Advertisement
as soon as they became available.
At that time, telegraph operators were able to send the latest election updates to newspapers across the country, but people would not find out who won until the papers came out the next day.
On the night of Nov. 3, 1896, the La Crosse Daily Press set up a system outside their offices at 128 Main St. so residents could see the results as they came in. A large canvas was stretched between two poles, and scaffolding was placed about 20 feet away
with a device called a
stereopticon. Once the tallies came across the wire, the numbers were placed on a glass plate and projected onto the canvas using the stereopticon.
The Daily Press, which had no problem hailing its achievement in the Nov. 4 edition, estimated that 10,000 people had gathered to watch the election returns.
The Daily Press office wasn’t the only place in town where election results were announced as they came in. The renowned Italian hypnotist Santenelli was giving a series of performances at the La Crosse Theatre, 113 Fifth Ave. S., and on election night, he was passing on results to the audience during breaks in his show.
McKinley won the election, and he won in La Crosse by a landslide over Bryan, 6,233 to 3,028.
Source: La Crosse Public Library Archives. For additional information, contact the Archives at (608) 789-7136.
