Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-12-29
IN STATEMENT MADE THIS MORN.
ING BY ATTORNEY c. w. WHIT.
MORE, THE CLAIM OF EXCESS
OF siGNERs Is DwINDLINc.
FIGURES CUT DOWN
ABOUT $50 NAMES
DUPLICATES SAID TO be MORE
THAN 800, WITHDRAWALS 2De
AND MIssIGNED AND NoN.voT
ERs 15o; FINISH THIS WEEK.

The unofficial canvass made thus fas
by the citizens committee. which ID
working with the committee OF pro-
ponents of the saloon petition, has de-
veloped quite fall OF in the majority
Of signatures claimed by the saloon
men when the petition was fled, ac-
cording to Attorney G. w. Whitmore.
The claim of 3065 signers to the pc
tftion is not openly disputed by the
citizens committee, who will not say
anything regarding the numbers found
in signers OF the petition, but state
ment made this morning by Attorney
Whitmore depletes the claim Of 832
majority made by the proponents 70
the estimated sum of about 182.
Three-Flfths canvassec.
OF the 3.065 names claimed to have
been obtained by the saloon men, Mr..
Whitemore states that 1900 have been
gone over thus far leaving 1900 yet
to canvass, or about two-fifths Of the
total number uncanvassed. Large mum
.bers Of duplicates. some Of whinhs Il "
stated, are really4tripliea ieates, are said
to have been found, as well AZ many
not voted and more still missigned. An
estimate OF the Withdrawals will reach
200 according to the anti-saloonists.
The two committees moved their
place of working from the supervisors
room this morning to the large court
room. This was made necessary be-;
cause Of a meeting of the board Of s,i-
ipervisors. The two working bodies are
going through the work as RAPIDLY as
possible, hut 1T is estimated the task
will last until the end OF the week.
Whitmore's Statement.
Attorney Whitmore was seen this
morning and gave out the Following.
which gives some light on the
progress made thus far in the canvass
that has been made Of the petition:
1--WE have gone over the entire con-
sent statement, and taken 1off the
name and address Of each OF the 3,O65
claimed sieners. And after doing this
we have started over again and COM
pared 1900 Of these names with the
poll list AT
"of the 1900 names examined crit
ically. over 800 duplicates have been
found, some signing the statement as
many as three different times. About
fifty have been found who signed the
statement in one way, but their names
appear in the poll books in different
way.
at is understood about 200 have
Withdrawn their names. There remains
some 1900 names to canvass carefully
and compare with the Doll list. 1t Is
expected the work will be completed
this week so that the result Of the
two weeks work may be saved the
board Of supervisors when it meets
next week, Tuesday, January 3, or as
soon thereafter as the board can take
the time to examine the work OF the
parties and become satisfied as to tho
correctness The work being done by
these parties at the present time will
save the board about two weeks Of
tedious session.
"yt is expected the formal withdraw
ais will be filed January 8. Until that
time 1t cannot be told how many there
are"
Make No Statement.
When asked If he had any statement
to make regarding the canvass that 10
being made, Attorney r. r. Mitchell,
representing the proponents OF tho
petition stated that he had nothing TO
say. He qualified his remarks by say
ing that the committee that IL repre-
senting the petition has not had time
to note the number Of inaccuracies, X
any exist, in the petition, and that he
was not in the least worried a. to the
efficiency Of the petition to accom-
plish the purpose for which It was
circulated.