The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-11-05
PETITION FOR
 AN ELECTION Prohibitionists Have L.
 731 Names. GREAT INTEREST IN FILING Election Cannot Be Ordered for Later Than December "A. If The .Dry.r Are successfuI, saloons Must Close December si, leoy-- a Probate Judge Has Ten Days
 To Determine. Y.
GREAT INTEREST IN FILING

I A petition with 1.73l signatures to l 1t, asking Probate Judge J. E. Gaston
 to order an election in Montgomery | county to ascertain whether or not 1t
 IS the desire of a majority of the quaii- | fled voters to have wniskey or -other intoxicants sold within the county, was
 filed in the Probate. Judges office yes | terday afternoon at o'clock. | This Is the first decisive step taken by the prohibftionists, and if the names of all of those on the list are found by Judge Gaston to be qualified voters,
 the election will be ordered. The document was taken to the of-
 flee of Probate Judge Gaston by Chief
 Justice John R. Tyson and former
 Alderman J. L. Holloway. The petition 1 in itself is purely formal, and further then to ask that an election be ordered at the earliest date possible under the law. does not so into detail or use less verbiage.
 When he received the voluminous
 document Judge Gaston fssued@sa res ceipt for lone petition, said to contain i,7s1 names. asking that a prohibition election be called in Montgomery county There are seventysfour pages to the petition, and it's prepara- ton indicates arduous lahors on the part of those who have worked to sup- ply beats and addresses not put down by signers.
 Intense interest centers in this ,peti- ton, and it now remains to be seen whether or not all of the signers are kualified voters. Many believed that not over 1,500 signers would be secured
 for the petition but the prohibitionists stated that they could have secured large number of additional names
 had 1t been necessary
 An indication of the extreme interest in the filing of the petition was that all during yesterday the telephone fin
 the office of the Probate Judge was
 kept busy by anxious fnquirers, the
 majority of which came in female voices It had been announced that the petition would be filed yesterday, and when the day was well gone and still the answer at the Probate Judges office was mot yet,nN many became
 anxious. Even while Judge Tyson and
 Mir. Holloway were in Judge Gaston's
 office the telephone rang and some
 inquirer wanted to know if the peti-
 ton had arrived.
 Just how long 1t will be before Judge
 Gaston can ascertain whether all of
 those on the list are qualified is not
 yet known The task Is an arduous
 one, and the Judge will have hIs hands
 full for the next week.
 The antis are hoping that the eiec- ton cannot be ordered until after January 1. so that the law will not become operative until January i, 1909, Under the law the Probate fudge has ten days In which Tto-s Ascertain whether or not the signatures on the petition are those of quaIfied voters, If 1t requires the full ten days to de- termine this, the election will be order ed on November IA, provided there are one fourth of the registered voters of the county on the petition.
 It is further required by law that the election shall be ordered to take. place in not over forty nor less than thirty days from the time of ordering and if Judge Gaston takes the full limit of forty days the election will be held on December 24. It Is hardly probable that Judge Gaston will order the election so near Christmas. how ever.
 From this view of the case it seems that there is no hope that the vets tionists win, for the law clearly says 'Tf majority of the legal voters cast at any election fin any county held under the provisions of this act shall be against the sale of liquor' then it shall not be lawful to sell, or other wise dispose of any intoxicating liquors, drinks or beverages within thirty first day of December next stic- ceeding the date of such election"
 According to an estimate made at the Probate Judges office yesterday there are about $500 registered voters in the county. and the number of names signed to the petition is iit- tie over one fourth of the registered voters.
 Judge Gaston stated yesterday that In the event he finds that twenty five per cent of the registered voters of county have signed their names to this petition he will unques- tionably call the election.
 q have no discretion in the matter" he said. 'The law requires me to do e.