The San Francisco call., 1896-04-24
A. A. Lawrence Changes Places
With S. S. Fielder as
Treasurer.
a NUMBER OF STREET BRAwLs
Several Defeated Candidates Express
the Intention of Appealing to
the Courts.

est fraud has been exposed by recount OF
the ballots, and as result A. A. Lawrence
has taken S. S. FEEDERS position as
Treasurer. On the recount Lawrence
gained Is votes. On the original count
Fielder had beaten him by bare majority
of 3, the ballots being 156 to 153.
The respectable people OF Sausalito are
demanding a new election, and ]. Stritt-
matter, q defeated candidate, claims to
have discovered where he was fraudulently
cheated out of enough votes to place him
5 ahead of L. G. Ambjornson, who was
elected Trustee, polling a vote of 14o to
Strittmatter's 113.
The evidences of fraud are so great that
open charges against certain men con-
nected with the count are being made.
Those who were appointed to take charge
of the counting of the ballots were Charles
Forrest and Manuel D. Avllla inspectors;
Jacob Schnell and William Richie, judges;
f. Fielder and E. D. Sparrow, clerks; 1.
Thomas and H. Loeber, ballot-clerks.
ALI Sausalito is intensely excited and
talking about the matter. 1t is claimed
that after the ballots were counted they
were put in a drawer in one of the rooms
in the Town Hall and locked up for the
night. The next day the Town Clerk,
Charles Dexter, sealed the ballots.
The new Town Clerk, Joseph H. Pryor,
was seen to-day by CALL representative,
and said: 81 am sorry this trouble has
come up, and it certainly looks as if fraud
had been committed somewhere.
81 can say, though, that since the bal
lots came into my hands. two days ago,
they have not been out of my possession,
and no one could possibly have tampered
with them. Before l received them,
Charles Dexter, who was then Town
Clerk, had them in his possession for eight
days, and am positive no one could have
tampered with them while they were un-
der his charge"
Mr.. Pryor would not give any opinion
as to how he thought the frauds could
have been done, but said that he hoped it
was mistake made while counting the
ballots on the night of election at the
Town Hall.
The Town Trustees met last night and
the recount took place before them and
resulted in the exposing of the frauds that
had been perpetrated. Fielder was COM
PEELED to give up the office of Treasurer to
Lawrence.
A most exciting scene took place before
the ballots were opened. Clerk Pryor no.
ticed that the seal on the envelope was
not as it should be, and stated that he did
not like to open the envelope. This an
gered one of Pryor's bondsmen, who
jumped to his feet and withdrew his name
from the clerks bonds. In an instant a
number Of men were on their feet, stating
ia hQv pyn
Joseph FL. Pryor, the newly elected
clerk, is journalist, and one of the most
popular men in Sausalito.
There were number of street brawls In
Sausalito last night that managed to in
tensify the excitement.
One of the technical points upon which
the citizens hope to rely in order to have
the election set aside and new one or
dered is the fact that the ballots were
marked with black ink, where the law re-
quires that red ink should be used
While the point is an extremely delicate
one, it is hoped that it may be successfully
applied SO that rew election may be OBJ
tanned.
1t is the general opinion that the frauds
were committed at the count, although the
ballots for one whole night were left in a
drawer unsealed in q building easy of
access.
When the count took place at Sausalito's
Town Hall on the night of April IS it was
noticeable fact that the table was SO ar
ranged that no one could get in back OF it
and look over the shoulders of the clerk
who read the ballots or the men who
tailed.
While the count went on the public in
attendance, and also the reporter were
forced to stay in front of the table, the
empty booths being SO arranged as to form
barrier and exclude the public from q
rear view. When the count had been COM
pleted CALL reporter pushed booth
aside and made his way behind and was
told that no one was allowed there. He
refused to leave and went on with his
work of obtaining the result of the eIec-
ton and was not again molested.
There is little doubt but that a number
OF indictments will be brought against
the officers who conducted the count, but
it is extremely doubtful whether the true
facts of how the vote became changed will
ever be known, from the fact that the
votes were left unsealed for one whole
night.
A number of defeated candidates have
expressed the intention OF applying to the
courts for relief, and trouble is expected.
The bad feeling existing between John
E. Creed and Alfred Brandes. who waged
bitter fight for the Marshalship, is not
over, and clash between the men is ex-
pected to occur any day.
The election of Pryor to the clerkship
has left the Office of Recorder or Town
Judge vacant, and three men are striving
for the position--A. Sylvia, an attorney,
William Harold, who was defeated by
Pryor for the clerkship, and Eugene
Cramer, Deputy Constable.
1t is said that Sylvia is in the lead for the
position, but the matter of appointment
rests in the hands of the Town Trustees,
and they have not given the matter a
thought as yet, in view Of the unsettled
condition of public affairs in the little
town on the southern border of Marin
County.
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