The Dermott news., 1914-04-02
IS CLOSEST EVER KNOWN
EARLE W. HODGES LEADS TICKET OF OPPOSED CANDIDATES BY
 NEARLY 90 coo.
COFFMAN AND COOK SAFE
Tillman. Ctdfield and Goodwin Appear to Have Won in the Cengres-
 sional Fights.
Western Newspaper to#ga Nev. service.

Western Newspaper Jn5ga News Sereicc
 Little Bock-The most remaraaGlc contest for the United States senate in the history of Arkansas politics has resulted in yote so close between the coutendmg candidates thut 1t will be forced into the State central Com mttee and undoubtedly thence 5uto the Democratic State Convention ali Pine Bluff
 Senator Clarke's majority CT severn thousand on the face of the returns. partial and unofficial. Tharsdav morn ing, dWindled on additional returns m ii for few hours Saturday afternoon Judge Kirby was in the lead, at ong time more than 500 Then there began game of see-saw. now one ahead. now the other, until the partiSaus of beth candidates. save the over enthusiastic who followed Blaine.s policy. Claim everything, eoncede nothing agreed that 1t was anybodvs race. and that no one could tell the outcome
 At one time during the course of the calculations. Judge Kirby was accred ited with 65,552, while Senator Clarke was only eight votes behind with Co less than '.060 votes were unaccounted for, in less than l0a precincts. in some of which 1t was supposed that no cleo tion was held. and in many of them only few votes were cast. The returns also indicate that Kirby had carried q counties and Clarke had carried 34. which the Kirby partisans contfnaea would give their candidate tbe balance of power should the contest be forced into the state eonveHtion to ue decid- ed by delegate vote.
 Figures Were Constantly Revised.
 A majority of the messing precincts was in Kirby counties. day after day. and as the returns slowly driNed T from the remote mountain districts and from the back towushtps at the forks Of the creek. the yaciUat.n. to~ tals kept the Clarke and the Kirby headquarters constantly revising their figures. until only the most imagina- tive campaign managers could predict the outcome with any degree of cer- tainty.
 The count was made officially Mon Gay by the various county central com mittees. With incomplete returns from Mississippi, Chicot, Poinsett and a few other counties admittedly for Clarke and Howard. Izard. Madison saline and others, as emphatically in the kir- by column, there was a fascinating un- certainty about it that kept everybody Keyed Up to point of excitement and ready for anything
 In the midst of 1t all, claims poured in from the Headquarters of the two candidates in diminueudo and origlnal predictions of landslides for either by maiorities ranging anywhere from F. 0oO to 30000. diminished to 10000. to E000. to 2,00e. and even smaller leads as the facts forced themselves upon the people that if was one of the clos est contests ever known in the state
 Will Force 1t Into the Convention.
 In view of these conditions. it was admitted, finally. that whatever totals might show as reported by he official canvass, the vote would he so close with not 800 difference either way. that 1t would necessarily have To go to the Central Committee and then to the convention In this event, the scenes that are sure 10 be witnessed at Pine Bluff in June will undoubtedly be reminiscent of the olden days wher nominations were decided by delegates in the state convention, and not by the popular vote.
 Spirited county and district race. nre accountable for the delays in the reporting of the vote of several coun ties and the fact that the county races were held in some counties severa months ago is responsible for a lack of interest and a small vote in some counties. In Clay, for instance. where