Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-05

Written for The Evening Star by John 8. Parrish.
No matter how quiet a presidential con-
test may be. It's wind up-election night
IL bound to be strenuous and full of excite
ment and the present campaign will be no
exception to the general rule. And, no mat
ter how differently things have been con-
Quoted this year. the excitement that at
tends the counting of the votes and the
sending and receiving of the returns, all
over the country. will concentrate itself as
usual ait the national headquarters Of the
two big parties.
Each of these places, separated physically
by the space of less than a quarter OF
mile. will be sort of vortex. around which
will swirl the hopes and fears, the uncer-
tainty and the doubt of all those who have
striven in vain for several months to gall
vanize what will go down into history as
campaign of silence" into the semblance
of n genuine, old-fashioned, hot political
fight.
At headquarters the last few days of all
campaigns are singularly alike. On the
Saturday preceding the election everybody
agrees that though two days intervene be-
fore the fateful shower of ballots can fall
into the boxes. still. beyond the usual Sat-
urday night rallies and parades, nothing
further can possibly be done by the COM
m!ttee to influence the voters. Develop
ments of great Importance may make them
selves felt, work already done by both
friends and foes may bear fruit. but these
can neither be hurried nor nullified. Vir-
tualy. though no one can say with certain
ty which way it will fall, the die is already
cast.
On Saturday afternoon, then, the COM
mittee members and their assistants of
every grade-promnent party men from
various sections of the country who have
served without monetary reward and hired
employees of every sort-all knock off early
mr. hot har 70 ath
Committeeman and others near enough
their own towns to get home to vote
hasten away to take their trains. Those
too far away from home for this, or who
are needed at headquarters on Monday to
keep up a pretense of activity, betake
themselves to the metropolitan resorts they
have learned to frequent during the cam
paign's continuance.
A Dull Monday.
To them Saturday evening" Sunday and
Monday drag along on leaden feet. Per-
haps there is no more depressed and de-
pressing crowd In all the world than the
corporals guard of political workers, hired
and otherwise. whose duty It Is to hold the
Notifications at headquarters on the Mon
day before a presidential election Some
times. driven to some sort of activity just
to lessen the tension, they hire drays and
men. and scatter through metropolitan
streets whatever they have left in the way
OF campaign documents" Sometimes they
simply Nope around and make each other
miserable. Sometimes, though of course no
committeeman ever countenances such @
thing, they schedule themselves in some in
accessible room and indulge in the uncer-
tainties of a good old game of draw.
Election day is not like Monday. Nothing
at all Is doing at headquarters. usually, on
that day till well along toward noon. Soon
after that hour the attaches begin to drift
in and take their places at the desks they
will occupy only few hours more. Later
some of those who have been home to vote
come scurrying in. The press bureau opens
up in order to give out its last Jolly to
the Afternoon newspaper reporters.
Telephone and telegra ph< linemen bring
wires into the place. Other employees of
the news transmission organizations install
extra Morse and Bell instruments. Messen-
ger boys troop through the doors in droves.
bringing kilograms from the four corners of
the land to the chairman, who. probably,
has been entrenched in his inner Office since
some early hour in the day.
At High Tension.
BY or o'clock the place Is fairly we'll
filled with the committee, its staff and
small army of friends. By the time lights
are turned on the atmosphere has become
strained, with a sort of electrical tension
No one thinks of going out to dinner-the
meal is brought in. For the chairman and
the committeeman il comes on great draped
trays in covered dishes from some noted
nearby hotel or restaurant For the others
IL comes In all sorts of shapes down to
'hOt dog and rolls.
Meanwhile arrangements have been COM
pleted to receive and analyZe the figures as
they are licked Off by the telegraph or told
audibly by the telephone Every man has
some sort of a tabulation of figures based
on previous elections with which he can
make comparisons. The chairman the
committee. half a dozen of the most trusted
employees and a few party pillars barricade
Themselves in the innermost room. Every
BOlN smokes at the committees
and long before the first teIl-tale tick of
the Morse is heard the air is blue from the
combustion OF high-priced cigars. Some