The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-11-28
THE ATLANTA CONTEST.
Review of One of the Most Memorable Cam.
paigns in the History of the Country.

Ate o'clock yesterday evening the most re
markable campaign ever waged in Atlanta wa
closed
Persons living out of the city cannot appreci
ate the pitch to which the excitement was car
ried. 1t was literally craze on both sides and
the gravest apprehensions were entertained OF
disorders at the polls. AS will be seen from our
reports printed below, Atlanta's usual GOOD sense
prevailed, and the election was orderly to de-
gree. Praise is due the leaders of both sides
and to a vast majority of the voters for this re-
suit. Disorderlv inclinations or violent impulses
the part of the votarieS of either side. unless
properly managed, would have resulted in DIS
asters. There was, however, general good hu-
NOR prevailing, and the red and blue, sandwiched
In line, voted with nothing more than pleasant
chatting here and there.
notable point was the determination of the
voters. A man would take his place in line,
perhaps one hundred yards from the ballot box
and likely sandwiched between two negroes He
would hold his place in spite of the chilling
wind for an hour, moving toward the polls at
snails pace Nothing could dslodge him from
his place. While three lines were across the
street at the courthouse the fire alarm rang
and the engines, hosereels and trucks came
dashing down the street at lightning like
speed. 1t actually looked for a while as il the
line would not break, but just as the flying
horses were on them, reluctant gap was
through, and closed with unhnching regularity
the instant they were gone There was almost
no changing of the voters at all" Nine voters out
of every ten in the lines had red or blue badges
and 1t was accepted as inevitable that they
would vote as they were labeled. After various
Intellectual dashes at the lines, the workers
seemed to recognize this and the long line set ont
distinctly the workers being huddled in the
angles between them.
The voting for the first hour was very slow.
The clerks were unaccustomed to the registry
books and to each other. andwere not up in the
details of the election law, and the first hour
showed that each of the six boxes averaged
hardly 100 votes. 1t was clear that at this rate
the total vote could not be polled, and details
were at once arranged to take voters into car
riages and carry them to of the outlying
precincts. The second hour showed, however.
an improvement of % per cent in receiving the
vote, the clerks having got the hang of the
thing, and by IL o'clock several of the boxes
were taking in $50 votes to the hour. 1t then
became plain that the entire vote could be
polled in the city without trouble and with
little discomfort, and by noon the lines
in waiting were considerably short
ened. AS it became clear that every man
would have a chance to vote, better feeling
prevailed, and, instead Of rush for a place,
there was disposition to hold the voters off I'M
til weak line was found. The new plan OF
triple boxes worked finely. At $50 per hour to
each box ,0S0 men could be voted every hour.
This would make 1850 votes for the seven hours
Tue t"o uoASS were Op0D, OF J,0OU lof Inc uay
There was victory in the air for the Prohibit
tionists in the morning. They rapidly recov-
cred the loss they started with at the court
house. and up to III o'clock held the advantage
they started with at the engine house. They
were buoyant and had the hurrah up to about
noon. The ants then appeared to be getting in
their work and reports from the country dis
tricts were discouraging to the Prohibitonists.
They fought game but losing fight until the
close of the engine-house polls at 3 o'clock when
they revived things somewhat by grand parade
of perhaps 500 blue badges in line to the court
house, where there was still three hours of work
to do.
The country precincts were not heard from re-
liaby until about o'clock. The Prohibtionists
counted on 400 country majority, but were
alarmed over reports from Cooks, where it was
said there was sure to be 500 majority.
When North Peachtree came in with 1l6 major.
ity and West End with 3l3 they felt better.
They lost Buckhead by about what they had exc
pected, and when it was reported officially that
Cooks had only ZIG anti majority they recovered
their buoyancy and again claimed the out Of
town precincts by over 500 Adamsvle was
nearly balanced by Oak Grove. and Collins gave
its small majority. To this was added 203 fir m
South Bend at late hour. which about justif
their claims and brought them into the city in
a clean 500 votes to the fore. 80
In the meantime there a prevailing In
preston that the engine house would add $50 to
the out of-town prohibition majority. which
would send them to the courthouse with about
had carried the courthouse precinct, the MAORI
ty being variously estimated at from 800 to 700.
The voting in the last two hours at this precinct
was largely in favor of the antis and it looked
as if the Prohibitionists were beaten, unless
they came to the court.h house door with sharply
over 500 majority.
The count at the engine house was watched
through every window, and. though communica-
ton with the inside force impossible. the
crowd guessed at the drift of things. 1t was
evidently close vote, and the Prohibtionists
did not appear likely to get the $50 they
claimed rumor stole out from broken
pane that there not fifty votes difference
either way. This was followed by the report
that the ants had actually carried the poll. The
ants were buoyant over this news. anGhclaimed
confidently that they could wipe out the country
majority If the engine house only stand
off, AT CAB exactly the engine house count was
finished, and it was announced that the Prohibit
tionists had carried the precinct by FIVE votes
This carried them to the courthouse with 537 ma
jority, where the polls had closed and the count
was rapidly progressing.
Interest then conferred in the court house The
immense building was crowded In spite of the
nipping wind the stone pavement about the
building was thronged with an anxious crowd.
Would the anti majority at that poll overcome
tionists had challenged It'll" That was the
question that 5000 men were asking each
other. The ants stoutly held that 1t would,
and offered to back their judgment with their
money. The Prohibitionists were evidently dis
couraged at the outcome of the engine house
poll, and were fearful of the result. The most
extraordinary efforts were made to get nforma-
ton. The closed windows were besieged by
frantic inquirers. The managers yielded to the
public by announcing. when 1000 votes had
been counted, that the ants had only rs ma
Jority. This result was genuine surprise. and
indicated a clear prohibition victory An hour
later it was announced that, with two boxes
counted-presumably two-thirds of the votes
the anti majority was only 220. This left the
Prohibitionists over 300 ahead with less than
1000 votes to count The excitement now began
to range high It was conceded that the Prohi
bitionists had won the fight While the prohi-
btion feeders seemed to appreciate the respon.
sibility that had come with their victory, they
were exhilarated over the expected result.
1t was 1913 o'clock when the last vote had
haan counted rrha Of fha