Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1916-10-29

announcing the returns only three
votes OF from the official figures.
The election machinery OF The AS
ISOLATED Press Is at work In all tho
states, but 1t Is developed to its high
est pitch Of efficiency in the states
having the largest electoral votes and
the smallest average of consistency IN
presidential years.
Difference in Time Handicap.
Given definite line on New York
state. on Massachusetts, which Is IN
variably prompt, and reflection OF
the vote In the central and western
states. where q difference in time Is
. handicap to early returns, the re-
suit Of the presidential election may
be pretty definitely announced at an
early hour. ana often the full extent
Of the victory indicated, so accurate
ly has the guage OF election figures
been fixed BY previous experience.
Knowing with near certainly
whether It Is Wilson or Hughes will
be sufficient for the throngs at the
bulletin boards on election night. but
The Associated Press goes on to q
still bigger task than the mere an
nOuncement of the result. That would
not go far to complete the morning
paper. There are columns to fill with
state tabulati0ns, with lists of COVER
nors elected, the detailed constitution
Of the next United States senate and
house OF representatives. and similar
tables for each state, locally handled,
on the constitution of the state legis-
lature. There are comprehensive
leads" to write in summary OF the
figures, and contests in particular
states to be explained.
The Paul Revere of 1916.
There is one human cog in the elec-
ton night machine that is even more
interesting than the general manager
of The Associated Press. He is the
Paul Revere of the backWOOds dis
tricts who gallops his horse or drives
his motorcycle on election night to
the nearest telegraph station. There
are still some remote regiOns-a great
many Of them-where the polling OF
q presidential vote is almost a game
of solitaire, and from some Of them
couriers must ride twenty miles be-
fore they can release by wire to q
waiting nation the fact that a plural
ity OF one for - lit would be
partisan to anticipate the name) had
been cash at Ranch 49, There are
several such remote districts even in
New York state, whence news leaks
almost as slowly as in Montana or
Idaho. And there is no deprecating |
the importance u the vote cast at
Glover Four-C Corners 1t is the will
of the people that rules, and The |
Associated Press can know no distinc-
ton when it comes to the counting OF
honest ballots. Otherwise it would
not pay for that twenty-mile ride.
New Jersey has been thorn in the
flesh OF the election tabulat0rs for
many years. In the first place it re-
fuses to close its polls until o'clock,
and its law requires that the count
ing OF the entire ballot from top to
bottom shall be completed before an
other ballot is taken up. There are !!
upwards OF $40 names on the Jersey
ballot this year In some Of the cities,
and it is doubtful whether on elec-
ton night President Wilson will know
how his own state has gone. The Jer-
sey method Is employed in some Of the
central and western states, adding =
further. handicap to- the difference in /
time. but New York ana a majority OF
the eastern states put the presiden-
tial electors on separate ballot to !
facilitate the count ~ ."..,.
Wire Tolls Are Large.
II the foregoing has not helped you
to visualize the process by which the
greatest news-gather ring organization
tries to satiate your election curiosity
and furnish masses of figures to back !
up its announcement OF the victory,
picture to yourself this one fact: On
night the facilities for wire |
communication over practically the |
entire country are for the moment de- !
voted almost exclusively to the collec-