Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-04-06
LIFE IN THE METROPOLIS,
UPERINTENDENT WALIINGS
UNFITNEss FOR HIS PLACE.

CVFNeoNOFS1cfscc
NEW YORK, April 5.-It required bU
two short sessions Of the Roosevelt invesl
eating committee to prove Superintendent
Waaing, the Republican Chief of Police
to be unfit for the position he occupies
SO manifestly incapable did he show him
self to BE that Commissioner French, tn
Republican President of the Police De
partmene, felt called ppon to acknowledg,
to the committee that advancing age anC
domestic afhictiOn had been for some TINT
known to have affected his faculties. IL
Mr.. RooseveIts question in answer te
| thls, demanding why person maffIfestIy
lncapacitated had been permitted TO re.
main at the head of the police force. the
! commissioner replied that Nr. WaIlfav's
cOndltlon had not been fully realized until
his appearance before the committee.
The truth is that Mr.. Walling was
never fit to be Superintendent of Police.
Although he is not the man he was, his
! continuance in office is not mush greater
mistake than his appointment. l do not
! ike to say this, for I know the old man
! and am sorry for him. but Wha6 he told
several newspaper men last week shows
that. in his best days he was not fit for
the office he occupied Speaking of the
alleged table-tipping OF the granddaughter
he said that he knew from his own ex-
perlenee all ''manifestatiOns'' to be a
''delusiOn and a snare"
NV hen Charlie Ross was abducted. ,, he
continued, ''and afterwards. when
| Stewards body was stolen, was induced
to consult what are called mediums. l
presume L did so more than fifty times.
and IN every case it proved a shaml'
He went on to explain that, in no in
stance, had he attended a seance beIieV-
ing that any practical good was 20 be got
out OF 1t, but that he was persuaded into
going by persons who did believe. Now.
accepting his explanation, a man who is
so weak as to from good nature lend his
countenance to what he believed to be an
Imposture is certainly not worth salary
OF $6,OOO year, and never was, for these
nifty seances were attended by him several
years ago, before age had told upon him.
What spectacle must have been pre-
sented when the Chief of Police of the
great city of New York went about con-
sult1ng transparent impOstors for the pur-
pose of obtaining clues for his detectiyesl
The Police Commissioners have not as yet
acted on their recent discovery that their
superintendent is superannuated, but
Mr.. Walling has sold his house, which
looks as If he meant to retire himself and
go back to New Jersey where he came
from.
Commissioner French, better known as
"SteYe." who, with Johnny O'Brien and
the "Barneys" and the ''Mikes," is one of
President Arthur's best pals when
"Chet" is in town. did not give
such high-toned testimony before
the Roosevelt committee as to permit
him to cast stone at poor Walling.
Like the latter, he acknowledged that
what he didn't know about the duties of
his office was liberal education. He
said, too, that he didn't know things
which he couldn't help knowing, For
instance, he gravely told the committee
that he did not know whether 'sTeny
Allaire, Captain of the Eldridge street
police, was Democrat or Re
publicanW Now he only lied when he
said this, but the committee knew he was
lying. Capt. Allaire is nOtoriously a Re-
publican of the Republicans, and belongs
to the 'deestrict" in which Johnny
O'Brien is paramOnt. Why did Commits
sioner French tell such palpable false
hoodG Because presentments were made
by the grand jury against both Allaire
and Capt. Williams. another Republican,
for conniving at the crime and vice
which 1t was their duty to suppress, and
the Police Commissioners WhiteWashed
them as reward for their services to the
grand old party. By denying any know
ledge of Capt. Allaire's political afiIia-
tions, Mr.. French evaded by anticipation
the awkward questions which the COM
mittee evidently intended to ask him.
If the Roosevelt Committee condnct an
honest investigation of the departments
In the big building in Mulberry street, in
cludIng the Election Bureau, of which
Johnny O'Brien is chief, and the Repub-
llcan Health Department, it will, as
l nave said In previous letters, unearth
far more corruption than has yet been
discovered. The incapacity shown by
the Republican head of the Police De-
partment, however, may so disconcert
the Republican majority in the Legisla-
ture that Mr.. RooseYelts committee may
be prohibited from continuing their work
THERE ARE TRICKS IN ALL TRADES
but ours" said Prof. Mcclellan, instruc-
tor of many of the gilded youth of the
metropolis, including Fred. Gebhardt. in
the noble art Of self-defense, when / was
in his place at Fifty-third street and First
avenue the other evening. His remark
was apropos of an immense dumb-beIl
filled with plates of iron so arranged that
they can be removed in whole or in part.
and the mu scle-developer made to weigh
anywhere from 81 to 100 pounds. MANY a
trick has that deceitful dumb-bell played
on the unsophisticated. and many a 'ajob''
has been put up' by it's means. Again
and again has the unfortunate dude. who.
believing that it weighed in the neighbor,
hood of 100 pounds, bet his feather weight
companion that he could not lift it, found
himself sheep in the hands of the
shearer! His surprise at the ease with
which the dumb-bell was lifted has been
only equaled by his disgust when he dis
covered by lifting it himself that it had
been "dOctored."
Poor John Mccullough, big and burly
as he is, could not lift that dumb bell inst
now even with it reduced to its lowest
mi IL 10 IL.
laria that it was with the utmost diff
Guilty he was able TO play out his engage
ment at the Star Theatre. which ended
with last week, and it would have been
better for his reputation il he had not
tried to do so. he was so weak at times
that he was obliged to sit when he should
have been standing. and his voice at
many OF the later performances could not
be heard distinctly at comparatively
short distance from the stage. His act
ing was not only deprived Of all its power,
but his condition on one occasion, il not
more, was aseribed by the uncharitable
to intoXicatiOn. and his reputation has
thus dOubly suffered.
Irving, or rather his company, is meet
ing with more favor at the same theatre
than last autumn when the charm OF en-
tire novelty surrounded both. While his
personation of "Benediek'i is omen to
criticism, it is conceded that no such rem
dering of "Much Ado about Nothing'' was
ever seen on the American stage, while
Miss Terry as Beatrice is more than
charming. The temperance Of the Irv-
ing company is the theatrical event of the
week, for the plays at the other theatres
have neither the merit of novelty or of in
| terest.
IHEAR THAT WILLARD HAS BEEN sPECU
EATING =
with success lately, and is a richer man
by about a~quarter Of a million dollars
than he was month ago. How he man.
aged to make single dollar in the present
state of the market is mystery. Ii true
! he has doubtless ceased to call the mag
I nifcent house in Madison avenue which
once belonged to him his mausOleum. as
4 he did Immediately after his failure, when
/ he was so troubled with insomnia shat he
| passed entire nights without sleeping.
1t is almOst too ridiculous to be true.
! and have not had time to verify il. but a
/ person who claims TO know assures me
/ that prayers are daily offered to Queen
/ Victoria In st. johns Episcopal Church.
which belongs to Trinity parish. Of which
| DIR. DIX is the head.
! Perhaps you will consider this state
ment all the more prepOsterous when |
/ tell you that the same person who made
It has outlined the following pleasing po-
| litical programme, Arthur is to be the
| Republican Presidential candidate, and
will be elected by means Of the electoral
| vote of New York which will hacop,o hic