Perth Amboy evening news., 1910-12-09
SEEK THREE IN IN
0CEANRECOUNT
Fraud Is Becoming More
and More Evident.

Lakewood, Dec. e:-The search
for the party or parties who stuffed
the ballot boxes in the now famous
recount contest instituted by Senator
Mathis goes on, and every hour the
evidence secured points to the two
men who have been alluded to. The
names of these two have not yet
been made public. 1t Is possible N
more may be added to the list.
1t Is said the evidence points
more strongly to these three men
the further the detectives and others
who are working on the case go into
1t, and 1t is confidently expected that
one OF the three will soon break
down. and make a clean breast of
everything. Great pressure, It is
said, is being brought to bear to
bring about this result.
That the stuting of the ballot box
es was accomplished shortly after
the night Of election is now freely
admitted. If this Is the case 1t must
have been done while the boxes were
still In the Town Hall in this place
and this leads to the question, who
are responsible for the boxes at that
time? The answer is Howard Lane,
township clerk. He asserts the box
es were all properly sealed and lock-
ed according to law and the keys
sent to George H. Holman, county
clerk at Toms River, The boxes
were then placed on a shelf in the
basement at the Town Hall, from
which they were taken to his house,
thence to Toms River for the re-
count. The boxes then were appar-
emily in the same condition as when
he first received them from the local
election board.
j. B. Hoff, when asked about the
boxes being left in the Town Hall in
such an exposed condition., said that
he considered the boxes entirely safe
as each one has three Yale locks ON
1t besides a combination lock. This,
Cornelius Conklin, a member of the
local election board, does not agree
with as, he says, the boxes were
locked with ordinary locks and it
would have been an easy matter for
anyone to have found keys that
would fit them, and there was no
combination lock on them.
The assertion was made here yes
terday that Conklin did not see more
than fifty of the votes counted. This
he denies, saying that he will take
an affidavit that he read not less
than $50 of the votes counted in his
district. Conklin was the only Re-
publican member of the board who
handled the tickets at the original
count.
Prosecutor T. ]. r. Brown is now
making his headquarters in Lake
wood, and 1t is said he is working
in conjunction with the detectives.
He would not give out any informa-
tion last night, but says he expected
to have a great deal for the incom-
ing grand Jury to work on when 1t
meets Tuesday next. F.
1t was said here last evening that
one party whose name has been fire.
quently mentioned the last few days
as knowing a great deal about the
stufing of the ballot boxes has gone
duck hunting, and hat probably one
or two others will join him before
long unless present indications fail.
A reward Of $4,000 was offered
last night for the arrest and convic-
ton of the guilty parties.
II has been stated that Senator
Mathis would not accept the senator
ia1 toga under these circumstances,
but up to the present time no one
has been able to get a statement
from him on the subject.
The question is being asked ali
over the county who would be the
most benefited If the result of the
recount should stand, and 1t is
answered that next to Mathis, Jos
eph B. Hoff and U. S. Grant would
be the largest gamers, also Mathis'f
brother-in-law. Judge Berry, OF
Toms River, whose term expires mex
year. and II Mathis was reelected
would in all probability be reap
pointed. HofT and Grant are both
members of the State Tax Board,
and. 1t is said, they both owe their
appointments to Mathis. U. s. Grant
is also a member of the County
Board Of Elections and a political
power in the county seat. Joseph B.
Hoff is also chairman of the County
Republican Committee.