New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-10-27
ONLY Is RECALL VOTING
But Primary Returns Showed
1903 Roosevelt Ballots.
FRAUD PRINCIPAL NAMED
Pollbooks Indicate That Guilty
Man Took Half Day to
Screw Up Courage.

The Investigation being made by IeorSe
T. Medalie. head of the District AttOI-
news election bureau, disclosed yesterday
that in the Attn Election District Of the
9Th Assembly District, where the primary
returns last March showed Jos votes LOT
the Roosevelt delegates, only fifteen men
actually remembered voting. 1t was the
4th Election District which was meh-
toned particularly by ogden L. Mills ana
Samuel Koenig when they made thelr
charges that Louis Frledel had stolen the
Sth Assembly District for the Progress
sives.
Besides Indicating that there was IN
doubtedly crooked work somewhere IN the
district, the inquiry yesterday took more
definite lines than II has heretofore. A
witness whose name Mr. Medalie refused
TO divulge told him the name Of man
whom he held responsible for the fraud
in the district. Mr.. Medalie sent out sew
eral men to investigate the story ana
follow up lines suggested by his inform
ant.
Most of yesterday was devoted TO the
4th Election District. There are 100 en-
rolled Republicans in that district. Inc
rollbook showed that 10S voted. MT. Me-
dale heard from eighty Of the los whose
names appeared I'm the pollbook. Fifteen
Of them, for the most part either elecuon
officials or relatives or friends Of cleo
ton officials, said that they had voted
Six did not remember whether they had
voted or not. Twelve were not living at
the addresses recorded in the enrolment
book last March. and therefore could not
have voted. Forty-seven sWore they diu
not vote
One man whose name was on the poll
book as having voted, although he swore
he did not vote, was David Goldstein, OF
No. a2 East Broadway, who was Erie
deps opponent in the fight for leadership
in the 9Th Assembly District last year.
He is now an ardent Bull Moose.
The pollboOks themselves have been
studied with considerable care by Mr..
Medalie. On the first page Of the book
of the Sd Election District, the page re-
served for those whose names begin with
the letter "a" il was found that the
first third. fourth, fifth and seventh vot-
ers were registered. On the 81 page
following came the eighth, ninth and
tenth men.
If that were the only place where such
an entry occurred it would be eXtraor-
binary. though It might be set down as a
coincidence that the men whose names
began with the letter "A" came first 10
the polls, and that they were followed
directly by men whose names began with
"B." but there is hardly a page that
does not reveal q similar state Of affairs.
TO an unskilIed observer II looks very
much as though a man whose name be-
gan with an early letter Of the alphabet
had better go early to the polls in that
district or lie would find his name al
ready inscribed in the book.
In the 4th Election District the first ten
men who voted all came under the AS"
The pages Of the POLLOCK I'm the 4th
Election District are likewise divided al
most exactly in half, each half being
marked by the different kinds Of ink used
I'm inscTibing the names. For instance, OH
the &C" page about one-half the names
appear on the top half of the page writ
ten in dark ink and with a pen that
made a thin mark On tine bottom half
Of the page the balance of the names APP
pear written in a blush ink and with a
pen that made a broad, dashing stroke.
Such a condition would be present II
some one had decided to vote list of
names, but up to the middle of the day
had had the courage only TO put down
about half the list, and in the latter part
of the day, the number of real voters
being small, had decided he might as well
finish up the job and put them all down.
This theory is also borne out by the
numbers which appear opposite the
names. In the upper half of the page
the numbers are comparatively small. In
the lower half they are large. In both
sections OF the page the numbers follow
nearly in consecutive order