil and an Envelope with green
b1cks. which she placed in the box and retir-
cd smiling. This was the last vote cast. The
ballot-boI wnI declared closed, md hearty
cheer greeted the announcements
TIE ExAM1SAT1o>i OF TIE SEALED VOTES.
The process Of counting the votes took
place in the ar1norY OF Palace Garden, adjoin-
mediaft1y nflcr The closing Of the polls in the
main hall, the ballot boxes aud swords were
brought to the aruory, where majority Of
the committee appointed for the purpose Of
counting the votes had assembled. Two
tablcs, about dozen chairs, few stools,
ture + the chau1her. Wilson g. Hunt, Judge
Daily, Vim. ktmb!e, J. Butler Wright, and
VIM. b. Webb occupied seats around the
'prlnciple tatle- Air. Tiffany, with half 4 doz-
en- Of Lis clerks, hlr. Wm. Blodgett, the re-
porter Of the Herald, and q strong force Of
policemen were also present, making the en-
tire party number about twenty. ALI Others
were excluded, the committee considering
that their operations wonld be too much In
tcrfered with By admitting nny more persons
into the room.
Mr.. Blodgett, as Chairman of the Arms and
Supplies Committee, opened the proceedings
" stating. that everything Was in readiness
G. hunt was thcrcu Ion chosen Chairman,
and Mr, Joseph P. Howard, of Tiiiauy's, was
requested to oct as secretary and accountant.
Tic details Of the examination were next
agreed upon, AMI the ballot boxes were uu-
ecrcs cd, disclosing to the party large bnn-
die Of packages. almost filing mp completely
cac Of tile boxes. The Committee divided
their labors thus :-Ms+ Wright to open the
letters; Iii. Kemble to read ont tue contents.
amount Of subscriptions and names Of sub
scribGts; Judge Daily to take the money aud
examine it.; Mr. Webb to endorse the cub
ectiptions on the envelopes aud deposit them
In another box procurca-for that purpose.
TJJF Cnrf<T1Ni. nFGTTR
Erc5.thing being in readiness, Mr. Wright
placed one OF the open ballot boxes in front
Of him, put In his hand, drew out the first
package md slowly opened it. 4 man named
Basectt, WHO disd4incd furnishing Christian
his subscription first picked mp. 1tcontained
one dol1nr bill to be placed to the vote for
Mcclellan. It is singular fact that the Sec
ord vote w0s for Grant, and Has also . one
collar affair. 4 numbrr Of small sums we're
next drawn ont, but attracted no attention.
The first big contribution dr.wn Was one
lupdreti and two for George B. Mcclellan
thai a1nouut in five minutes in front Of the
steanbo.t office in Jersey CITY.
TIE UNION SQUARE VOTE.
The box containing the sealed votes which
| had bt en- deposited at Union Square vas next
Grst vote drawn was from the Loyal Men
OF New York, :, ,037 for Grant" This cansed
an immense sensation among oil preseut- The
indications previously were that Mcclellan
womb surely win the sword by . fair ma
;o1ity- Tie two thousand dollar check CON-
nletely turned the tide. The remaining prin-
ciral yotcs will be found in the following
table:
SEVENTEENTH STREET BOX.