The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-03-04
AlIege Judge Denied Vote to
Qualified Electors.
WILD RIDE TO SERVE PAPERS
Action Brought by o. b. Eddy
i'm Court.
Row Is Over $500 Bond EIec-
ton for School House.

The Wanamaker school row, over
the erection of new $500 school
house in the district west of the city,
broke out anew this morning when
attorneys made spectacular dash in
to the district court with application
for peremptory writ of mandamus.
George McDermott, a local attorney,
filed the application for the writ
which is brought by o. B. Eddy and
made the allegations that judges of
the election, which is being held to-
day to vote bonds for erection of the
building, were refusing to let qualified
electors vote. J. S. Seherman, A. n.
Smith and O. M. Blanchard, judges of
the election, and Mrs: Harry Forbes
and Miss Bess Eddy, clerks are named
as defendants in the application. Nc
Dermott rushed the application
through the procedure in the clerks
office to Judge Dana, who was on the
bench. Judge Dana issued the per-
emptory writ Immediately
The writ instructed the judges that
persons appearing at the Wanamaker
school house, where the election is be-
| ing held, and after challenge swear
ing that they are qualified electors of
the district should be allowed to cast
their ballot, the judges marking the
ballot Sworn to- In this manner
| the ballot can be identified if meas
ures are introduced into court to en-
| join the election. Attorneys say this
| will be done if the bond issue carries.
McDermott. in his application this
morning, alleged that the defendant
| judges refused to permit the persons
| desiring to vote to cast their ballot
after the WOuld-be voters had agreed
| to establish rights.
i Makes Run on Three Tires.
After the order was issued it was
rushed by McDermott to the sheriff's
| office. l.. L. Kiene set out to serve
the writs. A taxi was called and then
one of the most tedious if not one of
the widest rides made by peace Of
ficers to serve papers for some time
ensued McDermott was in a hurry
and told the driver so. With cut-out
open the taxa Ford-tore out West
Sixth street until Gage park was
reached A blowout delayed the ex-
petition only long enough for the
driver to tear the tire from the wheel.
From that time on the machine ran
with three tires. Cut-out open, steam
| pouring from the radiator, the t1relesS
| rear wheel pounding the earth, the
little car bucked its way through seas
of mud and long sticky stretches OF
clay roads.
At the schoolhouse all was quiet
when the sheriff and McDermott ar
I
three men on the outside appeared to
be waiting. Kiene walked into the
building and served the writ on the
| defendants other occupants of the
building crowding around.
All the judges except Scherman had
nothing to say other than a casual re-
mark McDermott started to tell
Scherman what the writ meant when
the latter asked why copy of the
statute governing such an election was
not included in the writ.
Votes Are Accepted.
THAT is an order of the court, ="
snapped McDermott. 1T is up to you
to follow it out. If you don't 1 will
have you before the court for con-
tempt this afternoon"
Thomas A. Lee, an attorney repre-
| senting the defendants, or part of
them, interceded and told Scherman
to challenge the Would-be voters, let
them vote and that the votes would
afterwards be contested in court.
| A man and two or three women
| crowded their way up to the judges
table and voted in the way prescribed
by the writ after swearing that they
were qualified electors of the district.
| According to Attorney Lee the judges
! claimed that the men and women were
not residents of the district and there
| fore not entitled to vote. 1t was stat
| ed by attorneys this morning that the
! clerks in the election, Mrs. Forbes and
Miss Eddy, are made defendants SIM
ply as a matter of form in the appli-
cation. Miss Eddy. McDermott says,
is the plaintiffs sister.
On the heels of the court procedure
this morning Thomas Lee, represent
ing the Lee estate, announced that he
would give an acre of land from either
corner of his land on West Tenth
street for the erection of a new school
building. A tract of land In the center
of the Lee estate has been condemned
in the legal way for the erection of the
building. Lee says he doesn't want his
land cut in the middle and offers to
donate the required amount from eth
er corner.
This is not the first time the Wanna
maker affair has, been in the courts
A suit over the election wherein it was.
voted to construct new building
went to the supreme court and back
about six months ago. One faction
in the neighborhood is fighting the is
( suance of the bonds on the grounds
that the issue is too large. Eddy, it is
| said by attorneys.-is leading the fight
for the issuance of the 1900 worth
of bonds.