Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1884-10-11
TWEED AND HIS TIMES.
Both Conc the Way Of All Earth.

TWEED AND HIS TIMES.
Both Conc the Way Of All Earth.
| OLD "wnAr- ARE YOU GoING-To- Do-ABoUT-IT
soN'-FLUsH. HAPPY, CARELESS
| From the New York Herald
The quiet transfer of all that was mortal Of
| the late Richard Tweed to the calm seclusion OF
Greenwood is about as complete an antithesis
| to what would have been some years ago as can
be imagined. The difference between the then
and the now is something enormous In those
| days, when our foremost citizens suggested the
erection of statue in honor of the Boss, when
the Americas club sported is tiger heads with
| diamond eyes, when champagne sparkled In
"everybody's" glass, the funeral cortege of the
humbest Tweed would have shown the dimen-
| siOns of a procession. young Dick" Tweed
was not bad sort of fellow. He was short,
| quiet. self-cOnrained, a man of affairs, and, in
| the words of his well-pleased father. s'the
| smartest business man of the lot" He was a
| favorite with his father and in the household as
well, fact known and utilized by the scoun-
| drels and suckers of the time, who sought to
| curry favor with the "Old man. by showing
| courtesy and attention to the young one
| When the temptations of that unique era are
recalled. it seems amazing that any one of the
many connected with the 'Big Four escaped a
fall with multitude landing. in Sing Sing. 1t
|
nobody, big or little high or low, was ever sent
| to prison at all, or punished in any civic way.
| except Tweed himself, and he on a mere techni-
cal disobedience Of a strained clause in law
| affecting the mOdus Operandi of certain board
| or commission.
Where are the men who knew Dick Tweed?
Where the ring jeweler the ring stabeman,
| the ring club houses, the ring diamond broker
and the ring places of satuFnalia?
Whe remembers the place where the "stable
q mppf2 iS vhodx
| the face Ofthe earth who can tell what that no.
| torious organization was?
1t was said somewhat recently that Dick
Tweed was lawyer, but that was an error. His
| elder brother, William Marcy Tweed, jr.. was
lawyer. and figured awhile as an assistant dis
trict attorney. He was also brigadier general
| ON Gen. HOifnans staff. but he was less of a
man than his younger brother, and his willy
| father rarely If ever intrusted him with business
| or manipHiations. 1t would be difficult to show
to the present generation of readers full
length picture of the revery of those DAYS of fat
things. The Erie directory was filled with gay
ana festive members OF the ruling party. and
speculation in that unfortunate stock was a
daily practice of all our high officials Boss
Tweed was in it up to his eyes. So were his
ring companions and subordnates, with whom
Jay Gould and jim Fisk were cheek by jowl 1t
was great year for the gang At that time
young Dick was full OF life and fire. and fond of
the good things to be had for cash and favor
he mad his day in that kind Of court to the full
but his common sense led him to hide what his
less gifted brethren defantly flung before the
eyes of an amazed and outraged public
When the hoof IF Watson's horse knocked out
the brains ofthe rings right hand man there
was CONSERVATION in the camp. Had that ras-
caly clerk remained at home that day the little
red book might not have been found in years;
acd ring rule might have been perpetuated I'M
til now.
Even the new county court house" wonld,
perhaps. be yet unfinished. That wonderful
house that "Bl' built is historic in the land,
but it was pointed out yesterday by an intelli-
ney"
But to proceed. When young Dick" was
young Dick his father was an humble chair
maker. When young Dick first doomed up in
the public eye at a ball Of the Americas club
MS father was brgand millionaire and all his
connections flOated in a sea of gold. The Won
dertul ieg OF Miss kilmannsegg was nothing to
1t. and the marvels of the diamond wedding
sank into absolute insigniffcance by side of the
solid facts of the Tweed regime. In those
halcyon days DelmoncO kept open house at the
corner OF Chambers street and Broadway Good
old Siro sat or stood in the doorway dveing his
mustache and discOloring his fingers with cigar
cite smoke The cafe was filed all day with
heeiers from the city hail. Whewl how they
smoked! My! how they drank! Gracious! how
their diamonds flashed! Goconda's most prolific
womb was played out chimney to it.
There are lew rooms up stairs beside the great
seen supreme court judges. the surrogate. high
oiiiciais and men of political eminence smoking,
drinking, full of champagne and harity. In
the great restaurant sat men of note.
What made them SO?
Cash.
Where did they get it?
From the ring,
The ring was good to the boys. Poor dead
and gone Charley Delmonico used to stand i'm
the good old days with quiet smile On his OBJ
nd Innly n fn;f Il
amaZement. Who are these in bright array
THIS lnnumerable thrOng, at the counter night
and day. singing one eternal song? And that
was! Champagne and diamonds. That was the
burden OF the song here. there. everywhere.
Where are they now?
Some in Greenwood, some dead across the
ocean. some fugitives in foreign lands all dis |
graced and all forgotten.
Forgotten?
Certainly. VINO would recall them TODAY
had not the arrival of one Of their dead brought
them for moment only to the front again? |
Those were queer days Half dozen men had
box in nearly every leading theater What |
for-to see the play? Not at ALTO discuss.
consult and divvy. One of them had secret |
passage from theater box to back door of |
house on another street. What for-conven- |
fence? Oh. no. At first it was whim, but |
later on it was used by the servant who stole |
the books of a great corporation. What disco- |
sures those days brought out! The mansions
uptown. solid outside, sumptuOus inside. What |
for-hoines? Not at all-wOmen and suppers |
The Crates in the courts! What for-aid and |
comfort! Bless you, motor dividends. The |
great ciub-houses out of town! For what-rest
and recreation? Not much-for orgies and hur- |
random.
Then came the horse with his hoof and after
that the end. The old man was bullied. cowed,
badgered. He was driven from pillar to post |
The judges he made condemned him. The men
he made rich ignored him. The women he
poured wealth upon turned their backs on him. |
The politicians he spawned upbraided him. The |
capitalists forgot to put up his statue. His fam
n.y.. wife, William. Jr., and young Dick, went
into exile.
Two of them only are back tO-day-William.
Jr, with the dead body of young Dick"
OUR MAsY'S ROLLING err.