"WE WILL WIN" IS WATCHWORD TODAY.
Both Sides in Mayorality Fight Work Hard to Last Minute.
EDWARDS IS FAVORITE.
Betting Odds on Republican Candidate Continue Good.
ELECTION DAY WEATHER.
Cloudy and unsettled weather is the prediction for Kansas City for today, as indicated in the official forecast of Colonel P. Connor. There will not be much change in temperature.
The campaign closed last night with Republican and Democratic meetings in nearly every ward of the city. Both sides put forward their most capable and energetic speakers who carried the final message to the voters. All of the meetings were largely attended and the greatest of enthusiasm prevailed. The issues of the campaign were set forth as viewed by the respective sides, and there was a repetition by both sides of the personalities which have figured so prominently in the last ten days. Charges and counter chargers were handed out without any attempt at restraint, and the audiences seemed to like it.
This campaign will go down in history as one of the most vituperative in many years.
"We will win," was the belief confid3ently expressed last night at the headquarters of the two political parties, but both refused to give out figures or furnish facts on which their confidence was based.
If the betting on the result is to be taken as a criterion Edwards will win. He has been the favorite among speculators from the very outset, and there has been but little deviation in the odds. Mr. Edwards has ruled favorite right along at $100 to $80, and yesterday bets were recorded of $100 to $60 and $100 to $70 that he would win.
The prevalent odds at the leading pool rooms on Delaware street yesterday was $100 to $80, and although $10,000 was wagered at these odds, it did not in any wise reduce the ratio and at midnight the friends of Edwards were still on hand with money.
The ill-feeling engendered during the campaign may be carried to the polls today, with the consequent results of fighting and rioting. The First, Second and Fifth wards are calculated to furnish deeds of violence on account of the intense feeling against "Tom" Pendergast and his goat family, who are openly opposing the election of Jost.
In these three wards Pendergast is a power and up the the present election he never knew any opposition. But today he will have plenty of it, as Denny Costello, a former lieutenant of the "big boss," is heading the Jost supporters in the three North side wards, and is out for alderman against Pendergast's mainstay, John. P. O'Neill, for alderman in the First.
Costello was confident last night that he would defeat O'Neill, and prevent Pendergast from carrying the First ward for Edwards.
The responsibility of wresting the Second ward from Jost has been checked up to Miles Bulger, who is running for alderman on a self-styled Home Rule ticket. The Democrats were maintaining last night that Jost will carry the Second ward by a reduced majority, and that Bulger will be kept busy if he pulls through for alderman.
Rumors were astir last night that the Pendergast faction had imported a lot of gun men from Chicago to intimidate First ward Jost men today, but the report was laughed away by those who are cognizant of the physical prowess of the Pendergast followers.
A report was circulated yesterday afternoon that County Marshall Martin Crowe had ordered deputy marshals to the polls today. This was emphatically denied by J. W. Scoville, deputy at the marshal's office last night. Chief Deputy harry Hoffman, also said no orders of the kind had been issued.
Marshal Crowe, who is at St. Joseph's hospital, has issued no orders whatever for several days.
Special Order No. 279, issued day before yesterday to the police of all stations, cautions that commanding officers and the men under them in charge of the voting precincts at the city election will be held "personally responsible for the orderly quiet and fair conduct of the election."
The order warns against allowing "any intimidating, harassing, bulldozing or bribing of voters," besides allowing officers to protect challengers in the discharge of their duty. As usual, no deviation from the rule that "all persons arrested for election offenses must be sent to police headquarters as soon as the arrest is made."
Accompany these instructions is special order No. 284, in which commanding officers are charged with seeing that all saloons in their districts shall be closed and kept closed from 12 o'clock today until midnight tonight.
Twenty-five women workers representing the Women's Honest Election League will be on duty in the Sixth ward today during the hours of the election. That there will not be more women on the lookout for illegal voting and for violations of the election laws is due to a lack of interest displayed by the women, according to Mrs. C. F. Neal, president of the league.
Final preparations for their work at the polls today were made at a meeting of the league yesterday at the Hotel Muehlebach. Only a few women were present, the small number evidently being a great disappointment to the women who have been most active in working for clean elections.
We find that the election officials have been very lax in their duties," said Mrs. Neal yesterday. "Evidently they have made little effort to ascertain if the names on the poll books are bona fide ones. We have been able to poll only the Sixth ward, and not all of that, and a small part of the Sixteenth, but have found many gross violations of the law."
Mrs. Neal displayed a list of seventy-two names taken from the registry books of the Sixth ward which she declared were fictitious and not qualified to cast ballots today.
"Out of a total of 320 names," declared Mrs. Neal, "we found these seventy-two fraudulent ones. Some are registered from numbers where there are no houses whatever; some are of persons dead; some have moved from the city, and some could not be located at all. If we had been able to poll the other wards of the city we are confident that we would have found many times this number of illegal names on the list.
"Because of the lack of interested displayed by the women in making this election a clean one, we will have but twenty-five women watchers at the polls tomorrow. These all will be in the Sixth ward and will challenge any person who attempts to vote under any of the names on this list of the seventy-two.
As far as police protection is concerned for the women who will be at the voting places tomorrow, we do not need any. Each woman worker will be properly provided with credentials, and we anticipate no trouble whatever. Mrs. Jesse James will have charge of the women workers tomorrow."
