The Dry Vote Is Blocked by 74 Missing Signatures

Judge D. H. Carey Wednesday morning decided the case of Basil Brown, the Valley saloonkeeper, against County Auditor L. E. Jesseph in favor of Brown, and ordered that a writ of prohibition issue against the county auditor, preventing him from publishing or in anywise giving notice of a local option election in Stevens County outside of incorporated towns.

The decision was based on a full hearing of the case, which disclosed that the total number of votes cast in the county at the last general election was 5,020, and that 876 of these were cast in the incorporated towns, leaving the basis for estimates at 4,144 votes cast in the county unit. It would require at least 30 percent of this number of qualified electors to make good with their signatures.

The petition was signed by 1,397 persons. There were, after deducting the names of those who had written the precinct or post office address wrong or failed to affix the date to their signature, 74 short of the requisite 30 percent.

The local option leaders at Colville immediately held a meeting and decided to issue and mail petitions at once for the county unit and to provide for an election Nov. 9. They will take special care to see that the name, date of signature, correct post office address and name of precinct is plainly written in the petition.

The local option election in the towns of Kettle Falls, Colville, Chewelah and Newport will not be affected by this decision, but will be held on Sept. 7.