Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1908-05-15
LOCAL OPTION WINS.
How the News was Received in
Fredericksburg.

From Fredericksburg Frec Lancet
Election morning, Tuesday, to decide
whether this city should go ''dry" or
wet" was ushered in with rain, which
soon ceased.
AT a. m. the church bells began to
ring, and hundreds of ladies' assembled
in the Presbyterian chapel to hold prayer
peetings, which continued every half
hour till the closing of the polls. At
periods during the day the bells of the
Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian
churches were rung. Children, with
banners flying, paraded the streets dur
ing the day in the neighborhood of the
polls, singing ''The Town Is Going Dry. Z"
Hot coffee and sandwiches were served
in the upper ward in the Willis build
ing and in large covered wagon in the
street at the lower polls by corps of
ladies'.
When the polls opened numbers of
representative citizens, in overcoats and
under umbrellas, representing the two
sides. started to work. The contest was
spirited and the excitement intense, but
not single harsh word was spoken and
no difficulty took place.
The polls closed at 1902 p. M,
after one of the most strenuous
contests ever seen in this city. Then
all was expectancy. Around the two
polling places were gathered more than
two thousand men, women, boys and
girls. While there was a feeling of
suppressed excitement, the best of hu-
NOR prevailed. The crowd was ready to
guy any man, without regard to ''wet"
or dry" and representatives of both
factions came in for their share. 1t
did not take over forty minutes to count
the vote. That of the upper ward was
announced first as l6 majority for the
'drys." This was met with a yell of
joy from the "drys" and the crowd
surged to the lower ward, swelling that
already In front of the voting place. In
a few minutes the front door of the
courthouse was thrown open and man
jumped over the heads of those on the
front steps with the announcement that
the result was Is ''dry" majority, and
the crowd sped up the streets to the
Baptist church, where the ladies' had as
sembled for prayer. The crowd, a mass
of frenzied humanity, followed and a
scene ensued which beggars description.
Women Rugged and kissed each other,
while tears of joy rained down their
cheeks-hats were thrown into the air,
banners and handkerchiefs waved and
there was not an inch of space from
sidewalk to sidewalk. The men were
not far behind in demonstrations of Joy,
their shouts filling the air. Around the
front of the Baptist church were prob
ably three thousand people, while the
interior was packed. A procession was
formed and a march begun. Men and
women, boys and girls, in the middle
of the street, regardless of mud, sing
ing and shouting, went down to Com
merce, thence down Commerce to Main
street, to the railroad and on through
the principal streets until exhaustion
compelled Q stop.
The pictures of vacant stores in Kansas
City, Mo-, which the liquor dealers had
displayed on the streets, were taken up
and carried in the procession as sub
ject of ridicule. Such scene has never
before been witnessed here. The moth
ers and daughters of the men of Fred
ericksburg were entitled to express their
JOY over the result, for to them is largely
due the victory they won.