Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-08
Crowds Gather on the Streets to
Hear the Returns.
THRONGS In FRONT OF STAR OFFICE
The States Which Excited the
Greatest Enthusiasm.
CHEERS FOR EVERYBODY

Washington, the nations capital than any
| held in recent years. The scenes upon the
| streets, and especially Pennsylvania ave-
| nue. last evening were those usually &C
Complying the night of presidential cleo
| ton, when returns eagerly sought and
| enthusiasm aroused to a high pitch. In
| the vast crowds thronging the avenue there
| was a loud hum of political talk as the bull
| letins received direct from the polls in the
| different states were flashed upon the
screen. Washington's assemblages, always
non-partisan and cosmopolitan, cheer al
/ ternately for the candidates making the
| better showing in the varying preliminary
| figures made known. The election crowd
| differs from all Others, and is of a more
| heterogeneous makeup. Political and
| racial colors are blended into one great
mass. About evenly divided, the cheering
| for opposing parties is also equally vocif
erous.
| The election returns were watched with
intense interest, but there was an I'M
| usual absence of excited partisan feeling.
The several thCuS& ID people who stood for
hours watch ng the Bulletin boards or
! walking from one place to another where
| information was o1 airabie. seemed for the
| most part to be moved by curiosity rather
| than by party spirit. Ii was Il good-natured
| assemblage of peCole who wanted to know,
| and there was scarcC.y any excited discus
| sion or other display of feeling. There was
| a great volume of cheerin" for all bulletins
| displayed, and it was difficult to distin-
| guish any difference between the cheers
| for republican and those fer democratic
! reports.
| In Front of The Star Office.
| The reliability of the election news re-
ceived by The Star and the complete char
acter of its service direct from the voting
| booths engaged for the bulletin displays,
| We're conceded by the crowd. Upon a great
| sheet of white the latest news from the
political battles was flashed by means of
a double stereopticon. AS early as Is o'clock
| the crowd began to- assemble in front of
| the building. The greatest portion of the
| thousands down town gathered in front of
| The Stars bulletin sheet. So great did the
crowd become that two powerful mega
| phones were brought into service, that in
formation, full. reliable and complete,
might be given to those unable to come
within vision of the stereopticon display.
Large crowds We're assembled in front Of
the other newspaper bulletin boards. and
there was a moving throng between these
many black masses Of patient curiosity.
The three points of interest were Ohio,
Maryland and Kentucky, Nebraska coming
in for smaller share of attention The
reports from other states We're received
with more less Indifference There was
much cheering over Maryland by the dem
ocrats. the first really definite returns COM
ing from that state, and for while there
was considerable self-congratulation among
democrats Ohio.
The Ohio returns were awaited with much
| interest and anxiety and the longer they
| came. The first few Ohio bulletins cheered
| the democrats and they held their conf
! dence until nearly II o'clock when the re-
publicans began to have their innings The
| republicans We're apprehensive of Ohio, and
| little surprise was expressed when things
seemed to be going wrong for them. Con-
sequently when the tide of report turned
and it was shown that Ohio had actually
gone republican, the reaction of joy was
great. But neither when the news was
democratic nor when it was republican was
ayh ion Of f,,t1
feeling in the crowd.
A Special Feature.
A feature of the throng in front of The
Star office was the large representation If
the gentler sex. Many wives accompanied
their husbands down town to hear the
latest news of the election These evinced
keenly appreciative interest in all that was
heard and seen. On the streets in large
numbers We're also young ladies as yet in
| thelr teens, accompanied by their best
| beaux. who without being of voting age
| themselves could talk more of the ballot
| system than the oldest veteran campaigner
| in the city. A goody portion of those ar
| irving early to hear the returns came pre-
| pared to stay until their minds were easy
| in the knowledge of success, or on the
| other hand, until the worst of the defeat
| was known
Maryland Contingent
From the villages of Maryland in the VI
| cinity of Washington there poured into
| the city a perfect stream of people, who,
having exercised their elective franchise
during the day, had come to Washington
to ascertain the latest news from other
portions of the state. Thus it was that
the Maryland election always of unusual
interest to residents of the capital city,
WED this year with the contests in Ohio
and Nebraska, where the results have
been looked forward to as having an I'M
doubted effect upon the presidential cam
paign of next fall. Kentucky's fight so
| full of belligerency, or rumors thereof,
came in for a good share of attention, and
| every man down street who in the course
| of the evening contracted a roll from port
to starboard as he sailed back and forth
along the avenue, attributed his bibulous
condition to the conSangunity between his
mind and affairs Kentuckan.
Little Betting Done.
Despite the exceptionally rare interest
| displayed in the balloting contests in
Maryland, Ohio, Nebraska and Kentucky
| there was comparatively little betting At
| the usual headquarters of the heavy layers
| of wagers no information of any large
money placings on the various results could
be secured. At one of these places Iump
| sum of 5000 in Smith money could find no
| takers among the Lowndes supporters of
Maryland. There We're many and varied
small bets between individuals. Most of
these, however, We're upon the pluralities or
| maJorlties and not upon straight PROPOSE
tons. The unsettled condition of affairs in
| waged made the bettors unusually leary of
| putting up their hard COIN and the cleo
| ton of November T. 1899 SO far as Wash
| ington Is concerned, will go down in history
as one commanding the greatest interest
Tor an oH-year contest. and yet upon which !
probably the smallest sum of snoring
money was placed. e
No One at the White House.
All the election bulletins received in
Washington went to the White House over
the special wires which run into the Ex-
ecu'Ve Mansion. Despite this there was
no prominent gathering at the Executive
Mansion to see the returns Some of tba
cabinet members frequently assemble in |
the telegraph room to secure the latest in
lolihatioIl' put secretary Wilson was the |
only one of them present last nt.ht
A majority of them were out of the city.
secretary Porter remained at his home and
received the returns from the White House
by telephone.
Among the officials on duty at the White |
House there was deep interest and some
anxiety.