Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1913-06-17
How They Voted Out the Saloons

I"Ine ArnnRtOn. .
It Is also seaport with all its collec
tion of the offscouring of the earth.
Mrs. Fish has always been worker
for tenn perance and. was glad OF the op
portunity to cast her ballot. She wal
appointed by the "dry" forces to canvass
the 18th precinct to find out how many o
the poorer and more ignorant women
we're registered and how they stood or
the liquor question. Her experiences
we're both humorous and illuminating.
Mr.. Fish has been one of the leaders In
this campaign, and an unused workshop
| in their own back yard was used as the
voting place for the 18th and 18th pre-
cincts, thus affording her an excellent op'
portunity to see how things were done
Santa Barbara will be q saloonless city
next August. Also the licenses are TAX
en- away from the restaurants and all the
small hotels and rooming houses, a very
i'm portant regulation to the morals OF
city. We lost by 43 votes the ordinance
to do away with the Wholesale houses,
aud by quite large majority that doing
away with the table privileges of the
Arlington and Potter, although their
bars are closed with the saloons. There
was majority of only ITO out OF 1000
votes cast to close the saloons, but Wa
are rejoicing greatly, as that was more
than we dared hope for. The only rea-
son felt as II 1t would carry was that 1t
seemed wicked not to have faith, al
though came pretty near being like the
Irishman who was trying to make his az
float by faith. In this case the az hoated
l. am enclosing sample ballot. and ns
it is quite an interesting thing to have au
election take place under ones very
nose, aud as it also ia interesting to see
how women manage their new privilege,
or right of voting, l am going to give
you full account of it.
1 had told you how the "drys" were
organized for the campaign, the men to
manage the registration, to advertise, to
have meetings land good ones they had
too,) and to have charge of the
transportation to the polls, and to have
a com mittee at each polling place to
watch the polls, 10 record the dry votes
cast on card catalogue, and to
send for those who had not voted, and
also to challenge illegal votes. The
women held quiet meetings, not adver..
tised, but called by word OF mouth and
telephone, for the purpose OF distribute
ing information regarding the campaign
and arguments, backed up by authentic
facts for ammunition, and to get what
information we could from each woman
regarding the way the voters in her pre-
cinct stood on the question, to get wom-
en- workers to canvass In their own neigh.
borhood, so that before the election we
had every name ON the register cata-
logued az wet, dry or doubtful, and in.
formation regarding everyone who had
moved in town within thirty days so
that their vote was illegal, and any
other information we could gather that
could be useful was put on the card
catalogue.
The women also had charge of the tele.
phoning to the dry voters to make sure
they came to the polls, and to offer to
send automobiles If they wished at what
ever time was convenient to them.
Women also distributed literature and
sample dry ballots 100 yards from the
polls to the women voters, and women
rode in each automobile which carried
the dry voters. Mrs. Kramer, my neigh
Dor and the mother of FIVE little chill
dren, was the general chairman Of WON.
ems committees in this precinct, and
Ben was precinct manager of the men.
Those two really ran this precinct. The
afternoon before everything was cleared
out of the shop, which, by the way, we
got S5. 90 for renting, which we turned
over to the campaign fund as. our con-
tribution, thereby making the city,
which Ia about half wet, help In the dry
campaign against itself. Then the vot-
ing booths-something like folding tele-
phone booths with only three sides-and
tables and chairs for the electoral board
arrived, and last the very important
ballot.box, which looks like a rather
large bread or cake box Of galvanized
iron with slot in the cover, and locked
with heavy paddock.
All preparations being complete we
went to bed so we could be up bright
and early in the morning as the polls are
open from six to six, and we bad to
have breakfast out of the way before
that. Before six O'Clock they began to
arrive, the election board, two clerks,
two inspectors, two judges, the saloon
keepers and bartenders, the constable,
two ministers, and the women workers,
the first relay of them. Ben stationed
himself at the polls with the card .cata.
ogue and the challenge list, Harry, and
another volunteer worker from Carpen-
terra with bis automobile also, were out
in front along with the saloon keepers
automobiles and vehicles, far Outnum-
bering ours. The women stationed
themselves at their respective places, the
ministers stood in front to dispatch the
automobiles, to help the voters find
their numbers In the register, and to
give out the names for the women to tel
ephone as Ben should send them out
from the polls.
At Just six, man called out, Shear
ye! Hear ye! The polls are now open, :"
and the voting began. The first time /
voted rather expected to walk up q
marble stairway and cast gilt-edged
ballot in q beautiful ballot box. As you
see the reality is not much like that, and
It was rather a come.down for me to 60
around the corner and vote in q neigh
boris wood house. But although 1t isn't
so elegant, there is absolutely nothing
about it that makes the oft repeated
saying, "The polls are no place for a
woman" at all reasonable. The process
of voting is simply finding ones name
and number in the register that hangs
outside, signing name in big book, CIV
ing name and number to one Of the elec-
tion board, and receiving from them q
ballot, stepping inside booth, marking
the ballot as desired with the little rub
Der stamp found there, folding the bal
lot, giving 1t to another member OF the
election board who calls out the name
$50 and so. Voted" and puts the ballot
in box. 1t is not 80 very complicated
to be voter.
More women voted than men at this
election. Many women brought their
children with them. There were one or
two children here nearly all day.
saw one couple come with baby just q
few weeks old, tiny thing, aud they
took turns voting while the other sat In
the automobile and held the baby. And
one old couple came early in the morn.
ing, the man ninety, and the woman
eighty.three. Several people who were
invalids or paralyzed came. One very
sweet old lady came In o wheel chair.
There were more "drys" than "wets"
that voted in the morning. In the after
noon the "wets" got scared, l think, aud
hauled out all the votes they could, all
the Mexicans in the neighborhood. !
overheard one old woman, from
where sat by the window, as she went
by, who was very nervous, and said that
she couldn't write her name. "Come
on" the man said, ut don't make any
difference whether you write good or