Given the small size of the “vast throng,” it probably would have been easier to write the returns on a chalkboard, or just yell them out the newspaper’s window. But ah, the allure of technology.
CROWDS WATCHED THE STEREOPTICON
VAST THRONG GATHERED OUTSIDE THE PRESS DEMOCRAT OFFICE LAST NIGHT
The Election Returns Thrown on the Canvas Kept Crowd Interested For Many Hours
For hours on Wednesday night the large square in front of the Press Democrat office was thronged with hundreds of people. The crowd also thronged the Courthouse plaza. It was a large, interested throng, and during the evening cheers were frequently raised as the stereoscope the names and the votes of the candidates who were forging ahead on the large screen.For a number of years the Press Democrat has carried out this means of giving the election news to the public, and the effort has been greatly appreciated by everybody.
As usual, the paper arranged a system of messenger communication with the various polling places, and the messages were hurriedly transmitted to the office and the slides were rapidly made.
Frank Cherry used his fine stereopticon and gave excellent service. The crowd stayed until an early hour on Thursday morning, and the interest was maintained throughout.
In addition to the stereopticon service, several hundred queries were answered over the telephone. “How’s the election going?” was the favorite query asked and answered.
– Press Democrat, April 7, 1904
