Though the projecting lantern is now used almost universally in presenting election returns in large cities, thus far the lantern slides give only very brief scrawled statements that certain cities or certain districts have gone for some particular candidate with some estimated plurality. A person coming out into the street after an evening at the theater has no way of knowing the import of the various telegraphic statements which may have been thrown on the screen earlier in the evening. It is only by watching the bulletinboard screen for half an hour or more that a newcomer is able to get any definite idea of how things are going.

When arrangements have already been made for using a lantern to show the returns on a screen, it would cost comparatively little more to give election returns which would be of much interest to the whole gathering, as well as of great effectiveness in showing the situation clearly to any newcomer who might join the crowd. For a national election, slides could be prepared to the number of twenty -five or more, giving an outline map of the United States and showing only the State lines. As the returns come in, some man well acquainted with the political situation could summarize the telegrams received up to the last moment and give his opinion as to which candidates are leading each State. A person accustomed to coloring lantern slides could then immediately color in one of the map slides according to some key, so the colors red, green, yellow, etc., on different areas would show that certain candidates were ahead in those States or districts. For municipal elections, the wards and different divisions of the city could be colored in exactly the same manner as suggested for the States. The appearance of the suggested map as thrown on a screen may be judged somewhat from the map seen in Fig. 177.