The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-11-28
THROW THEM OUT.
Election Returns That
Smell of Rottenness.
Carfed Round the City Like Gar
bage-The Officers Will Not
Father Them.

The returns from the Sixteenth Pre-
cinet of the Thlrty-fiTst District. which
were laid over by The Election Commits
sioners on Monday because no tally-sheets
had been returned with the ballots. were
Investigated yes terday, and some very in
teresting results followed. Since the court
has decided that the board has no right to
take testimony concerning facts back Of
the face of the returns none of the wit
nesses were put under oath.
A majority of the election officers from
this particular precinct were present and
were put throu gh very searching exami-
nation. To many of the questions asked
them by Mayor Ebert, who conducted the
proceedings, their answers were most in
solent and contemplate. Mayor Ebert at
last became SO eXasperated over the whole
state of affairs that he was compelled TO
express his condemnation of the action of
the officials. He declared that Inspector
Dunnlng and the rest of his aids had acted
before the board most mDudently. The
face of the returns showed that their work
was of a criminal character.
The only result which came out of the
afternoons ordeal was that the tally
sheets were discovered.
Inspector Dluning reluctantly told the
board that some one told him that the doc
uments were in the ballot-boxes. A
search was then ordered, and after score
or more boxes in the Registrars office had
been 0verhauled the talIy-sheets were
found. 1t turned out that when the count
ing in this precinct had been completed
some one took the trouble to put the
books in the ballot-boxes, and they were
with the rest of The election garbage carried
to the Registrars office by one of Morton's
express wagons. Who placed the tally
sheets in the ballot-box is not known, and
the board spent no little time yesterday In
endeavoring to ascertain.
Inspector Cunning is the man who knows
something about The matter, as he con-
fessed before the board, but he claimed
that he was afraid that he would incrimi-
nate somebody, and consequently refused
TO divulge any of his knowledge of the
matter.
William Hogan, the tally clerk, was
questioned as to what he knew about the
suspicious way In which things we're con-
Quoted at the booth on election night, but
like the rest of the witnesses which fol-
lowed, he was completely in the dark as
TO any crooked work being carried on in
the precinct.
p. NJ. O'Connor. James Flynn. E. J.
Barron. G. E. LitZen and ID. 0. OConnor,
who served as election officials, were each In
their turn Intercepted as to who put the
taly-sheets in the ballot box, but every
man pleaded ignorance of the act.
One man was so densely stupid that he
did not know from which party he re-
ceived his appointment. He was aware
that he received one, but unfortunately
did not know from what source il came,
at least he said so.
The total vote of many OF the candidates
show most inconsistent result. The pre-
cinct is heavily Democratic, but Judge
Coffey received only one vote. Mayor
Ebert carried the precinct by heavy
majority.
Auditor Broderick on the semi-oficial
returns received only d. votes, while on
the official 145. These are only a few ex-
ami Piles of the shifting of figures and incon-
sistent results.
John L. Dare, counsel for the Repub-
lican party. appeared before the board
and interposed an objection to the can
wasting of the entire precinct. He held
that the returns did not come through the
regular official sources. He said that they
had been carted about the city as garbage
and had at last been dumped into the
Registrars office.
He claimed, secondly. that the returns
had not been duly certified. and therefore
could not be canvassed.
In fact, not one of the election officers
had put his name upon the tally-sbeets
and when the Election Commissioners re-
quested the officers present to sign the re-.
turns they utterly refused TO do So Mr.
Creswell then told them to go into the
side room and consult with each other,
which they did. but when they came out
they had not changed their minds.
The board reserved its decision on the
whole matter until to-day.
at the evening session there was the
same lamentable spectacle of ignorance,
stupidity or worse in regard to the returns
of nalf dozen precincts cited. The
officials of the Second Precinct of the
Twenty-eighth District were called upon
to explain why the poll tally-list was not
signed. Some of them said they did not
know that it had to be slgued. They were
asked if they would sign it now and five
of them did so, six, however. refusing TO
sign on the ground that as the list had
been out of their possession for several
weeks they could not certify 10 it.
In the Fifth Precinct of the Twenty
ninth four of the officers declined to sign
the tally-sheet.
The officers Of the Tenth Precinct of the
Twenty-ninth, the Seventeenth of the
Twenty-ninth and the Seventeenth of th g
Twenty-eighth were all cited for the sam
reason, and some signed and some re-
fu sed. Many of the names signed were
signed by others than those who owned
the names. as appeared upon questioning.
lu fact. this seemed TO be the rule that
wherever the full board appeared upon a
taily-sheet the names had all been written
by some one individual
IN In0 lenbn Oh tDS lWonIy-nlntn the
ially-sheet had been certified to by some
of the board. but upon examination it was
found that the figures upon it had not been
carried out at all and, as Cresweil said.
they had certified to nothing"
In the Seventeenth of the Twenty-ninth
several of the officers declared that their
names had been signed without their
knowledge at all.
The officers of the Eighth Precinct of
the Thirty-first were asked to explain why
there were seventeen more votes cast or
cnnnta than there wera nn thu nnlIinr