Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-04
INTEREST IN ELECTION
PARTIAL DISAPPEARANCE OF THE
LOCAL GENERAL APATHY.
Although Citizens Of the District Can
not Vote, They Are Freely Ex-
ercising the Right to Talk.

AS election day draws near the apathy
| which was 50 noticeable in Washington In
general with many other sections of the
country. has given way to a feeling of ac-
tive interest in the result of the battle
next Tuesday. and lively before-election
| scenes are being enacted day and night at
places where men congregate. Although
the bona fide citizens OF the capital cannot
vote. they can talk. and they are exercIs-
ing that privilege In discussing the great
| political campaign which is rapidly nearing
its close
| The strenuous scenes reported from New
| York and elsewhere are said to be exerting
| a sort of telepathic influence here. with the
result that lively passages at both arms
and words are the result.
The Kind of Talk One Hears
During the noon hour today number OF
pension office clerks were standing in front
of a neighboring restaurant when former
government clerk, who is now said to be
| with the democrats, came out of saloon
and, approaching the crowd, exclaimed:
''Beveridge has given up Indiana. Now
| Parkers election is foregone conclusion
| How do you know Senator Beveridge
| has given up the State?' asked a man who
| wore the bronze cross of the Spanish War
| Veterans.
Because a friend told me confidentially
| he had received a letter from Beveridgs.
| and saw the announcement printed some
| where besides
Don't you believe a word of it, replied
the man with the bronze cross. II have
not seen any confidential letter from the
| Indiana senator, but l know him well
enough to say that even If he had given up
all hope that Indiana would give a ma
| jority for Roosevelt and Fairbanks he
| would not be BANKED fool enough to make
such statement at this Juncture of the
| fight
In front of the Post Office building at the
lunch hour was another large crowd en-
gagged in discussing the outlook.
| Il have five dollars to four that New
York will give an upstate vote sufficient to
| overcome the promised democratic tidal
| wave in New York city," cried one but
this enthusiast did not find any takers for
| his bet.
| democratic ticket straight for the past thir-
| ty years argued to a gathering OF younger
| men that New York would be the political
| barometer this year. and las goes New
| York. so will go the nation" he claimed.
| Resorted to Blows
Fisticuffs as result OF election disputes
have been reported in but few instances
| lively fight is said to have taken place
near the corner of Al street and Pennsyl-
| vania avenue last night between a colored
| man and of Erin. The latter declared
that when President Roosevelt invited Book
| er Washington to dine with him at the
| White House he sealed his political doom.
| This was resented by the colored republican
| and a 'hammer-and-tongs' fight Is said
| to have resulted. which was interrupted
| only when one of the bystanders yelled
| Police"
| Going Home to Vote.
| Several thousand of the employees of the
government will leave Washington between
now and Sunday for their homes. and the
| railroad companies will proportionately
| prosper Rates of one fare for the round
| trip have been generally made for the
| benefit of these voters. many of whom have
| their legal residences at long distances
| from Washington. One employe of the in
| terstate commerce commission has gone to
| New Orleans to vote, and many in the
| Pest Office Department and of Commerce
and Labor will go or have gone far
| the middle west. Not great an exodus
Is taking place among the natives of New
| Hampshire, Vermont and Maine as is the
case with those from other sections where
| the result is considered by the managers
| of the campaign to be somewhat doubtful
for the republican party. but Pennsylvania
| has drawn on Washington for heavy sup
| ply of voters, Notwithstanding the predic-
| ton that that state will give Roosevelt
| quarter of a million majority next
Tuesday. This is due not entirely to public
lspiritedness, but to the propinquity of Penn
syWania to the capital. and the opportunity
| offered of short rest from work and a
| visit to the old homes at a particularly
| beautiful season of the year.
Will Vote in New York
| New York state and city are both draw
ing quite largely from the rolls of federal
| employees stationed in Washington. and
| many of them have openly said that they
| were going home to vote for Roosevelt be-
cause they thought he would need their
| ballots in New York. Not all of these
| have expressed themselves as politically
LOFT fah wit admin fiOn-
and it may be taken that Judge Parker will
| not altogether lose by the exodus from
Washington to his state for November 8.
| Several of the clerks in the various
| branches mentioned are known to be demo-
| Gratis who vote in New York city. fact
| which however small the weight, will tend
to bring up the mood or democratic votes
| in the metropolis.
From Department of Commerce.
About forty employees of the Department
| of Commerce and Labor. whose duties at
tach them directly to the principal offices
of that department. have applied for leave
1 to go home to vote at the election on Tues
| day next There are about 300 employees
| in the census office. which is a bureau of
| the Department of Commerce and Labor,
and of these several hundred will ask to be
| allowed leave for the purpose of exercising
| the franchise. In the coast and geodetic
| survey quite number will also go home for
| the same purpose, so that the aggregate
| from this department viii be fully up to the
| average from the other branches of the gov
| eminent service.
| From the census Office many go to the
| middle west, particularly to Ohio, Indiana
| and Michigan, the second named being
| pretty well balanced in both the republican
| and democratic columns. Maryland and
| Virginia claim not few whose politics is
| such as to keep down the democratic vote
| in those states. In Maryland these voters
| are eagerly sought by the friends of the adj
| ministration, though those who go to Vir-
| oil Cd al tn
| the rolls, but not essential. the state being
| always conceded to the democrats beyond
| all hope for their opponents. AS a whole.
| therefore. Washington plays no small part
| in the destinies of the several states at
presidential elections.