Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-01-08
THE COUNT INCOMPLETE.
THE RESULT OF YESTERDAYS
ELECTION UNDECIDED.

/ arrest IOT QlsOfuerlE COuuuCl uuIAHE tue
entire day. and the detail of police sta
toned in the court house square had moth
| ing to do but watch the crowd and keep
| the sidewalks clear.
The polls were opened at ! O'Clock and
/ the voting began brisk. The Ogeechee
| crowd was on hand, and probably 200 ne
| grOes and half as many white men were
i gathered about the court house and in
! the Hobbies ready TO vote. The majority
Of the cOlored people were from the cOu n
| try districts, and had their days ratiOns
/ with them. The same arrangement as in
1 former elections in regard to voting was
| adhered to. The boxes were so arranged
as to give four voting places.
REPEATERs AT WORK.
1t was impossible for time to prevent
1 this illegal work, but as soon as the
| challengers arrived a check was put
| upon it. The crowds Of cOlOred people
| increased rapidly during the forenoon,
| coming in in detachments from the negro
| neIghbOThOOds outside Of the city. From
1 : until s O'Clock the voting was heavy,
| but after it was comparatively light,
| until about O'Clock, when it again began,
and by 10 a steady stream of votes
was being dropped into the boxes. This
continued until about 1 O'Clock, when
| considerably over half Of the registered
vote of the county had been deposited.
At , O'Clock 1900 votes had been cast.
| By this time the colOred vote began TO
slack off and the solid white vote began
to roll in. The crowd was smaller be-
tween and 3 O'Clock than at any time
during the day, but after that it began tn
| pick up again and until the polls closed
the scene was a busy one.
CANDIDATES AT THE POLLS.
The workers were on hand everywhere
with their hands and pockets full Of TICK
cts, and a good deal of hard work
was done. The candidates had their
followers thoroughly organized, and every
foot of vantage ground was contested. 1t
was a free fight and every man went to
work. Up to . o'clock fully SO per cent.
of the votes had been challenged. A
| number of repeaters were ordered under
arrest and sent to the barracks. The
law against repeating and illegal voting
is explicit, but il has rarely been enforced.
Where parties have been arrested
| for such OffenseS On former occasions
they have generally been sent to
the barracks and detained until the polls
| closed. and then released. 1t is under
| stood that an endeaYOr will be made TO
| put a check upon the fraud by vigorous
| prosecution. The uncertainty of the fight
Tor many of the offices rendered the at
| tempts at fraudulent voting more fire.
| 0uent than in elections where the contest
| Is less evenly divided. With the constant
stream of voters during the early
part of the day the work of the
| managers was rendered exceedingly
| ariuOus. The bOldest attempts at fraud
were made, but through the vigilance of
| the challengers very few Illegal votes
were cast.
FOREsHADowING THE RESULT.
1t was impossible at any time during
the day to fOTeshadOw with any degree of
/ in nithnr tho
| SherifTalty, Ordinary, or Tax Receiver
| ship contest, although a good deal of
| sneculatiOn was INDUCED in. Col. Bees
| election to the Superior Court Clerkship
was generally conceded, the only ques-
! ton ing his majority. The result
| Of the contest between DR.. Shettall and
| Mr.. Dixon for Coroner was in grave doubt
| most Of the day. The Sherifalty fight de-
| yelOped as much interest as any. As
soon as the polls were opened it became
apparent that Mr.. RusselPs followers
| were thoroughly organized, and that
! effective work was being done for him.
| The impression prevailed in the forenoon
| that Mr.. Romans election was certain,
| but il was evident that his friends were
/ not idle, and were leaving no chances
| omen where a vote could be secured.
Late in the afternoon the impression
| gained ground that Mr.. Russell had
| gained and was ahead. OF course these
| were only speculative reports, as there
| was no way of figuring out the result.
REPORTED COMBINATIONS.
RepOrts of certain combinations were
| freely talked about and emphatically de-
| MED by those who were concerned. II
was very evident, however, that there
| was large number of votes for sale, and
also a very large amount of money on
hand TO buy votes with.
| There was no lack of small change any
| where. and il looked very much, as Was
! IN obahIv the case, that the biggest pile
/ Of .'chink'' got the biggest vote.
The friends of Mr.. Hamilton and Mr..
/ Ferrill, in the contest for Ordinary,
| worked like beavers, and in both of these
/ candidates individual interests great
deal OF scratching was done. Maj. Smiths
and Mr.. Golfers friends were by no
means idle.
GOOD DEAL OF SCRATCHING.
In the Tax Receivership race the con-
/ test was generally believed 10 lie between
| Cant. Dillon, Mr.. KOlshOrn, and Mr..
| SOlOmOns. There was a good deal
Of scratching on the Receivership
| ticket, as well as on all the
| tickets, owing to the number OF candi-
/ dates, and 1t was impossible to predict
| with any degree of certainty what the
/ outcome would be. Political prophets
| had said a good deal about the Receiver
| ship race and it was closely watched.
When the polls closed 5000 votes had
| been cast, the largest vote that has been
polled at a county election for years.
THE COUNT.
The counting of the votes was begun
| few minutes after I O'Clock by Mag
i istrate Mcleod King, assisted by
| Mr.. H. J. TbOmassOn and NJ.
! A. O'Byrne, Esq. Box No. l, known as
/ the Bull street box, and containing the
| ballots commencing with the initial let
/ ters from A to ID, was first opened,
/ Just before the counting began L. Nj.
| Russell, Jr., one of the tally sheet keep
ers, gave notice to Superlntendeht NORMA
/ that if any of the candidates objected TO
/ his services he would retire. The Super
| intendent replied: THE candidates have
/ nothing to do with the matter. You
have been appointed tally sheet
| keeper, and there is no reason why you
/ should not serve"
| At this point Warning Russell asked
/ Superintendent Molina what the pencils
| were being used for by the managers OF
Box No. on the Judges bench.
| Mr.. Molina replied that he supposed 1t
| was because the managers had use Tor
/ them, and added that he believed they
| would do their duty honestly and fairly,
! as they were sworn to do.
/ Mr. Russell then SAID: 81 wish to no.
I La
use of pencils by the managers while as
/ sorting and counting the tickets"
| every well. sir" replied the Superin-
tendent, and the use Of the pencil was
| dispepsed with and the count proceeded.
THE VOTE BY BOXES.
BOX No. l contained SOS ballots, and
| vritb ROx No. 4, which faced President
| street and contained 667 ballots, begin
nin0 with the initial letters from 5 to Z,
| were suppOsed to be strong Roman boxes.
In box No. >. facing York street, were
| S34 ballots from Z to l.. In box No. ),
/ facing DraytOn street. ISL ballots were
deposited. the initial letters OF the voters
| commencing from NJ to II. 1t was in
| these boxes that the Russell influence
| showed the greatest strength. A gentle
man who stood near either one or the
other of the two boxes all day said
| that Russell worked them for all
they were worth. When the counting OF
HOY No. 1 had been going on about two
| hours the opinion prevailed that il Russell,
Hamilton and Sheitall did not develop
e-raatar strength in the other boxes in pro-
norton Tn the number of votes pOlled that
Roman, Ferrill, Dillon and DIXON Woulo De
elected. The total vote polled during the
| day was 200, with nearly all the Daliols
/ 'ssplits." Each ticket had to be called on
| separately, thus making the count eA-
/ ceedingly tedious. The court room was
| crowded with spectators until midnight
BOX NO. 1.
The count OF box No. was completed
at 80 O'Clock. The vote was announced
| ac follOWs.