The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-04-13
Personal Remini.cence. OF Tweed.

Mr.. Tweed was singular combination Of
tho grave and gay. the lively and severe. Until
his troubles mastered him and all hope was
dead within him. the gay and lively elements Of
his nature dominated the rest. After that he
gave way to melancholy. and found no pleasure
in the companionship OF those who in other
days had ministered to his appetite for fun and
folly. His acquaintance was extensive. and
ranged from the President to the doorman.
from preacher to prodigal. II made no differ
ence to Tweed. when in his better moods.
whether he met the one or the other He had
kind word. pleasant smile. an encouraging
shake OF the hand. and an open palm for the
high and the low ndiscriminately. Men who
knew him well did not regard him good
Judge of character. He was almost invariably
deceived in his acquaintances. and 1t would be
difficult to name any i've. in all his large circle
Of intlmatss. who mad not in some way taken
advantage Of his Weaknesses
In business engagements Mr. Tweed was
punctuality personiiied. He prided himself on
the validity OF his word, and was never more
pleased than when men said: " | have Tweeds
word. and that's enough In spite OF his rigid
regard for punctualty, he rarely made formal
memoranda. He conducted most important me-
gotations involving thousands of dollars.
transfers and obligations. Of which the only
records Were notes made on stray hits of paper
placed carelrssly in his. pocket or On his desk.
In his intercourse with \. Oakley Hall Peter b.
Sweeny. John T. Hoffman. Richard B. Connolly
Judge Dowling. Judge Barnard. Judge Bedford,
james watson. ana other men proinnent IN
their lines IN the duvs Of his power. Mr.. Tweed
plainly indicated hls feelings toward each. for
he was no hypocrite. and never pretended In he
other than he was. morally and socially He
WAS fond OF Mayor Hall. and always rhatted
pleasantly with him. His elephautinc efforts at
wit %rrS nr S2ySH IN, ana rgeFySs & iSr h. yer
spade. He said: Halls all right. All he needs
is ballast. II Oakley had had ballast enough 10
hold him down in the District Attorneys chair.
he would have become "a great man in time.
Now he won't. Politics are too deep for him.
They are for, mo. and can wade long after
Oakley has To float. He's light-headed."
When asked II he seriously thought Of max
ing Mr Hal, GoyfrnGy Of i1e nh, state he lauGh,Ed
make Tilden Governor, Not that Oakley
wouldn't be a good ,emugh flgnre,he but i
he'd be sure to 70 off d haf;cocked Just when he
ought TO be ms mum as !. ghost
,ras When The PT@seGuiion P Of Mr. Hal! was
He always insisted that no square Jury could
convict him; hut" " said he, with atwinkle in
He had great respect Tor Peter B. Swecny ms
is a devil Of n fellow for management He gets
fix things In half the time. hat 1t costs like the
devil. Peters way Is the best way il you have
plenty of time, but half an hour before "A votes
taken my hand is the heavier of the two" He
dislikcl 10 call On Sweeny AT his office in the
"a
or rather he felt that Mr.. Swreny was looking
him over and through, and he much preferred
the rQllrkng license of his own apartments
over the Broadway Bank whore ha could throw
of the dignitirs and indulge in all the freedom
of speech he desired. AT one time It was freely
circulated in inside circles that both the Squire
and the Boss-Swerny and Tweed-had Srnn-
toral ambitions when Mr.. Swecnv was spoken
TO- he said hr had Thought itwould he plrnsant
to spend u winter in Washington. hut as yet he
had not engaged rooms there Tweed. on the
other hqnd said III ! wanted to - 10 the
Senate ! a 20; hut what for | can't talk and
| know il. As To spending my time in hearing
u lot of snoolers discuss the turin and the par
tirulars Of contract 10 carry the mails from
lHducah I" Schoharie, don't think I'm doing
that Just now.
Bu-ynodics frequently carried tales to and
from Tweed and Swrrny, but Ia no good end.
50 long IL they worked together. they worked
tpgefher. and ea'h had implicit confidence in the
other Tweed suggested once to Swepny To-
send Jim Sweeny to him whenever he heard
any OF these stories. but Peter B. laughed. and
said ho thought they could afford to wait until
For Connolly. Tweed entertained supreme
contempt II used To- CRATE on him when his
friends or agents were compelled to pay tribute
10 Connolly or his son. or some of the leechcs
that surrounded them, or else to wait for their
money On one occasion Il city creditor np-
pralcd to Tweed TO use his influence with Con-
molly to have his hill paid.
rs j. rignti' asked Tweed.
Have YOU nsked for t?"
Twenty times. and | can get It less twenty
Tweed looked at him minute and then hur-
riedly wrote as follows:
DtAR ntcK. For Gods sake nay -'s hill lie tells me
your woplo ash twenty percent The whole d-d thing
Isn't but Sl,loO II you don't pay II Will rhnc.
WILLIAM rwttp.
The creditor got his money in fun.
In Connoly's once Tweed WIS ns hrusuue
and indgprnd"nt ms in his own. H. car"d
nothing for him personally although they were
intimate and addressed ca'n other Hmilarly.
Tweed nad fund OF stories not found IN lahn-
lals. He rarely told one in the Chamhrrlains
on'c; but II the walls in the Comptrollrrs
Office. those Df the llttle uSal Iy Sur
rogate Calvin, could ana would speak. they
would astonsh the hcarer more than any
phonograph could, It is well known that Wat
son, tho County Auditor. secured a tremendous
hold on Connolly. In fact, he manipulated the
entire machincry Of the Comptrollershp. and
ruled the Comptroller with u rod of iron One
day little Townsend Connolly had been up to
some Of his twenty per cent: tricks. in which he
Was aided and abetted by Watson A friend OF
every particular. and had passed the scrutiny
OF all the departments. 1t waited simply for a