The New York herald., 1921-11-09
Election Interest Revives at
Last Hour After Weeks
of Apathy.
PERFECT WEATHER HELPS
Socialist Contingent Shows Its
Strength in Rally at
Labor Temple.

The election was remarkable for
these things:
The first participation Of women as
voters in a Mayoralty contest, heavy
and early voting. absence Of fraud or
disorder and perfect weather.
In these fundamentals it was about
the most satisfactory election day that
New York city ever has known.
Principal interest naturally centred
about the appearance Of women at the
polls In a municipal election. The story
of their activity is fully told elsewhere.
Their participation seemed to be the
main reason why the contest Was the
cleanest and most orderly in years.
The more than 100000 who took adj
vantage of their newly gained right
manifested keen and intelligent inter-
est.
Interest at Last Moment.
In fact. the apathy manifest all
through a curiously lifeless campaign
was replaced at the last hour by some
thing like real interest. The people
who had not interested themselves
enough in the doings Of the candidates
or in the issues except to say, We'll,
suppose Hylan will be elected
seemed to wake up and take real con-
cern in the contest. 1t may have been
that the closing Of so many offices,
stores and shops had something TO do
with this revival.
The complete count will show more
than 1000. 900 votes, of which more than
half were cast before o'clock in the
morning. Voting began with tre-
mendous rush when the polls opened at
| o'clock and continued in torrent
averaging one a minute in many pre-
cincts. until the so-called rush hours
Of the morning had waned. On the
! lower East Side, in Harlem ana in The
Bronx particularly this early voting was
| so phenomenally heavy that 60 per cercs
Of the vote had been cast by A. N.
100000 Votes Likely.
Throughout the whole city there was
the usual lull between and 4. and
then tho evening rush began. Anal
surge TO the polls that kept the cleo
tion officials furiously busy until they
shut the doors on the stroke on p. M
The total registration being 1,263,940.
| the estimate made during the day was
that more than 100000, possibly as
many as 100000 votes would be cast.
This remarkable early outpourins
that made the day notable was not con-
! fined to any one or any several parts
| OF the city. 1t was widespread and re-
| iected an undoubted eagerness on the
part OF the voters to register their will.
This fact. together with the high per-
centage OF votes as compared with the
| enrolment testified to the curious re-
vival OF public interest
| New Workers. voted in the most busi-
nesslilte way imaginable and there was
no dawdling about the polling places
| People voted as a rule either on their
| way to work In the morning or on their
way home from work in the evening. and
, they were about the Job as swiftly as
| IL could be accomplished. In the rush
hours at every polling place there were
! long queues of waiting men and women.
! Probably the biting chill OF the early
| part Of the morning before the sun had
broken through and had chance to
warm up the air had good deal to
do with the haste to vote and get away.
Later in the day. when the sun was
bright and the day was as warm as May,
there was more Of a holiday air about
! the polling places, and the crowds we're
larger.
Good Spirit mt Polls.
Another interesting characteristic of
the proceedings was the poilteness ana
N-v..-