Evening star., 1896-01-29

IT '{tfD14j w.
Around the Polls.
questions asked, and whilesthe presence of
the strikers of one or two candidates was
evident. these men manifested their activi-
ty in securing an orderly and rapid casting
of the vote rather than attempting to e4-
ercise any supervision over it, The judges
were Peter Mccartney, George w. Phillips
Clarence Mcclure, and clerk, W. N. Barn
ham.
Sixth District.
In a small frame house at the southeast
corner of 2Oth and X streets was located
the polling place of the sixth precinct The
first floor was on level with the street,
and pane Of glass had been removed from
the lower sash Of window, and behind
this opening was placed table, on which
the ballot box was located. The judges
were c. T. s. Brent, Michael Jennings, DIR.
Rogers Watt, with Perry Simms as clerk,
and they were the occupants Of the room.
AS soon as the polls We're announced to be
open, which was at 2 o'clock, the voting
began, and ed steadily until the
shutters were closed, which announced the
closing of the polls. AS the men deposited
their ballots. which were received by the
Judges without any questions, they stood
around in the vicinity, SO that there was
quite crowd during the whole time the
voting was in progress A sort of self-cOn-
stituted board of election supervisors was
formed by the strikers Of the various can
didates. who ranged along each side of the
window and questioned some of the voters
Sometimes they alleged a man had voted
before and sometimes that he did not live
n ha fljSfri riot
a good-natured laugh, when thus chal-
lenged, would step back. and make another
trial after while. There was really no In
terference with the. voting and the efforts
purity of the ballet only resulted in good
deal of loud talk and much gesticulation,
which. however, may have led to more Sc
rious demon onstrations If 1t had not been for
the influence of the presence Of the blue
coats.
Seventh District.
There were lively times in the seventh
district during the voting. without. how
ever, any serious disorder. The territory
included in this district is densely popula ted
with colored people, and, as natural con-
sequence. heavy. vote was polled. The
district embraces most Fof that section of
the city north of M street between 14th and
list streets as y ell as small contiguous sec
tioES as far south as K street The polling
place, was in small room at the rear of
BANDS confectionery store, at the corner
of 10Th and NJ Streets 1t was in charge of
John A. Gray, Louis Douglass and ]. H.
Hudnell judges for the respective candi-
dates, with Thomas L. Meany as clerk. The
last named individual is said to have a
speaking acquaintance with every resident
of the District. The plan Of voting was very
simple. The ballot box rested on a small
table, surrounded by the judges, with the
clerk at one side with his tally sheet. The
box was conspicuously placed, so that the
voter had the satisfaction of seeing his bal
lot put in the small slot in the top. The
judges held communication with the out
side world through an aperture six by eight
inches. made by the removal Of single
pane of glass from the window frame
Through this the voter was enabled to hand
his ballot to one of the judges. by whom it
was properly deposited. While the voter
himself could not reach the box. he was
able to see for himself that his ballot 'got
there" Little formality was indulged in
and all that was required of voter was
that he give his name. to be recorded by the
clerk Voting began briskly with the OPEN
ing of the polls and was continued inces-
sanity until they were closed. line was
formed in front of the window by o'clock
and remained unbroken until shortly before
) o'clock, when the judges hauled down the
curtain and refused to receive any more
ballots. The peremptory closing Of the
polls few minutes ahead Of schedule time
was due to the very apparent evidence of re-
peating. Moreover, the ballot box was full,
and the last ballots received had to be
forced in with the aid Of a narrow strip Of
iron.
Although there was a strong predomi-
nance of colored men at the voting booth
in this district, there was a good repre-
sentation of the white element, and SO far
as the observation of Star reporter went,
most of the repeating was done by the
white men, The probable reason for this
vas that the judges. all of whom are col
ored, were pleased with the participation of
the whites, and consequently were less
vigorous in challenging the ballots rendered
by the representatives of that race. Re-
peating was made easy by reason Of the
system. or rather lack Of system. employed.
The only record taken was the voters 8
name, and unless detected he could vote
as often as he could change his name.
Several white men were adopts in this, and
it Is no exaggeration to say that several
of them voted six or eight times before
tteir tactics were discovered. These men
were aided by the heelers who thronged
around the outside of the booth, who nat
urally interposed no objection to the pro-
cedure, for the reason that the votes were
going their way Owing to the dust-cover-
ed state of the window, the judges could
rot see clearly outside and were only able
t. recognize voter when he put down his
fece into the broken window space. q prac-
tice followed by the repeaters only on their
first appearance
Perfect police arrangements had much to
do with the maintenance of good order in
the seventh district Lieut.. Boyle and
SeiSt. MCSedi were ,theEe Win nVe ponce
men. They devoted their efforts to keep
ing the sidewalks ulobst tructed and to see
ing that the people moved off after they
had cast their votes. All the candidates
for election were represented by active
and persuasive ueutenants, well supplied
with ballots and arguments. During the
voting Messrs. Gleeson, Bailey and Hol-
land each spent shortntime In conference
with their representatives. and supplied
item liberally with ballots. Gleeson and
Bailey were supposed TO be the favorite
candidates in this district, but Carson. the
BLACK Patti" as .llson3e one called him,
showed unexpected Strength. Bailey being
scratched in his interest The seventh dis
trict was supposed to be Bailey's strong
hold He lives there, and had made par
ticularly earnest appeal,for the support of
his neighbors AS q fact. he fell far be-
hind Carson and Saunders, and polled only
four votes more than Gleeson.
Eighth District.
In the heart of what was once known as
"Ielrs Bottom" a classic locality made
famous by fights. brawls and murders, it
was expected that trouble would occur be-
tween the opposing factions, and a SER
geant and four policemen were detailed to
guard the polls. The ballot box was To-
Gated in little one-story frame house on
@ street between 11th and 18TH The box