The times., 1898-11-09

Streets lined with gaily dressed citf-
zenry, cheering crowds before bulletined
results, a stray brass band here and
there. a general atmosphere of uncertain
expectancy, and the careless interest of
chatting groups. This was election night
In Washington.
Here and there a celebrant howled the
victory of some strange idol in a far-off
State, while men eagerly followed the
fortunes of political gods in other climes
whose names were unknown to the fel-
lows they shouldered.
Yet these people who know not the bit
ter sweetness Of having" a vote were
anything but neutral. They were Demo-
Gratis and Republicans In all the blindness
of political faith and they cheered or re-
mained silent as the party candidates
gained or lost in their districts.
New York was, of course. the center
of interest. The supporters of Van wyck
and Roosevelt were as numerous as the
crowds and each candidate received an
ovation. The great mass seemed to lean
to the Democratic candidate, however,
and favorable bulletins were cheered to
the echo.
The sidewalk philosopher and the man
who told you so were out in force. They
made life burden to those who were
compelled to listen to them, and their
friends found important business which
called them away. They remembered
having predicted month ago just how
things would go. and they took great
comfort in telling about 1t.
Pennsylvania Avenue presented an an
imated scene until midnight. Everybody
was out, and everybody met everyone
else. The sidewalks We're impossible and
every corner was blocked by argumenta-
tive groups.
Few disturbances occurred. and as the
crowds were orderly and good natured.
the police allowed them full sway rsl
One gentleman of COLOR who walked
down Pennsylvania Avenue denouncing
Van Wyck in very choice terms, was held
up by a big Irishman. who. after In
forming the ''nagur' that the latter had
no vote and wouldn't be allowed to vote,
informed him that were he in Philadelphia
where he had good Irish vote he would
puck him in the jaw The colored
man seemed to doubt this whereupon
the other suited the action to the word
| as he had often done at the polls in
Philadelphia
Another ancient volume of life who had
! become hilarious through favorable re-
turns and frequent visits to saloons re-
GREETED the good old days when he voted
in New York. His regrets were SO sin
cere and so loudly published that he soon
had a great crowd around him. He then
edited his audience with thrilling ac-
counts of how he had often voted for tin
dead min and punched another tin into de
polls
| The greatest crowd was that gathered
| in front of The Times bulletin, where re-
turns were given from all parts of the
country The crowd completely blocked
| the streets and sidewalks in the vicinity
of the building. The great mass of people
| eagerly noted every bulletin and cheered
4 the pictures of favorites which were
| thrown on the screen. When the face of
| Admiral Schley appeared it was greeted
with That's the boy Good for him. -
while some one in the crowd yelled why
wasn't Dewey brung home to voter
| when a picture of the latter was shown.
| Everybody entered into the spirit of the
| election and great interest was mani
tested everywhere. In the suburban dis
| tricts, belated passers-by were greeted
| from hastily opened windows and news
| of the results eagerly asked.
Even the fair sex were interested. They
graced the streets and watched the bull
| letins with eager eyes. They thought IL
| was lust too bad'' that certain candi-
| dates were not elected, and lust too
| lovely that others were.
And in Washington, as in no other city
| in the Union, a dozen men from a dozen
| different States could be found in every
bar room, each celebrating the victory OF
| drowning the defeat of the home candi-
date. and each telling his joys or his
| sorrow to the bartender-to whom the
| whole affair was Greek.
With its usual enterprise The Times
| had an extra on the street long before the
| other papers. The late reliable news given
was highly appreciated by the people
who eagerly read the paper and passed
! the news around.