OLTON. Mar. 16—Lamb county commissioners court will meet Wednesday morning and canvass unofficial returns of the March 9 election, which on the basis of unofficial reports indicated Littlefield had won a 16-year fight for designation as county seat, It  was announced Saturday. Unofficial returns gave Littefield  4, 311 votes, Amherst 789 and Olton which has been the seat since the county was organized in 1908. a total of 1,229, Two-Thirds Required That would mean that Littlefeild's 68 per cent of the total vote put that city of an estimated 6000 persons over the two-thirds barrier required by law—Littlefield not being in the county' s five-mile center radius. At stake is the Lamb county courthouse. which was constructed in 1923 under the administration of R. C. Hopping of Lubbock, who then was Lamb county judge. The pretty structure, now set off by noble ash and elm trees in grounds carefully landscaped and planted with evergreens and specimen shrubs, cost $23,574, exclusive of furnishing. Its indebtedness, was retired about two years ago. County Judge I. B. Holt said. Plans To Use City Hall Littlefield has completed plans for tendering use of its $50,000 city hall, built in 1930, for a courthouse. Only City Secretary W. G Street remains as a tenant, and his records are in shape where they can be moved quickly should the county commissioners find Littlefield won the election and thus order the county seat removed The Littlefield building would be rented to the county for $1 a year under an offer which was used during the campaign as inducement to move the county seat without facing a resultant bond issue for building a courthouse. It has a jail which has been used by the county since the city hall was built, a courtroom, quarters for the district judge, a jury room and other required-accommadations. It's size is deemed as approximately that of. the courthouse at Olton (It too is "paid for. Members Of Court The commissioners court is composed of H. A. Hysinger of Olton, commissioner of precinct 1; Sam Cearley of Earth, precinct 2, E. C. Ross of Littlefield, precinct 3;- and E. L. Yarbrourh of Amherst, precinct 4. Miss Treva Jennings, county clerk, will act as ex-officio secretary to the court Judge Holt will preside. Judge Holt said only precinct the city of Olton box, had not made returns to court, but, quoting from the law, explained that the box' presiding judge is allowed 10 days by law for making such return. The statute Judge Holt referred ;o rends.-in part that . . . "officers holding the election shall make returns thereof to the authority ordering said election within 10 days after the same is held, who shall then proceed to open said returns and' count the same, and declare the result, which shall be entered upon the records of said commisioners court and shall also state the name of the place from which and the name of the place to which the same is removed; A certified copy of such shall be thereupon be recorded in the proper record deeds of such county. The court had been ready to canvas it's returns last Monday but, could not proceed until precinct 1 made its returns. In Littlefield E A Bills , littlefield  city attorney has  also said that such returns may be made legally within 10 days after elections. Should the Lamb County Commissioners find Littlefield had won the county seat they would enter a order such as described and Judge Holt in compliance with the law would order  Sheriff Sam Hutson of Littlefield to take possession of the records and seals and remove them to Littlefield. It would be incumbent upon him, under the law to determine that the place that such records and seals were housed  would be one that would safeguard such county property; The finality of such a order as the court would enter If Littlefield were found in the canvas to have received two-thirds of the voles is found in another article Judge Holt quoted:  Had Tried Three Times "When, such entry has been made, the county seat, if the election be held to move the county sent from a point more than five miles from the geographical center, to any other point more than five miles from such center, shall be removed to the place receiving the votes of two-thirds of all the electors voting on the subject; and such place shall thereafter be the county seat of such county. Littlefield had tried three times to set the county seat—three times had lost. Olton. off the railroad and estimated its population of 1,000, "naturally feels a keen loss, but has the community spirit and the land resources to carry on," those talked with said, in substance. If the court finds In its canvass that the election was regular in every respect, then the entire county is expected to "pattern it- self accordingly, in the true democratic concept of accepting the majority expression of a free" election." Use of every legal resource to establish and maintain itself as the county seat is an old story hereabouts when Olton set itself to ask for designation of the county seat back in the early part of the century it found it had a competitor even then, Springlake.  And is also found itself with such sparce population that it had difficulty, oldtimers say, in getting the required number of names on a petition to divorce the county from Castro county, to* which Lamb was attached for judicial purposes. The recent election, it was said by Sheriff Sam Hutson of Littlefield, was unreservedly orderly. While it probably was contested more than ever, with the press being used generously as an advertising medium, "there was not oven a serious argument over the question, and the population hit a new high in its sportsmanlike rivalry." The commissioners' court house another piece of business to decide, in event the. election officially goes to Littlefield: what utilization to make of the present courthouse. That decision, like the eventual order of the court, must await the official canvass of election. The 10 days provided by statute before official returns necessarily must be made inferentially were construed as excepting the dale of the election and that of the official canvass. Sunday, March 17, 1946 Lubbock, Texas   SELL STORE AT EARTH  EARTH, Mar. 9. (Special;—J. W. Kelly and sons, owner of a general mercantile store here, have sold their business to J. H. Bomer. living here. Mr. Kelly and his sons have lived here since Earth was started.Morning Avalanche | Lubbock, Texas | Thursday, March 10, 1932