The morning news., 1899-12-21
sWEENY WILL BE SHERIFF.
sHRIEvALTY ELECTION WILL BE
HELD AT COURT HOUSE TODAY.

No Opposition Candidate Has Been
Announced and the Last Doubt of
the Continuance of Sheriff sweeny
in Omce, for the Remainder of the
Unexpired Term of Sheriff Roman,
Has Been Removed-The Platform
on which He Stands and the Sup
port Given His Candidacy by Both
Factions Have Driven Away An
VIII BE Closed.
Al 7:24 o'clock. city time, this morning,
the polls will be opened and the election
for sheriff of Chatham county will begin.
As there is but one candidate. the election
gives promise Of being densely uninterest-
ing, the vote to be cast being but COM
pliment TO Sheriff Thomas ]. Sweeny, ap-
pointed by the County Commissioners to
succeed his uncle for the ad interim term
and now standing for election for the re-
mainder of the unexpiTed term.
The election will take place at the Court
House where all the boxes for the voters
have been located and placed in position
The box for the voters of the First dis
trict will be in the county attorneys Of
flee, at Bull and President streets, that
for the voters of the Second district, al
the tax receivers Office, on President
street; for the Third district, at the Or
dinary's office on President street; for the
Fourth district at the clerk Superior
Courts office, on York street, and the box
for the voters of the Fifth, Sixth. Seventh
r~s-
office, at the corner Of York and Bull
streets. 1t is probable that the managers
and clerks at this last named box, where
the voters of the country districts will
cast their ballots, will have very light du-
ties to perform.
The ear of some of the politicians has
been strained for the past week to catch
the news of the announcement of an op-
posing candidate to Sheriff Sweeny, but
they have listened and waited in vain.
The political silence, so far as this sub
ject is concerned, has remained absolute
ly unbroken as indeed the really well-in-
formed among the politicians had all along
predicted and expected. 1t was only the
fact that Chatham is a county of political
surprises and that many a dark horse
has developed over night into full-hedg-
ed candidate that has caused the under
current Of belief that there would be some
opposition.
litical bee In his bonnet has also been
struck with the conviction that he would
enter the race too heavily handicapped to
have any reasonable hope of coming out
of IL victor. In the first place the pub
lished announcement of the stand taken
some time ago by Sheriff Sweeny, just
after the death of his uncle, Capt. Roman,
and before his appointment to the ad in
terim term by the County Commissioners,
to the effect that II he were eEected II
would be as the representative of Mrs
Roman, who would be permitted to oc-
cupy the sheriffs residence and to take
the revenues of the office for the remain
der of the term to which her husband
had been originally elected. The wide pop
ularity Of the late sheriff and the almost
universal grief that was manifested at his
death, renders this platform of the candi-
date first announced almost conclusive ev-
idence of his election.
The candidates of the Liberal and Citi-
zens factions, or the gentlemen, rather
who had been most prominently mentioned
in this connection, Col. ]. F. Brooks and
Maj. John SchwarZ, said that they would
not oppose Mr.. Sweeny. after they had
understood the position he occupied. The
representatives of the two factions, the
leaders in the respective camps, have
since said that Mr.. Sweeny's election
would not be opposed by any organized
effort on the part of the factions they rep
resented, out tnat on the contrary they
would give him enthusiastic support. This
virtually settled the whole matter.
Therefore any candidate who entered the
contest would have had 20 fight the
strong sentiment aroused among the peo-
pie by the announcement that Mrs. Roman
was still to have the fees of the Office,
in the event of the election of her nephew,
and both political factions of the county
He would have to depend upon his own
personal popularity. and nobody has been
found who has been willing to make the
attempt and to dead the forlorn hope.
Therefore the scenes around the election
will be devoid of interest and the vote
purely complimentary. No estimate of its
amount has yet been made, but 1t Is cer-
tain not to exceed one-half of the total
number of registered voters. 1t will be
surprising if 1t reaches even this figure
The front doors of all the barrooms and
the side of some of them will be closed
during the hours that the election Is
in progress. This Is the compromise be-
tween law and business that is usually ef-
fected in Savannah on the day of an cleo
ton and possesses the merit of satisfying
at once the requirements Of decorum and
the demands of the thirsty