Arizona republican., 1913-04-02
Except in District Five Where Lasscn and Town send Sweep the Board and In Nine Where Dark Horse Appears
MORRIS SWITCHES
 AND WINS BOARD JOB
Exceedingly Light Vote is Polled Except in Contest ed Division; Reports come In Slowly to Secretary of the Board

In the otherwise plain flat surface of tho general election of members to the council and board of governors of the Salt river valley water users as sOCiatiOn yesterday. there are two things that stand Out-the dark horse victory of H. B. Morris for the board in the Mesa district number 9 and the defeat Of Joseph Cope. formerly gov ernor from district five by Laurits Lassen. Another contest in the fifth district for the council was won by Townsend over Ward by the biggest vote polled for any single candidate.
 There was but little intimation of the surpise in district 9. It was known there was something being ribbed up but it did not develop until the ballots were counted last evening after 800. Morris was nominated for the council. His trail was therefore well hidden for some neat work among his constitu- ents, for the supporters of Dr E. w.. Wilbur for the board of governors knew nothing of the activities or even the presence of an opponent. The bal lots showed Morris scratched on to the board ticket and from the council tic ket, the latter case in favor of Ed. D. Tway The same showing that friends of Wilbur to the number of 1923 acres fully believed that Morris was a run ming mate for their candidate.
 The fight for representation by southside members of the fifth district was won by a generous margin. Las sen, the southside candidate showed early strength at the polls. and was supported well throughout the day. The forces of Joseph Cope worked earnestly all day, too The other contest in dis trict five lay between southside men, and it seemed that Townsend gathered votes from both the Cope and Lassen adherents. for his vote was TIPS, a great deal more than any other one candidate.
 The vote in the fifth district was the heaviest ever brought out The only contest-developed before voting day lay in this section. Out of 16,591 acres eligible to vote in this rdivision l1.OS3 were voted This is an encour- agingly big percentage of the eligible acreage
 The individual vote was very light in all districts but the fighting fifth. At the Water Users building yester- day nineteen individuals cast votes and in most of the other divisions, the individual votes were just as light or more SO The election as far as Phoenix went was absolutely devoid of excitement. There were a few calls for information. but not nearly as many as were predicted. District five l.. f inf of mi ar manifested throughout the day. The ninth. where the stunt was being quietly pulled off was nearly dead.
 Reports were received last night at the Water Users building by Secre- tary Charles A. Van der Neer and the telephone operator of the edifice, Miss Helen Thatcher. who switched currents and pulled plugs on practi- cally every ranch and suburban line in the valley in getting the figures There was little delay in making the counts except in the fifth. District two on the west end is missing be- cause it was impossible to raise anyone in that division who could give a de- pendable account of the election. The table of votes is made up from the re- port received by Secretary Van del Veer last night. and is unofficial but accurate.
 The results reported herewith arc unofficial although accurate enougi for all practical purposes. It vii be more than a week and perhap: longer before the vote is canvassco and the official return made. This can only be done by the officials O the association. There are but tn two contests, which might cause dis putes in the return; the other divi sions report only a renewal of con fidence in the officers