The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1900-11-16

"'o"his, SURE enough. suppOS
1t must have been the power o
suggestion, but before long
thought was in st. Louis, born,
In on the same cold wind that Dor,
the chilly election returns.
found myself in little room will
low ceiling, in which the garish ga,
lights struggled, but Intellectually
to CLEAN through great and swirl
ing clouds of tobacco smoke.
could see that an election had been
held there, and that the counting
was in progress; but what amazed
me was that, in addition to the
judges and clerks, there were Others
besides the party representatives
in the room, and in the mass of
evil faces looming out of the smoke
recognized some | had seen
coming in or going out at the peni-
tentiary gates in JEFF City. There
was n low murmur of voices, but
in the midst of the subdued babel
could lie distinguished the voices
OF the counters as they cried tally
at every five votes. At last some
body broke impatiently through
the little door at the rear, and it
was clear, from the manner in
which the watchers fell back, that
one of the machine bosses was at
hand. "Bring out the SLOT" he
commanded; sit is the only way
We can get an Endorsement of the
Governor"
"More news coming?"
"Coming in gobs; Cooper coun-
ty is showing big republican gains.
So is Johnson, where Coclrell
lives. So is Daviess where Dock
cry lives. So is Jasper where Bill |
Phelps and Ed Grow live. So is
Vernon where Bill Stone used to
live. So is Audrain, where Sam
Cook lives. So is Cape Girardeau
where Seibert and Allen live. So
is Howard where Williams lives.
So is Pettis where Harrington lives.
So is Bates where De. Almond |
lives, and Pike, where Champ
Clark lives. So Is every id
county In the state outside OF St. \
Louis, and so will st. Louis be if
we don't use the slot machine, and |
be in devil of a hurry about it
Tor its nearly daylight"
There was a rumble and a roar
and out from one corner of the
-oom emerged a life-lile statue of
Lon Stephens. 1t was the gov
srnor to perfection, which amazed
ne much, but what amazed me
more was that, when they pressed
foot upon the pedal in the rear
IF the figure, its mouth flew
open. When the pressure was re-
eased upon the pedal the mouth
closed again"
Bring me some tickets" said
5he boss. The man at the pedal
opened the mouth and the boss
dropped in u democratic ballot.
Then the mouth closed with
a snap. Another tread on
The pedal caused the mouth TO open
again and another ticket went in.
When five had been deposited the
figure squeaked out "tally" and
he work, only suspended for a
moment, was resumed. Sudden
" there was a thunder of hands
md feet on the door, which yield
ng to the pressure, admitted a
boss of high degree, it seemed to
ne, for he glared around him with
l look of supreme command, and,
n the midst of the hush that fell
ipon the room, Stephens swallow
ng his ii5th ballot, squeaked
Tally" again.
"Tally hell and damnation,"
Dared the big boss, "what do you
mean by lettin' that damphool
'queal tally every two minuter,
when it's only two hours to day
light In which to give him an in
iorsement? Hurry up! Get a
move on you! If he's indorsed at
Ill it will have to be done inside
IN hour. The states gone to the
ievil. We've lost more than 500
'otes in Saline county and over
100 in Greene. Barry county gives
/ to US in the neck, with 900 re-
publican gain. There's not a
where we amt gettin' the
,aff, and gettin' it bad, too, Stop
hat damphool, single-shot votin'.
Pry open his jaws and get a scoop