The morning call., 1890-11-06

to make head or tail out of the returns
Either there must have been willful dIsre-
gard of the instructions, or else the greater
number of the precinct boards were made up
of individuals too stupid to comprehend lhe
simplest form of simple order.
While it is admitted that the Story system
of counting is complicated and dllilcujt OF
comprehension to some. yet ASIDE IIon rom
this fact it is surprising that !oo9
could have been picked out of civilized
community on earth that could make SO
many silly blunders in simpler matters.
For instance it was as plain as the nose on
a mans face, and the directions were mucn
palmer that bulletin showing the result
Of the tallv sheet was to have been made
out and sent to the main office independent
of the returns. the latter then to be sealed
up and also sent to the main Office.
In upward of 100 cases this bulletin was
either neglected altogether or else was made
out and sealed up with the ballots. In
either case it was fatal so far as the imme-
diate results were concerned. Nothing
whatever can be learned from those pre-
cincts until the seal of the returns is broken
by the Election Commissioners when the
official canvass is commenced.
COMPLETELY BEFUDDLED.
The officers of the Eighth Precinct of the
ThlTty-third District became SO completely be-
fuddlea with the intricate tally sheet OF the
Story system that they gave up the count as
a bad job long before noon, and in fit of
desperation grabbed up the ballot-boX. with
the votes in il, with all the paraphernalla,
and started for the central Office.
ITO - with the Story SyStem. they eX-
claimed in disgust, as they marched into the
presence of the Registrar. Come and count
these ballots; We can't get head or tail out
of the internal thing"
Mayor Pond happened to be in when they
arrived, and sent them back to their pre-
cinct with the necessary assistance.
The board in the Seventh of the Thirty
sixth was also completely befUddled. Early
in the forenoon one of the members went to
the central Office and explained that assist
auce must be given them, for they could
proceed no further. They had been strug-
Cling with the ballots all night. and the long
er they worked the more confused they
became till finally it was necessary to stop.
One of the most efficient clerks in the
office was sent out to Straighten things up,
and before many hours the tally sheet came
in all complete.
MORE CASES OF DESPERATION.
The report reached the central office last
night about dark from one precinct than not
one ballot had been counted and that the
board did not even know how to start in. A
clerk was at once dispatched TO the scene,
and once started, everything moved along
without n great deal of difficulty, but the
work was not finished III time to make re-
port by O'clock this morning.
Another case of desperation was in the
Fifth of the F0rty-SeVenth. Finding it I'M
possible to make any Roadway the officers
gathered up everything pertaining TO the
election aud went to the central Office,
where their work was reviewed. Several
glaring errors were found. On one of the
tally sheets Mcdonald, the Reform candidate
for Mayor, had been credited with "A votes
aud on the uther only 4. Other defects of
similar character were discovered allthrough
the sheets. Finally 4 complete recount of
that precinct WAS found necessary.
ATTRIBUTED TO BAD WHISKY.
At midnight the Registrar made brief
review of tie returns i'll his possession and
found that with stXty-one precincts there
had been no bulletins returned with the
sealed ballots and tally sheets. In cases
of this kind it simply means that the pre-
einct officers neglected TO prepare bulletins,
or, if any were prepa ed, they were sealed
up in the packages with the ballots aud tally
sheets.
In either case it will be absolutely imp0s-
sible 10 obtain any returns from these pre-
cincts until the official count lakes place.
SiXty-one precincts is one-tfth of the entire
city, very important part of the whole,
and without these 1t Is impossible to arrive
at any conclusion.
Mr. Smiley still insists that the Story
system is complete and that a COY of ordi-
nary intelligence uught to be able to count
any set Of ballots with ease and correctness.
1t isn't incompeteHcy or any thing OF that
kind, said Mr. Smiley. Its clear case
OF drunk IRON one end To the other. The
men haven't attended TO their business.
Why. at ? o'clock yesterday | went down to
Turk and Taylor streets, in the Fifth OF the
Ihirty-eighth having been sent for because
there was supposed to be trouble, and found
they had not even commenced to count.
They were earousing and raising Ned
genera,lY-hadu't tried to count. Now,
don't tell ME that was the fault of the Story
system; ii was the fault Of bad whisky"
ANXIOUS TO HAVE THE BALLOTS.
N. A. Dorm. who has been the legal ad-
wiser Of the Republican County Committee
all through .he Campaign, was on duty at
the Registrars office all night
s. All l am anxious about" said he,
us to get the ballots into the Regis
trar's vault. Then l shall feel that
everything is safe, and L can go to bed in
peace, bat not TIL then. We have our
watchmen out all over tie city, and we do
not intend to let single ballot escape our
eye until they are locked up where they
ought to be.
II have never" added the gentleman,
"seen the young men so willing to v0lun-
teer and work for US as they have been
this year. Why, we have force at
our command large enough to watch
every house in the city, if that
were necessary, and they are all men we
can trust. While we wont feel secure until
the ballots are all i'll We are still pretty con-
UutuL tleA are all IlSHt- IL llltN were HUt
we would hear Of II in very short order"
or DUTY WITHOUT REST.
Registrar Smiley and his force of clerks
were a fearfuily fataued outfit last night
Most OF them have been on duty, without
rest of any kind, for torty-eight hours, and
there was promise of eight ur ten hours more
before the high pressure would be taken eff
Mr. Smiley was obliged to lie down in a
private room in his Office for awhile during
the evening, but it was only temporary
rest, as he was too much interested in the
affairs Of the Office to retire until the work
was all done.
At o'clock this morning the following six
precincts were the only ones from which
there had been no returns received: Filth
and Eighth of the Thirty-third, Twelfth of
the ThlTty-sixth, Third of the Forty-second,
Eighth of the Forty-ffth and Thirteenth
of the Forty-eighth.
The total vote by Assembly districts is as
follows:
20 1918 80
D4l1l40