The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1893-01-25
H0u THEY WILL Do IT.
,,.r~rSG OF ELECTORAL VOTE In
GU WASHINGTON.
r,rore,ting Description of the Ceremo-
An nies to BE Held.

-,+o Wednesday, February s, Vice-Pres-
;dant Norton and Private SECRETARY Chill
drsp will unlock the safe in the vice
nosidant,s room, remove the packages
i,,norrom and hand them over to Capt.
T,ooc Bassett, the seventy-one-year-ol
ossistant door-keeper of the senate, who
nil he an indispensable functionary at
Aha count. as he was on the successive
;nanourations OF Presidents Van Buren,,
,Tinneoanoe' Harrison, Polk, Taylor,
piarce, Buchanan, Lincoln, Grant, Hayes,
Garfield, Cleveland and Benjamin Harri-
can He is recognized as official custo-
dian of the electoral boxes"
These boxes play an important part a
+be electoral ceremony. They are two in
number. each 16 inches long, II inches
wide and II inches deep, made OF highly
,olisbed cherry wood and fitted with
strong locks. They are constructed,
usually every four years, by the official
carpenter of the senate, Mr.. K. r. Zim-
norman. and serve as convenient receipt
acles in which to carry the votes and GER
tifcates from the vice presidents cham
her to the hall of the house of represen-
tatiyes.
Carpenter Zimmerman made new pair
of boxes for the Gartield-Hanoock count
and another new pair for the Cleveland
Blaine count. This latter pair did fur
ther service in the barrison-Cleyeland
count four years ago, but Senator Ingalls,,
who was vice-president pro tenn at that
time and acted as presiding officer of the
Joint assembly of the two houses, unlike
his predecessor, Senator Edmunds, took
the boxes away with him to Kansas as
personal souvenirs of the event, and thus
rendered necessary the making of an
other pair.
The official carpenter has just finished
a new pair, and Captain Bassett is hiding
them in his secret den down in a dark
crypt on the basement floor of the senate. |
In these boxes he will stow the sealed
votes as he receives them from Vice
President MOrton's hands and will carry
them in dignified state into the senate
chamber shortly after the hour of noon.
At 1856 o'clock the senate will stop in
she midst of its proceedings and will
march towards the house of representa-
tives. Captain Bassett, with an electoral
box under each arm, will be in the mid
die, surrounded by the senators and a
Gordon of capitol police, in dress uni
form. 1t takes three minutes for the
senators to walk from the senate to the
house side.
At 1888 o'clock Doorkeeper Charles
T. Turner, of the honse and Tammany
Hall, will announce the arrival of the
senate. That august and reserved body
will then slowly and impFessively enter
the hall, preceded by the sergeant-at-
arms and headed by Vice-Pr sident Nor
ton, arm-in-arm with Secretary Nc cook.
The members and officers Of the house
will rise to receive them. Vice-Presi-
dent Morton will moups the speakers
platform and take the chair as presiding
officer, Speaker Crisp occupying the
chair on his left, and Capt. Bassett with
due tormality and doliberauon will un-
lock the boxes and deposit them on the
Sneakers To-
The space at the right of the vice-presl-
dent and the representatives will occupy
The body Of the hall not provided for
Senator's"
Fice-President Norton, sfter few
preliminary remarks, will open the seal
% certificates one by one End hand them
% The tellers, stating at the outset that
II There be no objection to the electoral
vote OF Alabana-the first state on the
list alphabetical1y-the certificate from
state will be read and noted by the tell
egS' Then one of the tellers will read in
Iull the certificate of the vote of Alabama
"s sample, giving ten votes to Grover
cleveland, Of New York, for president of
One United States, and ten votes to Adlai
stevenson, Of Illinois, for vice-president
u The United States. Next, according
" precedent, Vice-President Morton will
4'queSt that the tellers, having first as
'erValned that the certificates of votes
are IN due form and properly authenti-
0"ueo' will omit, in reading the executive
certificates of the ascertainment of the
e'ectorS chosen and the preliminary
loIinal statement of the proceedings of
'H7 electoral colleges, and will simply
announce the result and the number of