Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-11-04
READING THE RETURNS.

They shivered while they shouted
Around the bulletin,
They groaned for the routed:
Cheered for the counted in.
But ere the sma' wee hours came
Some left the yelling group,
And quietly gave up the game.
For they were in the SOUP
1t was chilly night for standing still on
the pavement, but that didn't prevent
thousands from watching The DIsPArCH's
bulletin board from 7:3o till long after mid
night The temperature was beyond the The
DISPATCHES control, but in every other
respect the posting of the earliest election
returns on the big windows of THE DIS
PATCH's business Office on Smithfeld was
success. The brilliant calciums across
the street threw blaze of
light upon the sheets of white
paper on which were written clearly in big
black script the news of elections from near
and far. The great audience that blocked
The street for many hours after 8 o'clock
could see every bulletin without straining q
muscle, and even those who ran might read,
as was proved by the sounds of muffled er-
1husasm which came from every Southside
electric car that slowly carved its way
Through the crowd.
The Dispatch Was in II.
At hslfpast Z, before the bulletin circus
began, Smithfeld street was unusually
quiet for an election night. No
more than the number of peo-
pie any dry evening brings out
were on the pavement and the tin horn of
the small boy was notably missing-and vet
not missed. But it only took one brief
bulletin announcing that the New York Sun
believed Fassett had carried New York to
work wonderful transformation in the
scene. In less than fl We minutes there were
more people at the corner of Diamond and
Smithield streets than a peculiarly excit-
ing dog fight could have solicited. As
bulletin was pasted over bulletin the throng
grew. Even a few tin horns waited rancous
melody upon the air, and spurts of cheering
punctuated the news. The speculators
: were chiefly content, however, to use their
ewes; there was but little enth husiasm and no
'Nisorder, although as the night went on
thousands were massed across the street in
front of the bulletin board. After q while a
couple of policemen appeared, but they had
nothing to do beyond persuading the spec
1ators that man is not adapted to wrestle
: with siN-ton electric car. 1t was indeed
wonderful that the heavy cars kept pushing
Through the compact mass of humanity
without hurting soul. The crowd was
;-good -naturediy elastic. and even after
it had increased TO 1000 or 5000 swayed
back and forward as the passage of a car or
carriage demanded. The sympathies of the
5naiority naturally were Republican. but
there were enough Democrats to hail with 1
cheers the gradual change of the news from
New York, which, as usual, was the earliest
ascertained, announcing the singular rise of
Flowers star in New York State outside the
metropolis. 1t was noticeable that nearly
everybody was interested more in the scant
returns from Ohio than anything else. Even
local news did not stir the crowd so much as
the first indications of the result of the
great struggle in Ohio. When the first bull
]etin. showing 4 gain Tor Mckinley in some
precinct OF Columbus was posted, man in
the center of the crowd yelled, "Three
cheers for McEinley!" and they were given
heartily. The paramount importance of the
only fight upon national issues was evil
IDENTITY appreciated. Unfortun ately the nov-
city of the kangaroo ballet prevented
early footings of Ohio's vote. Every driblet
OF fnews bearing upon McKinley's chances OF |
election was eagerly scrutinized, and if IA |
Norable to the champion of protection,
cbeered.
The Ladies Interested.
Not many women stopped to learn the fate |
of candidates and the trend of the public |
opinion. and those who passed close under |
the bulletin board looked up at it with ap- |
prehenson as if it had been q loaded cannon |
that might 90 off at any moment. The men |
in the crowd were of all walks and condf- |
tions of life, but principally from the toiling |
masses who do most of the voting anyhow.
Judge Ewing paused for few min
utes to see the cause of q small ex-
plosion of cheers, and went on
his way smiling when he saw that it was
report of Republican gains in "a towns in |
Massachusetts. Only one of the candidates
graced the scene for few minutes-Clar- /
eDce Burleigh-who looked as if he were
tired out and aching for pillow, although /
the signs of his election were plentiful at /
that hour. Billy Bremen, with a cohort of /
the unterritied, was another interested |
spectator, and lots of political workers of
both parties were in the fronG ranks all the
time
Besides the hig crowd which kept changing
Individually but always increasing in size
as the hours rolled by. as many as could |
glued their faces to tho windows of THE
DISPATCH Office on the Diamond street side,
in cheerful but hopeless endeavor to read
the bulletins as they were transcribed from
the original telegrams to the big posters
Considering how raw and ill-favored the
night was, the calm and CHEEKY temper of
the spectators seemed remarkable One
old man with long white locks that it must
have taken seventy years to whiten stood |
on the edge of the curb for fully three
hours, and may have stayed there all night
for all the writer knows. The only glum and
gloomy individuals were the Straightouts |
who drifted in occasionally, and spelled out
the dampening letters of the WORD "soup"
as the political situation was revealed.