New-York tribune., 1915-11-03

Alice Lawton and Miss Lila WhitleI
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| ing place. but the Precipitation wal
standing out In big drops or his fore
head. In his hand he tightly clutchet
the correctly folded ballots.
Here, don't 20 off without YOU
lunch" called the election captain aftel
him, as he was stumbling out OF thu
door. Gee, but that guy was glad u
get Il over with" he commented.
A thing that surprised me al most a!
much as the courtesy accorded thu
watchers was the fact that the voting
was so entirely zen the level" | haC
expected to find votes challenged witt
frequency. Perhaps | had rather hoped
somewhere in the back of my mind
TO demonstrate my fitness as a woman
watcher by surprising some one IN th'
attempt to stuff the ballot box. My oail
other experience as an election holpel
had been in Seattle the year women go
the suffrage in Washington. On that oc
cason the ballot boxes were stuffe'
by almost as many again as the rlgh
number of votes. 1t was thrilling
But ! feel reasonably sure that nothing
remotely like that was happening IL
any of the four districts | visited yes
terday. Only once all day did | heaI
a vote challenged. Once, when a mis-
take had been made in recording thu
number Of ballots cast, all votini
stopped and the line was kept waiting
until the error was discovered.
then went % the silk stocking dis
trict, where many of the voters came
in limousines. They didn't Tool
the same as the ballot caster:
at 304 West Fourteenth Street
none of them had their lunch pail!
along-and they didn't sound the same
But in the essential points OF th'
courtesy shown to women workers anC
in the efficiency OF the way the ballot
ing was put through, the district q
was the Goth Assembly District anc
the 18th Election District) was mucf
the same.
Edgar Bromberger, Deputy Attorney
General, was the Republican captain
here. and J. Frank Mccormack tho
Democratic. The voters included 9
number of men pretty we'll known il
the financial life of New York. Two
incidents made the district rather
memorable to me. One was when ! saw
for the first time Willy Meyer, sur
The other was more amusing. bel
rang with a long jangle, and one OF
the election helpers stepped TO the tele-
phone. Every one listened unconscious
lv. the way you do when you are in q
room where there is conversation
which doesn't in the least concern you
In the sudden absolute stiffness the
helper turned from the telephone and
Ulx
the waiting line: -,
"Who's got Mr.. Booths trousers?'
Every one gasped, and a good many men
Looked a little indignant. Then they
remembered that the polling place was
a tailor shop. and score OF voters
hurst into a roar of laughter. The
election helper told Mr.. Booth that he
would have to wait for his trousers, as
there was more pressing business on
hand. a mild joke, at which we laughed
again. NJ,
From here i went to two polling
nIaces on Tenth Avenue. which, was
told was n rough neighborhood, where
those in charge would be rude 10 the
women watchers. BY this time
had come 10 doubt IT, and events
nroved that my faith was not misplaced
Nothing worse happened TO me at eitner
of these places than 20 have sand
,viches and kindness pressed upon me
In the e.lull OF the early afternoon one
man brought his wife and two little
oirls for me to meet, because they
tvere sufFragists. too. II was in one OF
tbese rIaces that | heard man chal-
ienced because he had apparently for
cotfen his fathers first name since reg
istration h,y. But il turned out that
no was merely FUSED" and his ballot
went in with the others. :,
When a good looking but decidedly
husky Young woman marched into the
rolling place demanding her husband
there was laughter and masculine sym
natbv for the errant member OF their
tribe. Somehow this started the SUB
iect of woman suffrage. We argued II
iono and goodnaturedly, ten men on one
side and / on the other. till | stopped
with a sudden jerk, wondering II | was
doing anything illegal. -,
II was here | met with the first mild
rudeness OF the day. \ group OF giris
passing the omen door OF the polling
place made rather grandstand play
for masculine approval by being m
ordinately feminine. as they understood
femininity. It'll
"See the sufragette." they called
"You had better go home and WASH the
dishes," - a..
"Moye on. nowl" commanded the
chairman. And just after them man
who was going his corkscrew way pas
the polling place. took up the refrain
Of "See the sufragette!'
"Never you mind" said the. men IN
side. Hell have fine old headache
tomorrow"
"Thus the day went for me, woman
watcher. in the polling places OF Alsn-
haitian. My experience. ! think, was
that of the 1000 or 5000 other women
who were at any OF the voting places
heard Of only one case Of rudeness on on
the part Of any election offieiai-in 800
Fast Twenty third Street, where Mrs:
William Gutelius. suffrage leader OF
the 18th Assembly District, had to make
her way inside the railing by sheer yer-
bal force. But that was the exception
ave have won our way into the poll
ing places" thought, as | left the last
one, warm little feeling around my
heart. "Now all that remains 10 to win