The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-10-27
A MAJORITY OF ONLY ONE.
The Result of the Recount of the Second
District Aldermanic Vote.
Mr.. Pritchards Majority Reduced Seven
Votes-Sim Coy and the Democratic
Judges Demand Second Recount.

Yesterday morning Judge Ayres filled the
vacancies on the board of commissioners to re-
count the vote for mayor, and for alderman in
the Second district, by appointing Charles A.
Dryer and A. F. Ayres in place of Judge Lamb
and Alderman McHugh, resigned. Mr. Dryer
is the Republican representative and Mr.. Ayres
the Democratic. The count began few min
utes before noon, and is being carried on in the
Circuit Court room, with doors closed to every
one except the candidates directly interested
and their watchers. The latter are r. o.
Hawkins and Harry G. Adams for G. S. Denny;
j. T. Tanning and Sim Coy for Mr.. Cottrell
John B. Jacques and Hugh Phillips for Robert
Denny; Charles Clark and AL Jennings,
for Pope the Greenback candidate; N. s.
Byram and Dan M. Ransdell for Mr. Pritchard,
and John w. Hoffman and John F. ONeil for
Mr.. Ripley. County Clerk McLain, in the alb
sence of the judges. administered the oath to
the commissioners, and gave them their instruc
tons He is, by deputy. the clerk of the board,
Charles S. Wright representing him in that ca
pacity
1t was decid ed to recount the votes of the Sec
ond district aldermanic candidates first, and by
o'clock they had completed the Third ward, in
which no errors were found. BY o'clock the
Fourth ward vote had been counted, with like
IL,
ond precinct of the Thirteenth ward Harry
Adams stated that up to that time errors had
been found, but q Democratic report was sent
out that two votes in favor of their candidates
had been discovered. These are probably the
two Democratic ballots that were found folded
together and not counted by the judges in the
first precinct of the Thirteenth ward. The
board will be in continuous session until the
work is completed, arrangements having been
made for sleeping accommodations in the court
house.
The count progressed on these aldermanic
wards up to ii o'clock, when the last vote in the
Fifteenth ward was recorded The Republicans.
mindful of experience last fall, in the recount of
Peelle-Bynum votes, had the commissioners
agree, on motion of Mr.. Dryer. to at once put
the ballots in the bags, seal the bags place them
in their respective boxes, and lock the boxes,
Mr. Dryer holding one key and Mr. Holt
another. Before the footiIgs COM
pleted this was done. The vote for alderman
stood: Pritchard, 1921; Ripley 1920, giving
the former a majority of one This was dis
agreeable revelation to the Democrats, who be-
gan at once to insist on recount by unlocking
the boxes and breaking the seals 1t was
claimed by them, particularly Sim Coy, that
this right OF another recount had been reserved,
but Commissioners Ayres and Holt while not
directly committing| themselves to such propo
sition, favored the proceeding. Commissioner
Dryer emphatically said that no recount had
been made in violation of the agreement TO keep
the ballots sealed and locked after they had been
canvassed. Sim Coy against the express in
structions of Judge Ayres, when he appointed
the commissioners and entered in the
decree that the watchers should have
no voice in the matter whatever, in
sisted upon the ballots again .being taken
out. Commissioner Dryer was immovabe and
stood by the agreement Coy said, Certainly we
reserved the right to recount, and recount as
many times as is necessary" 1t was
decided to refer the matter to Judge
of the Democratic central committee.
the only outsider admitted to the room, and
this, again, in violation of the courts ORDERS
went after the Judge at his residence on South
New Jersey street.
During the count arbitrary rulings of the most
partisan character were made by the Democratic
commissioners 1t was by these that Pritchard's
majority was reduced from eight to one. AS
sample, on Fourth ward ballot Caleb s. Den
ny's name was not scratched, but above Pritch-
ards name Cottrell paster had been placed.
They counted the vote for Cottrell and
Another instance: A Ripley paster
in the Fourteenth ward appeared over name
counted for Ripley. And still another, Pritch-
ard paster, was over Ripleys name, leaving
about one.hundredth OF an inch of the latter
BARE This was counted for both. On two bal
lots Cottrell's name was for Offices other than
mayor Dennys name being unscratched. They
out another for Denny where
Cottrell paster had been placed over Bruenig's
name for city clerk. The vote went to Cottrell.
There were several instances of this kind of mis-.
placed Denny and Pritchard pastors on Demo
cratic tickets, but the commissioners, Holt and
Ayres, arbitrarily ruled against the Republican
candidates, when they had applied the same rule
in favor of Cottrell and Ripley
At the end of the Thirteenth ward count
Pritchard still maintained his eight majority
according to the Democratic tally, but in the
First precinct of the Fourteenth he lost two
votes and in the Second precinct two more,
while Ripley gained four there. This left the
contestants tie. In the Fifteenth ward Pritch-
ard gained one majority. Mr.. Jacques, watcher
for Robert Denny, says that by the memoranda
he kept Pritchard has four or Ave majority.
About II o'clock Sullivan, who went after
Judge Ayers, returned with the message that
the Judge would not come up that night. The
Democrats claimed that the verbal instructions
he sent were to go on with the count,
recount and second recount of the alder
manic votes. but to this Commissioner
Dryer and the other Republicans would not
listen. They gained their point at last by put
ting the controversy off till to-day. The watch
ers and candidates, few minutes afterward,
left the room for their respective homes, the
commissioners remaining in charge, assisted by