The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-12-17
CHATHAM COUNTY'S VOTE.
JUDGE FISH RAN AHEAD OF THE
OTHER CANDIDATES.

A Quiet Day Around the Polls With
No Fourth District Fun TO Vary the
Monotony-MOst of the Negroes
who voted Scratched All the
Names ON the Ticket But That of
Fish--A Total of 432 Votes POIIed.
Eating Peanuts and TnIling About
Their Reduced Pay.
There we're just 4S2 votes polled in Chat
ham county at the election for justices Of
the state supreme court, held yesterday.
Perhaps Savannah has never before seen
so quiet, so peaceable and orderly an cleo
ton as that was. There was no captur-
ing of the polls at midnight, and holding
them until the mornings dawn, and the
police force evidently had no instructions
to keep the polls clear, as it is said there
were no policemen there when they open
ed at 72i o'clock in the morning.
The famous Fourth district did not line
up as it did in the county election, and
as it is expected to do in the coming cleo
ton in all the precincts, but everybody in
terested in the election, and there were
very few of them, just took their time,
and they had plenty of it. Superintendent
Waring Russell. Jr., opened the polls on
time, but the votes came slowly, and weary
was the waiting. The managers and the
clerks spent their time reading the news
papers, eating peanuts and thinking about
the reduced wages they were working for.
When the representative of the Morning
News went to the polls to cast his first
vote, he found the place apparently DESERT
ed. There were two tables standing on the
side walks with bunch of tickets on each
of them, but there was no one around them
10 cry out the merits of this or that can
didate, nor were there any challengers on
the steps which the voter had to ascend
in order to confront the election managers
and pass muster for his right Of suffrage.
The general appearance was as if the man.
ayers had become disguised with the state
of affairs before them and shut up shop
There seemed to be some doubt as to
whether a voter could get in HIS ballot,
and it took two or three raps on the win
dow to notify the insiders that there was
voter at the box who wished to express
his opinion at the ballot box.
At that hour Just 391 votes had been
polied and according to the sun 1t was
within about an hour of closing time. But
the democratic candidates were way ahead
of the other tickets, and though there
were some few scratches, no split tickets
were voted. on the whole it was evident
so far as Chatham county was concerned,
that the populists were not in it. Though
1t was reported that in some parts OF the
state the pops got out ticket at the last
moment they did not attempt anything of
the kind here. They knew Chathams rep
utation too well, and if they had done any,
thing in that direction, it would have
taken only a short notice to get 5000 or
1000 democrats to the polls in jiffy. The
detailed votes for the democratic candi-
dates were as follows:
For associate justice of supreme court,
for full term of six years, from Jan. l, 1897,
Samuel Lumpkin .......................... 500
For additional associate justices of SUI
prone court. under constitutional amend
ment of 1896:
William A Little ...................,.....,3 G3
Andrew J. Cobb ........................... $40
William II. Fish ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 29
While the total vote cast was 432. the
highest vote for any candidate was 429 for
Judge Fish. his name having been scratch
ed from three of the tickets voted. 1t is
strange to say the least of 1t that the three
other candidates on the ticket should run
so far behind it, especially as there was no
opposition The vote in the four city dis
tricts amounted to an even 400 and that in
the four country districts was 80. All of
the candidates but Judge Fish ran behind
in the country as well as in the city dis
tricts. There We're just fifty-two negroes
who voted, fifty in the city and two in the
country districts, and strange to say almost
all of them scratched all the names from
their tickets but that of Judge Fish But
then it is said there are very few negroes
who can get along without Fish anyhow.
The managers and those who were
GROUND the polls say nearly all of the votes
cast yesterday were by members of the
Liberal Club and there were very few
Citizens Club votes that went into the
boxes. Nearly every member of the bar in
the city voted which of course, helped
considerably to swell the small vote that
was cast. So far as could be learned last
might there is no doubt of the election of
the candidates named above.
AFTER MORE COMPENSATION.