The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-11-30

expectAut ca0va1 tuef fn4 o9x8uoof9 had aecumniatSd | tots1 of 5.e0o mAs was sxpsctsd that Mobile would op- pose the measure with all her naisht but the 5000 majority was a sum that called for de3srfous funnuit and the tu- mutt was right At hand to Dc offered.
 An instant or. perhaps, . trine later. the 5000 majority was corrected. This time the canvas carried the figures Of 3zBo as the offering of Mobile to the grand total of the dsfsnders of the constitution. This was me. indeed. fof Montgomery and Mobile. but some thing was lacking.
 Everyone ansons the a.soo or more people who crowded good nssnrsd1y m the street spaces atcut The Advsrts. CTS big bulletin knew that the real battle -groufd of the day had Desn in and around Birmingham. Tne city ana Jefferson County had been claimed nrst by the defenders and then oy the amendersN 60 often during the iAsstwo months that, netaphoricsily. it was tne battledore shuttiecock Tor the s2p,s- ing bAttiedorss of tho issue. Wnne the headouarters of both amenders and defenders have been at Birmin6nam during the latter days of the campeisn less certainty of the exact situaton there has been felt than of any other secfion Of. or city of. the state So what of Birmisnham and Jsnsrson1
 How About Birninehams
 "what's the vote in Birmingham
 "Did Jefrsrson County roll up ma ,oritv arafnst the amendment~
 avhst have the wires licked on re- rardinr the crux of the battle of the
 Msybe not in these exact words were the l,,sfstent demanfo. but the import of the langusxe used was exactly sim- liar.
 Some more details of the balioting in Lowndes, Daiias. Lawrence. Cal. houn. Clay. Pike, Green. Henry anu nthsr counties were thrown upon the ca nyas, but Birmingham results ana Jefferson county results were what xvas wanted and substitutes created hut momentary interest.
 Then came the first claim made by The Advertiser.
 "The Advertiser claims the state by 1S.00n majority
 what had gone before in the way Of noise resembled by comparison to the bediam that broke from thousands of throats the rattle of shot peiiat in q pill box,
 The state against the amendment by an 1s.o0o majority.
 Comerism and weakieyism and amendment .ism rebuked. repudiated and reierated to the dismal oblivion of defeated issues. The news was stunn- ing although 1t had been expected. But still there was the uncer- tainty about the Issue in Jefferson county. There was another half hour of returns from various county beats Each showed that the vote nad been as large or larger than estimated and q big majority of the flashes told the familiar story of the overwhelming of the amendment proposition and of the landslide of votes that buries Govern or Conner. Judge Weakley, Rev Brooks Lawrence and their associates.
 Repudiation of the pet measure of the states chief executive was good enough. The defeat of the amendment was overwhelming. All admitted 1t, but what about Birmingham and Jet ferson?
 At last. ''The city of Birmingham gives approximately 75O majority against the amendment"
 That's what the crowd wanted. Cheer raced after cheer. Now for the returns form Jefferson county. And they came.
 Jefferson county gives an approx innate majority of 1ses.
 Something like a majority of f.s0o Or SO for the nity of Birmingham and the county of Jefferson. That clinch- ed the fate of tho amendment in the minds of the men and women coYfi- posing the vast throng and happiness was compietes &f
 Anything that came after was velvet When the bulletin was flashed that the ,s defenders majority probably would go to 10000 or more 1t aroused comparatively little enthusiasm. Sue. cessive bulletins told q still more sat- |,isfaetory..
 so,0oe ana Beyona.
 Such information that was distri. buted toward the midnight hour to the effect that the majority of the defenders would go to 2s.0eO and then as high as 27,oeo and even to 10000 and beyond became mere incidental trimmings attached in some necessary manner to the magnificent central thousht--the amendment ie beaten. whipped to frazzle and the constitu. ton is inviolate
 There were side issues to the gen. eral demonstration in front of The Ad- vertiser's building. There was n, course. a band that paraded almost as early as the first that was heard from, There were jubilee singers and the burden of their refrain was: "we,tl hang Brooks Lawrence to A sour auuIe
 
 tree" And to the same tune Come to your sov'nor and he'ii pardon you" Of course there were other improyised songs and some appropriate melodies. but the combination but served to sho W the spirit of the big crowd and the singers and their attitude toward the Governor and the Governors dashed hopes.
 But all of this could not take place without the proper lighting effects and they were supplied by Roman candles, red fire and the like. During the flash ing of the bulletins. the Roman can dles and the red Ire were not set on and burned. But jast 90 soon as the bulletins had told their story of vIc- tory, the Roman candies and the red fire had their inning.
 Groups of ultra enthusiasts gathered at The Advertiser corner and bright