Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1886-11-30
The Congressional Recount.

WE leCClNCu, SC'S'oi houio
our paper had gone to press last week,
the following letter.:
MARTINsBURG, w. VA, Nov. 20, '86.
Editor Spirit of JeGerSon:-My at
tention has been called to an editorial
in your-issue of the 10Th inst, COM
mcncing. "Hon. w. l.. Wilson re-
turned Sunday night, &C." Permit
me t. say that so far as that article
refers to me, it is false in its. state
ments and false in it's inuendos. /
never asked or desired that votes or
precints should be thrown out on
(" technical and frivolous grounds"
Thursday night after the election,
when all was doubt and uncertainty.
to satisfy some of my friends. L
asked, through the proper channels,
a recount of the ballots, desiring to
know who had a majority of the votes
honestly cast, Z" only this end nothing
more" This could only be done on
Monday, the 9Th, the time fixed by
law, and no notice was necessary. L
never travelled a mile, or forced my
way through one single, solitary
snow-bank, to personally supervise
the count, or used my personal iniu-
ence with the recounting officers, who
we're nearly all Democrats. Were
you afraid to trust them? Were you
afraid they would illegally count Mr..
Wilson out? What wrong was com
mitted in asking for a recount? Will
you name the 6 INSCRIPTIONS charac-
%ters," who you say were my agents?
w. II. H. FLICK.
We thereupon addressed afew lines
to the County Clerk of Tucker
ty, (where the principal attack upon
the vote of Mr.. Wilson was made,)
enclosing the article in question,
clipped from the issue of the SPIRIT
of Nov. 10th, asking about the pro-
ceedings in regard to a recount there,
and if the article enclosed was not
substantially correct. BY last Satur-
mail the following reply was
received:
OFFICE OF CLERK COUNTY COURT
TUCKER COUNTY, w. VA.
st. George, Nov, 25, 1886.
Dear Sr:-Yours of 23d received.
You ask me the same question that 1
asked the court Gone member at least)
during the squabble over the vote of
our county. l wanted to know at
whose instance the summons were to
be issued calling for the officers con-
Quoting the election to testify. Was
told that it was at the instance of the
court, and issued summons accord
After the witnesses appeared, Flick
by counsel, w. b. Maxwell, (of fair
moved the court to reject
the vote at Evans Mill on the ground
that the vote was not held at Evans
Mill, but at Pine Grove Church about
so yards distant, {where the poll has
been taken for the last 80 years) also
to reject the vote at William
Fairfax district, as the returns did
not show who swore the Commission
ers. The evidence of course was
that they d" each took hold of the
Bible, one read the oath and each
the book" The court held
that the vote taken and returns made
were good, and Flick filed exceptions
to the opinion of the court. The
vote cast at Evans Mill was Wilson
80, Flick 10: at William" Wilson
%, Flick ). You a plainly see the
object, if such a thing could have been
practiced in small isolated precincts
in several counties. The article sent
/ consider correct, and the muddle
up in our county the dying
groan of Il colicy calf.
Yours Resp'y,
ABE B~oNNIFIELD.
G. w. Haines, Esq.