Durango semi-weekly herald., 1905-02-06

precincts which the Republicans hav,
asked thrown out.
In attempting to prove that tn.
election In Denver was honest. tn,
Democrats have undertaken a tas,
that is overwhelming, and in which
nobody really expects them to sue
coed Unless some other line of de
tense proves more effective. tneii
chances would Seem TO be very slight
| Denver, Colo, Feb 4. p. M
| boomerang after boomerang has
struck the Democrats before the con
test committee from the testimony OF
their own WITNESSES. or the frat four
| examined. three testified that they
did not write their ballots: the fourth
was one OF the Democratic Judges of
| election. One witness swore that this
| Judge, Hummel by name. wrote his
ballot for min without being asked
and without being told what to write
on 1t. Another testified that he could
not write and that Hummel wrote his
ballot, and the third swore that the
ballot numbered as his was not his.
All these were in the Elyria pre-
cinct, where the voters are largely
Austrians and various nationalIties.
There is no record of assistance given
to illiterate or disabled voters on the
poll books, but Hummel swore on the
stand that he assisted 25 or 30 voters
himself. and other judges e5 or 30
more.
To-day the examination Of witness
es from the same precinct was con
tinupd and some of them proved to
be stars. John Perry was the first
After fey questions, he was asked
To write the word Democrat" ami did
so. slowly and painfully. 1t was spell
ed differently from the way II was
written on the ballot Identified as his.
When did you learn To spell thisv'
asked Mr.. Ward. Last night" said
the witness VINO taught you last
night?' Fred Hummel"
1t is clear that the night schools are
still In session
The next witness was Lena Musitch
Lena could speak English
When were you naturalized?" ask
ed Mr. Ward. Il vote for toe Demo
Gratis every time" was the unexpect-
cd answer.
Were you ever naturalized7" mo"
Did anybody ever challenge your
vote? No. | never had any trouble"
rs your husband naturalized?" "Yes,
don't know"
Louis Newman keeps a saloon. He
identified his ballot, and In writing
the word Democrat" explained 81
put an n behind him.
Annie SCISSOR said she was the wife
OF Steve SCISSOR and showing his nat
uralization papers She was weak on
English. and Joe Ippic was called as
Interpreter. She picked out three diff.
ferent ballots as having been written
writing?" asked one Of the committee
"Oh. yes" said Annie-an answer
tnat brought down the house to such
an extent that the chairman threaten
ed to clear the room.
Mrs. Ursula Plut was another lady
who identified three different ballots
as having been written by her, but af-
terwards swore that she wrote only
one. Sne also swore that she wrote
the word democrat" on her ballot,
but when the ballot was Identified.
nothing but Dem was found on II.
Her own writing corresponded badly
with the writing on the three ballots
| selected by her, one of which was
| supposed to be her own During her
examination, the interpreter Joe per.
sisted in asking the questions in a
different form from that which Mr.
Ward employed. and he was dispensed
| with. and Mr.. Bernstein came to the
rescue. speaking German instead oi
Czech. 1t WAS apparent tnat Ursula
was badly mixed
Insufficient coaching is apparent in
the case OF all the witnesses thus fai
examined. The night schools may
| have been working over time, but ths
| pupils are slow to learn.
| The last witness OF the afternoon
was Alderman Mauff Of the 1itf
ward He Identified his ballot. which
was number 144 and swore that h'
put 1t through the slit himself int'
the glass box. The ballot showed M
fold whicn would make II Impossible
for It TO have been put through tn
slit. A number Of other ballots In th'
same box were folded the same way
not enough times TO go through th
slit. This precinct will have a fun
ther examination.
One Of the noteworthy thing
brought out in the examination OF tn
ballots Is that they were marke
many different ways.--Dem, Demo
Democrat, Democrat Democat. Demoi