The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-01-13
MANY WITNESSES CALLED
Before the Committee Yesterday in tn

| The senate committee on contested
 elections met in the senate chamber at 1 Hartford at ? o'clock yesterday after
 noon to hold a hearing on the Averlll-
 Callahan contest for the seat of senator
 from this district. The members of the
 committee are Senator Hall of Willing
 ton, Senator Whitlock and Senator | Smith. Assistant City Attorney Webb
 Corporation Counsel Ely and Attorney l w. s. Downes of Derby appeared for
 r. l.. Averll and ex-Speaker Joseph l..
 Barbour of Hartford and Attorney
 Isaac Wolfe of this city for David Call
 lahan, the contestants occupying seats
 by their counsel
 A large delegation of New Haveners
 was present to hear the proceedings, the
 number including Louis Ullman, J. B.
 Ullman, Frederick Perry, James E. Me
 Gam, Samuel Veil, ex-City Attorney Charles B. Matthewman, ex-Police Commissioner Marcus Smith, Major Lu-
 zerne Ludington, Insurance Commls-
 sioner F. A. Betts John V. Rattlesdorf-
 CT, George Coe, General Registrar F. s.
 Hamilton, Town Clerk r. H. Brethauer
 and Charles Spreyer.
 The proceedings were opened by the | clerk of the committee reading Mr.
 Averlps petition that he be declared
 elected. Attorney Webb, for MT. Aver i'll, then called as witnesses the deputy registrar or the moderator of each ward in the city of New Haven. Those called were s. s. Thompson, moderator of the First ward and general moderator; Charles Spreyer, moderator of the Sec-
 ond ward; George R. Bill, assistant reg istrar of the Third ward; George Me-
 Kendrick, deputy registrar of the
 Fourth ward; r. s. Hamilton of the
 Fifth ward, general registrar; Charles
 Mccarthy, deputy registrar of the Sixth
 ward; Patrick Kiernan, moderator of
 the Seventh ward; L. T. Davis deputy
 regustrar of the Eighth ward; Henry D.
 Marsh, moderator of the Ninth ward;
 Moderator Hunie of the Tenth ward,
 Edgar A. Johnson, assistant registrar
 of the Eleventh ward; Louis r. Barnes,
 deputy registrar of the Twelfth ward;
 F. c. Reynolds, deputy registrar of the
 Fourteenth ward, and Robert s. Duff,
 moderator of the Fifteenth ward.
 These witnesses were called upon to
 testify as to the sealing of the ballot box in their respective wal is and as to whether or not the boxes had been opened or tempered with, after having been sealed, while in their possession.
 s. s. Thompson, general moderator, testified that he saw that each box was properly sealed when it was turned over to him.
 Town Clerk Brethauer was called and testified as to the removal of the boxes from the First ward polling place to the room in the basement of the city hall | and as to the fastening and sealing of the doors of that room. MT. Brethauer said that Mayor Farnsworth told him about November 20 that one of the three doors to the room was to be barred with iron bars and another was to be briclSed up in order to guard more closely | against the boxes being tempered with. The third door had been closed, locked ! and sealed by MT. Brethauer Witness | said that the safeguard proposed by the | mayor was not carried out until De- | cember s. He did not know the cause | of the delay. Witness said that while | workmen were securing the doors he | was present nearly all the time and had examined the doors every day since the boxes were placed in the room.
 Asked by MT. Barbour if any one had gone with him when he went to exam inc the doors, he at first answered in the negative, but later, his memory having been refreshed by MT. Webb, he said that MT. Averill went with him to inspect the doors on the second Monday after the election, and that MT. Webb had gone with him about ten days ago.
 F. L. Averill was then called and tes- tifled that he went to inspect the doors, as he desired to make sure that the ballot boxes were kept in a secure place.
 The hearing was adjourned at ten olcock last evening until 2:30 D. m. next Tuesday. MT. Averills attorneys fin ished the presentation of their case, but the attorneys for Judge Callahan had \ not up to adjournment been able to open their side of the argument.
 At the evening session of the hearing the attorneys for MT. Averill presented the election returns as filed with the town clerk in which the claim is set lp that there are discrepancies espe- cially in the Third ward. The claim is made that in that ward Callahan is credited with about one hundred votes more than he is entitled to by suffrages ,ast for him. Testimony was taken, afternoon and evening. of a large num- per of deputy registrars, clerks of elec- ion and the moderators in several of he wards, and Town Clerk Brethauer | if New Haven was recalled to the stand several times and put through a minute ', md detailed examination as to where ( he ballot boxes are now stored and also I 'egarding the masonry barrier which I vas erected since election hy order of | : Mayor Farnsworth to better secure the c safety of the ballots.
 At ten o'clock last night the commit ee decided to adjourn the further hear- ng of the case and to take up Judge Callahan's argument next Tuesday.