The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1916-11-07

ing of the polls, the work begins.
The first returns in NeW York are in
varlably from some Of he upstate CT
ties where voting machines are en-
rloyed. There are, however some To-
<allties q Cape Cod and down in
Maine which for years have prided
themselves in being first in with their
vote. In such small places the law
permits the opening of the ballot
BOXES as soonas it has been made
certain that the full vote Of the place
las been polled, and the result 1s
luCn made known.
1t is only by driblets that the first
figures come in, ut once the ava
lanche is started there is no let-up
to the tick of the telegraph saunders
and a swarm Of the colored blanks
is kept flying from the receiving op-
orators to the tabuIators. The fig
ures are first entered by the tabulators
and passed along to the designated
chief who keeps "Doomsday Book"
showing the running total of the vote
throughout the night. Every fifteen
minutes the busines of tabulation is
punctuated by the issue Of bulletin
on New York State, which is rushed
to the leased wires of the Associated
Press-and over these main arter-
les and secondary ones-some 47,000
miles Of them, some eighty different
circuits-the news circulates, keep
Ing all the nine hundred and forty
newspaper members of the associa-
ton posted on how the country is
going.
Form of Bulletins
The form of these bulletins is known
tC thousands VINO have seen them
flashed on the election screens:
"5O6 election districts out Of $500
in New York State, for President,
give Wilson. ..... Hughes. ......"
So, district by district, these bulle-
tins grow until it looks so certain to
some of the experts that one paper
or another will concede somebody's
election. But the Associated Press
comedies nothing. It must know.
In the year of the Odell-Coler fight
for Governor in New York in 1909, its
system had a severe test. Coler ran
up a big vote in New York city, and
the heavy vote of Odell upstate was
overlooked by many Of the newspapers
which conceded Coler's election. The
Associated Press, in the midst Of this
confusion was led to wonder if its
figures wire right. The general man
ager had an abiding confidence in his
men and figures, but in the face Of
concessions that some OF the papers
were making Of Coler's election, some
thing must be done to check the matter
He ordered a recount. The system
provided for just such an emergency,
and this Odell4Coler year is the only
time it has ever been called into
play. All Of the country returns, af-
ter being tabulated, are hung on a
large rack Of hooks, classified by coun-
ties, where they are Immediately
available for recount. Of the hooks
came those hundreds of teIegrams,
and in just fifteen minutes time the
entire State vote was recounted. The
head tablator forgetting for the mo-
ment that he was in newspaper Of
flee instead of a bank exclaimed:
"Mr. Stone, we check up to penny"
The recount tailed exactly with the
figures the Associated Press had pre-
viously given out and the PAPERS
which, independently of the Associa-
ted Press figures, had conceded Coler's
election had eventually to armit their
error.
Accuracy
The accuracy Of The Associated
Press figures has seldom since been
questioned. In connection with the
recent New York State primary, III
the fight between Calder and Bacon for
the Republican nomination as can
didate for a seat in the United States
Senate, the majority given by the AS
sociated Press was only 79 votes al
variance with the official count. In
Massachusetts State election last year
the Boston bureau scored record Dy
announcing the returns only three
votes off from the official figures.
The election machinery of the Asso-
ciated. Press is at work in all the
States, but it is developed to its high
est efficiency in the States having the
largest electoral votes and the small
est average Of consistency in Presiden-
tial years.
tA Definite Line
Given a definite line on New York
C4aAa An nhrrot&a 1uhinh Ia In.