Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-11-03
ELECTION TRAMPS
LAMENT PASSING
OF GOOD OLD DAYS
Some Get 1t Somewhere, .
But the Police Find I'm
'provement in Morals of the
Polling Place Loungers.

With the intersections Of its main
thoroughfarcs as thronged as the mid
way of a county fair, every ward in the
| city is enjoying and suffering from the
| throes of one of the most hotly con-
tested elections Philadelphia has ever
known. The air is thick for the most
part with argument, cigar smoke and the
! fumes of strong drink.
Barber shops, cigar stores, theatrical
| agencIes and Heaven knows what not
| have been pressed into service as voting
| booths and out on the pnvcmcnts and
| lined UP on the curbstoncs little groups
OF the proverbial election tramps are in
dustriously chewing tobacco and busly
wondering what the outcome is going to
be-
This In itself is unusual Ordinarily In
the past they have not even bothered to
wonder They know They knew that
the boss candidates would come across"
with a regularity as unfailing as the
daily rising OF the sun, but today things
are different. And those who are in
touch with the situation say that there
is an evident disquietude among the
ranks Of henchmen and ward-heclers.
A VAIL FOR THE old DAYS"
A moth-eaten, unsavory appearing In
dividual wearing a Penrose button, who
looked as though the gutter might be
his natural abiding place. sat on the curb
outside OF the polling place on Race
street near 9Th, and bemoaned the pass
ing of the good old days
"Thish is an awful state of fairs, a
turriblc state of fairs he told who cared
to hear. and fixing a watery eye on a
pessimistic canine in the vicinity, he
shook his head as though the world had
arrived at n reprehensible stage, indeed.
And even the most unobservant passer-
by would have said the man was drunk.
Don't know where he got the STUFF
from" the policeman on the beat said.
Must have put in a supply yesterday,
though | suppose some of them around
here always have 1t on hand. However.
we don't arrest em unless they disturb
the peace"
And then he. too, marks the passing
Of the old days. He does not bemoan the
fact, however. Not he.
Times aren't like they used to be
around here" he said. ut ulster be
that election was troublous days-fghts
going on all the time. The ward leaders
would come right up to the polls with
their bottles, and treating was the big
feature of the day. But we have our or
ders nowadays to confiscate any liquor
we see and to arrest the man who gives
1t out, and so the ward bosses is mighty
careful. They know they got to be-"
IN McNICHOLSs TENTH.
Th 10th Ward is "Jlm" McNichoIs
stronghold, and, according to the police
men, there are men who turn out here
to vote at election who seldom see the
light of day. Night owls, whose beary,
sodden eyes blink uncomfortably in the
healthy light of the sun-dow-n-at-dhe
heel, out-at-the-elbow creatures, moro TO
be pittied than scorned--except when vot-
Ing time rolls around. Strange, mcredi-
BILE people, such as emerged from their
holes in "Barnaby Rudge," to follow
Lord Gordon to his riots.
Down In South Philadelphia where the
Wares hold forth a mans right to vote
is being challenged on tho slightest sus-
picion and the policeman whose duty II
is to keep the peace at Sth street and
Washington avenue is having a busy
time of 1t answering the calls which de-
mand his presence in the booth to settle
some dispute, every now and then.
Out in West Philadelphia the voting
is heaviest during the first and last
hours. The West Philadelphlan likes to
cast his ballot early. so that he can get
into the Office in good time. No loahng
around the polls for him. But If the
booths are too crowded he defers the
important function until later on and
leaves his business a wee bit earlier i'm
the afternoon. at o'clock, perhaps. so
as not to miss dinner, which the good
little woman Is preparing at home.
The police I'm West Philadelphia who
watch the polls on election day have an
easy time of 1t.
NO CROOKED WORK HERE.
Haven't seen a single drunk and
don't expect to-" said one bluecoat who
was sitting on a breadbox on Market
street. leisurely reading paper. This
is very respectable neighborhood. No
crooked work"
ANY one viewing the West Philadelphia
as he energies from the polls would as
soon connect his own grandmother with
crooked work as this citizen. He is the
Independent voter II matters not whether
ne casts his vote for Palmer, Pinchot or
Penrose, It's safe to say that he has cast
II according to principle.
In every neighborhood' be II horth,
east, south or west, the voters are OUT
in full force. The "Bill sykes lhalyiuual Sl5l
with the red sweater and the cur at MS
heels rubs elbows with the aphemeral
frock coat with chest a glittering mass "I
,5-,,s... hsdVaz N nut a Russian grand