The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-07-02
BESSEMER BALLOTS
 MAY BE ACCOUNTED
Lively Debate on Subject Last
 Night
TO MEET AGAIN TUESDAY
Two Negro Children Instantly Killed By Lightning Near Robinson m- frmary-General News of
 Interest in Bessemer

besselneT, July l.-tSpecldl. )-Ihe city
 democratic executive committee met at
 the city hall tonight and a very interest
 ing meeting was held. A sensation was s1rung at the opening by the introduce tion of a communication from Lacey Ed
 mundson, asking for a recount of the l votes. MT. Edmundson's communication was as follows:
 '"To those friends who so zeaously guarded my interests and who feel that the ballot box should be purged of all illegal votes, l desire to say that I do not believe the returns of a democratic primary should be questioned nor con- tested, unless, however, there has been committed open and fragrant violations of the primary election laws. If there were illegal votes cast I say frankly and without hesitation that I do not believe that such illegal votes were known CT solicited by any candidate for mayor. l consider the late campaign a political contest between honest men of the same political faith, who, without the intention or desire on the part of any candidate to secure the nomination by fraud or by Illegal voting, would most willingly acquiesce In any honorable action of the committee that would remove all tan. of fraud from the results of contest between democrats. I, therefore. now af- firm that I do not question the result of last Mondays primary, nor would i agree to have the committee go behind the returns, unless the successful candi- date should enter no protest against the committees unanimous desire to recount the ballots. 1 consider the executive com niittee the supreme court of the party, therefore, their verdict shall have the support and approval of myself and my friends. LACEY EDMUNDSON.'
 This was introduced by Ed Veitch. who asked the committee in behalf of MT. Edmundson to open the boxes and re- count the vote for Mayor. He stated tlere was no charge of fraud intended but that there was an alleged discrepancy between the number of votes boiled and tliat when race was as close as the present one all mistakes should be cor rected by the committee
 MT Edmundsons request brought on much discussion, both for and against l.. J. A. LaRue stated that 1t was the con- mittees duty to correct all errors and that while he did not for moment ques- ton the integrity of the clerks. he did not see how the request could be TO- fused.
 MT. Lewis was called upon to express lis sentiments in regard to the recount and he vigorously protested against if, ste ting that If there were no contest what was the use of going into the vote second time. It would not only be hurt flu, to individuals, but would also injure the party. He ended by repeating his protest
 W. D. Lanier brought legal light on the subject and announced that unless there was a contest the committee had no power to go into the boxes. He agreed with MT. Lewis in his statements and took exception to the words of the others.
 E. A. Little was in favor of the propo- sition as he said it was only fair and right that everything should be done to satisfy the candidates. He cited instances where 1t had been done and agreed with Mir. IaRue that he did not see how .ae committee could refuse the request.
 After some further discussion the ques- tion was put to a vote by the chairman, with Committeeman LaRue, Little and Milton In favor of a recount and Commit teemen Lanier, Palmer and Massey voting against such action. It was necessary for the chairman to vote to break the tie, and he moved to adjourn until next Tues day. when an attempt will be made to have all members of the committee pres ent.
 The meeting tonight was full of spirit, and things seemed( equally divided A laugh was raised by Chairman Randle when he told the committee that he had kept the votes in an unused safe at Brick & Lefkovits, had forgotten the combination and was half hour opening the safe There will probably be larger attendance at the meeting next Tuesday night as interest is high in Bessemer in regard to the outcome.
 rfvr,o was s945O, of which printing cost $40, the register BPS, the election officers, SIS, and miscellaneous s. The candidates paid $3lO entrance fees which leaves $2l5 to be returned pro rata.
 Two Small Negroes Killed During the thunder and rainstorm this afternoon two little negroes, John and Mary Fletcher, were struck by lightning and instantly killed, not 10 feet from the Robinson hosupital The two small chil- dren sought shelter from the rain under one of the tall water oaks near the hos pital Lightning struck the tree, killed them both and tore a hole in the ground. Both necks were broken and practically all the bones in their bodies were shat tered The bodies were taken to Ken nedys parlors, where they Will De neld pending burial.
  struck the house on. Twenty-seventh street owned by H. w. Sweet and tore the shingles from it. A negro woman was reported struck at Eleventh avenue and Twenty y-fourth street. A large nnmber of telephones were put out of commission and the minor damage of the storm will amount to a good deal
 Further Preparations for Fourth .. There will be speaking in the park on the Fourth of July by local men and visit | ing celebrities J. A. B. Lovett will de- I liver the address of welcome to the vis- | itors and a number of prominent men will speak among whom will be A. H. Ford of Birmingham. A large number of prominent railroad officials have been sent a special invitation to be, present, l and 1t Is very probable that a large number will respond to the invitation. The celebration <has been widely adver- | tised and a large number are expected to attend. Ten thousand circulars have been printed and distributed over the central part of Alabama. Men have been sent to nearby towns and the circulars have been distributed along the railroads.
 : Persona1 and General 1 George H. stevenson. receiver of the Birmingham Savings bank. that failed several years ago, announces that he will pay a per cent dividend on July g. This | will be interesting to many who were in-
 volved in the failure of the bank. l A number of stores have decorated theii fronts in anticipation of the Fourth The | fire companies are also hard at work pol
 ishing and decorating
 l IT. D. Keith, candidate for president of | the city council, has filed his expense | ktx r1.ot ta ri ix. nj n pe<-