Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 6.djvu/64

 after the election in that city and this committee of eighteen acted as an executive board for carrying out her plans. Her management received the highest commendation from political leaders. Dr. Mary Sperry and Misses Miriam and Julie Michelson were a permanent office force and Miss Schlingheyde, Mrs. Chapin and Miss Sullivan carried much of the work. The Woman Suffrage Party gave the use of its headquarters in the Lick building. The State association and the clubs of San Francisco contributed about $1,500. A captain was appointed for each district who selected her precinct captains and was supplied with an automobile. Connection was established with the chairmen throughout the counties and all were charged to "watch the count." On election day and the next day $94 were spent for telegrams. To nearby places experienced workers were rushed when the word came of dishonest election officials. There were 1,066 volunteer workers in San Francisco, 118 of them men. On election day hundreds reported for duty before 6 o'clock and after standing at the polls twelve hours many went into the booths and kept tally of the count until midnight. In Oakland Pinkerton men were hired to watch it and in San Francisco the vault where the ballots were deposited was watched for two days and nights.

The vote in San Francisco was 21,912 ayes, 35,471 noes, an adverse majority of 13,559, and even the imperfect watching of the women detected a fraudulent count of 3,000. In Oakland there were 6,075 ayes, 7,818 noes, an adverse majority of 1,743. Berkeley alone of the places around the bay came in victorious with 2,417 ayes, 1,761 noes, a favorable majority of 656. Los Angeles, which in 1896 had given a majority of about 4,600 in favor, returned 15,708 ayes, 13,921 noes, a majority of only 1,787. On election night and for two. days following the suffragists judged from the vote in the cities that they were defeated but the favorable returns from the villages, the country districts and the ranches came slowly in and when the count was finally completed it was found that out of a total of 246,487 votes the suffrage amendment had been carried by 3,587, an average majority of one in every voting precinct in the State.