The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-07-29

who signed the petition asking for the
election to be held did not vote in the
election. The petition contained over
700 names and the vote for the dis
pensary was only Gil.
ALI Was Orderly.
Wilmington has the reputation OF
being one of the most orderly towns IN
North Carolina and her reputation in
this respect was sustained yesterday.
Where is another city the size Of
Wilmington, or a small town, for that
matter, where an election of this de-
scription has been. held and on the
day of election not a single arrest
made 1t was not that. the policemen
did not do their duty, but because the
citizens were quiet and orderly. Not
a drunk man was seen on the streets
or near any of the voting places. There
was not a single difficulty, only a few
good natured discussions. The writer
visited all of the votins pfaces during
h afternoon and all were quiet and
orderly. This condition of affairs when
the people were SO wrought up over
the matter, was something remarkable
and shows of what conservative and
orderly people this city is composed.
What Caused the Result.
The people of Wilmington have
shown plainly that they do not want
a ~dspensary n it will probably be
q d odl III Ik1Cy - oooAlA sHSA
ed to vote on this proposition. There
may. ave been certain contingencies
that changed some votes but from the
large majority it Is plainly evident that
the ~diSpenSary was not wanted unoe
any conditions. One little girl was
heard giving the reason yesterday
why her father voted against the dis
pensary. The reason, as she gave it,
was because her father knew SO much
about di~spensaries in South America
and did not like them. She OF course
meant South Carolina. For weeks the
city has been flooded with literature
both for and against d~ispensary. The
people have certainly had an opportunity
of learning all they wished to know
on this subject. n anti-disensary
forces have made but few demonStra-
lions and these within the past Few
days. The dispensary advocates have
had any number of speakers and Tor
the ten days previous to the election
had speaking every night
A short distance from each voting
place booths q been erected and
were occupied by ladies', who served
lunch. lemonade n ice water to the
d~ispensary workers and their friends.
No ladies were around the polls, only
in the booths. Their presence had
a beneficial influence. and both sides
seemed to vie in trying to show them
every courtesy possible. Their pres
ence no doubt prevented some heated
discussions, and possibly difficulties.
There are always some amusing in
cidents connected with elections.
When one of the leading dispensary
advocates, and one who has made
some stirring speeches in the cam
paign approached the polls yester-
day for the purpose Of casting his
ballot. he was reminded by the regis |
trar that he ar failed to register.
For a moment he stood bewi:dered.
but at last remembered that he fall
ed to register. His friends were wor-
rying him no little about it yesterday
afternoon.
There was another prominent cit
izen. whom the bystanders got the
laugh on even worse than the gentle
man just spoken of. He stopped just
before he reaohed the polls and de-
livered himself of a short talk, IN
which he expressed himself as being
proud of the fact nat he could put
in a vote for the ~dispensary. After
talking in this vein for a few minutes,
ha marched up to put in his vote,
when, 10 and behold he had failed
to register.
The Official Vote.
The law requires that the registrar
and poll-holderS of each ward shall
elect one of their number as a mem |
Der of the BOARD of c-anvassers,
whose duty it is the day after the
election. at IL O'Clock, to meet
and pass upon the official vote.
The following compose the board
of First ward. Mr.. J. A.
Barnes; Second ward. Mr.. w. w.
Hodges: Third ward. Mr.. A. G. Ham
kins; Fourth ward. Mr.. H. L. Vollers'
md Fifth ward. Mr.. w. D. Rhodes.
This board will meet at the city hall
today at IL o'clock.
The votes in the different wards
were counted last night at the voting
places, n the boxes, registration
books and an official copy Of the re-
turns were then brought to the city
hall, and the ballot boxes. In which /
were the ballots. were paced in the
vault.
There was a large crowd assem-
bled at the city hall last night to
learn the official returns. 1t was
about 9 O'Clock when the registrar
and poll holders lof the last wand
polled in the Fifth ward and this
was the hast ward to report-
A Thing of the Past.
; In a few days the election will liter
ally be a thing of the past, N peo-
pie will have ceased to speak of it.
If there had been a few fights on
election day. it would nave impressed
itself more on the public mind. but
everything was so extremely quiet.
The ~dispensary advocates had but
little to say Of the result las night.
They seemed to take their defeat in
the proper spirit, although some of
them were bitterly disappointed.