CITY EAST ELECTION.

Auckland Star, Volume IV, Issue 1198, 25 November 1873, Page 2

CITY EAST ELECTION.

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L : tmad*>i_uThniix '!;,\7,'...',.";', ■Vr'.>''. ; i'':-''/:/'i: '.''>,':; The polling for City/East, one of the largest' and most aristocratic districts on the electoral roll of the provittce/tOok place to-day. There was not ;riiuch' excitement outwardly manifested, but !ahme' of the'six candidates who ~, jweVp flittingltp^apdjf^p on the scene had an!, anxious jpnk abouttiiem} aaifithey, i.at all. ': Weritsj hadfla tdeep.iriterest in the event.' There was.af air compliment of cabs plastered1 j>verwith' placards inscribed .with, the. names of. candidates,._ and a request/added to. J?ote for Dajgayille,. Phillips, Lusk, Ellis, Hurst, or jTeesing, as the case might be. , Here and-theiip a rcanvasser (whose rpceupa*ti'on will s*oWbe gone) indulged, in a lit|le[ chaff with the' bystanders,' and this sort,of dialogue .might; be heard :. ','Are yijil going t0,,-vote I for .Keesihg, old man!" Not if I knows it, I'm not going to■< buy my beer on: _ Saturday,' and 'have it corked up till Sunday; thi a bottle,Jwheriit's not fit to drink—riot rf ' I know" it.'.'* Then, another would ask .George Staines, thY" Jpeople,B friend," howit'was he Was in. tho background,": to which George fvbuld-reply " Well, <,1 don't know B wont, jt be, out to-mpr f row for City West •*; but City jEist's /too 'aristocratic,, and it ain't" fair to oppose the old members." ' Th'eri Jthere would /be, sppe, reference,,to the complimentary allusions .made .tosoinp pf the^iididates during the Supe'ririteridericy 'cbritest, and Jnany expression riitefeH..bL approval of, Mr DarSaville's^iitatements-that' he*-would rio^/su^ortJ-Mr^^Villiam^bn^. and/ 'f bury ; the hatjPpet"; Towards^nopri'the; weather,-^ i^hich had- looked like rain since early mornrig^J, more' _ threatening—-the rihja:blewij^fifcf^sgi.Uts,:Sendin| ua few hatspinning into the road fi bin off'the. heads ofhe -free and independent electors gathered a.fronJtL°f the polling place/;; and fears being* ntertamed that some.snburban"voters would! erhaps be d^ajned fro|fff coming into town, ,■& Everything fas very t -qmetljj pondpeted, , and{ altppugh ' manysguesses J wefcevhazarded asto the result was of course no accurate information (jo be-obtamed-of thp secrets lof the" ballot^ box. One solitai'y policeman' was stationed ri^^^ot-entrance-vof ''.the Mechanics',,lnstitute to preserve law and order, 'but'his services-were not required. A few extra pmts^f " fourpenny" were dispensed at the bar of the Auckland Hotel, but there'- was little ifamysdrunkenness, and the most eSL qhusiastic Good. Templar might have gazed 10 without having his feelings hurt; wi the tenderest point. "■ Amongst those who <Jame .upjtb vote was his: Honor the Superintendent, who was cheered^as he passed up r <jhe.fsteps!frQm;hi9parriage_,-, It would -not; be' a Ve'ryiviol&xt'presumptioni perhaps, to say M ' :nolte«n«* Ave-.;,, jv_„ n „, ~. _ ~,, _ ,'fy -aaiaiJiHleiliioii: ___,-, ..... ■~., ~...,/. t/ 0 //,/. ;f .

for whom he voted. At all events the jbyj standers set it down for a fact that of the three votes Dargaville and Philips got two of them. About one o'clock there was a perceptible thinning in the numbers coming to the poll, which was probably on account of the free and independent electors having gone to dinner. In the afternoon the ! numbers augmented again, but the rain now came down rather heavily, and the inside of the hotel or the shelter of the Police Court portico were sought by the crowd. As the hour of closing the poll drew nearer the canvassers—most of whom are familiar faces who always crop up at election times and then subside into obscurity—seemed to double their exertions and button-holed everybody looking like an elector that came along with increased eagerness. One of our leading solicitors, very popular with the crowd on account of his advocacy of the "poor man and his Sunday beer," had evidently left his office to look after itself, or at all events to be at the mercy of his clerk, and thrown himself heart and soul into the day's proceedings. For whom* ; soever the learned gentleman was working he was indefatigable, and no doubt contributed to place his friends higher on the poll than they would have been without his exertions. If there was but little apparent excitement there was a good deal of work done very quietly. Each candidate appeared to have plenty of friends, and it really seemed hard that the whole half dozen could not be duly elected..