Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-01-25


edge of pincushion proving a talisman
of good fortune was communicated to me
the other day by Inspector EsterbrOOk,
Chief of the Building Bureau. The In
spector is a Scotchman by birth, and al
though he came to this country when
quite young, he still speaks with very
broad accent. He has, too, one peculiar
ity of speech which is more English than
Scotch. He suffers from what Richard
Grant White calls ''the ii malady;'' in 9TH |
er words, he drops his his nearly as badly /
as a cockney. He began life at 16 as a
carver, but became carpenter year
later, and being a good workman he |
speedily got employment enough 0 ena- /
bic him 10 accumulate sufficient money
before long to set up for himself as a
builder on small scale.
While he was still only nOminally |
builder, having nothing as yet to build, |
he was called upon to make desk iOr a |
Wall street magnate. His employer |
gave him directions to make a cOmpart- !
ment in one of the drawers for a pincush- |
ion. EsterbrOOk, who was always thor !
ough in everything he undertook, resoly- |
ed, although it was not down in the bond, |
to supply the pincushiOn as well as the |
pincushiOn compartment. Accordingly
he directed his wife to buy choice mate |
rial and make the best pincushion her
eye could devise and her hand execute. |
Mrs. Esterbrook was equal to the emer-
gency, and she made a pincushiOn that
was thing of beauty. When, therefore,
her husband delivered the desk, there lay
the gorgeous pincushi0n in the cOmpart-
ment made for it.
Mr.. Esterbrook's employers fancy was
so struck by this attention to detail that
he kept his eye on the rising young car
penter, and put work in his way. Ester
od oooh OnnOrf11nifU that no.
came his, and when his pincushion patron
offered him contract to build quarter
of a million dollar dwelling, he was able
to undertake 1t. He built the house with
the same thOrOughness that he had shown
in constructing the desk that was to con-
tain the pincushion, and he met with a
similar reward. From the same source
he got orders for two other comparatively
costly houses, and the reputation which
these jobs obtained him procured him
other contracts, so that when consider
ably under 80 he was enabled to retire
from business with a competency. The
pincushiOn had made his fortune
1t would not have done so, to be sure, if
he had not built his houses for posterity.
There was no sham work in all that he
did, and he deserved the success that he
achieved. AS inspector of buildings he
has tried to make the average New York
contractor build with the thOrOughness
that characterized his own work, but he
has found it easier to build well than to
make others do so. The law does not give
him power to compel the erection of only
Well-constructed buildings. He can only
interfere when provisions necessary for
ordinary stability are ignored, and he is,
besides, hampered by the political in
f1uences which form the dry rot of New
York institutions, A contractor who has
pulp and "infiOOence" can erect sham
structure which clearly violates the spirit
if not the letter of the law, ana Mr.. Ester
brook will be unable to prevent him.
In spirit Of false economy, too, the in
spector's corps Of building examiners has
been cut down, and his power for good is
cOrrespOndingly curtail d. This, however,
was not so much economy as the result of
the dry rot just mentioned. The force
of clerks in the Building Bureau is really
larger than is necessary, and could have
easily been diminished without detriment
to the work of the department, but as
nearly all owe their positions to ''inflOO-
ence" they were not disturbed, and the
examiners suffered in their place. In
spectOr EsterbroOk has been forced to the
point of resigning by the difficulties which
have been thrown into his path. Indeed,
his resignation is already written, al
though it has not been handed in. He
may, therefore, not willing to be idle, 90
back to building again. His plncushiOn
patron has not yet forgotten him, as was
shown by his bringing him little present
in the shape of Il handsome pOcketbOOk
when he returned from Paris the other
day, and would doubtless procure for him
plenty of work. Not that ne would need
his aid, however.
THE sPAsMODIC EFFORT THAT Is PERIOD
ICALLY MADE
to enforce the law prohibiting the sale of
liquor on Sundays has been in progress
here the past three weeks, and bids fair
to continue this time much longer than
usual. Police Commissioner Fitz John
Porter, who lnaugurated it, seems deter
mined to make liquor selling on Sunday
OdiOus, if he can do no more, and he is de-
termined, if he cannot prohibit the sale,
to surround it with so many difficulties
as to diminish the profits. There is much
virtue in that eff" for although many
saloons no longer keep open on Sunday
for the time being, the vast majority con-
tinue to defy the police and the law.
Eternal vigilance, however, is the price
of their defiance. They are obliged to en-
plOy watchers on the outside of their
premises who admit none that they do
not know, and these sentineIs have not
only to be paid, but this system of eXclu-
sion results III sending away SO many
more customers than are admitted, that
it is doubtful whether the game is worth
the candle. Sometimes, too, the watchers
make a mistake and admit the wrong
man, and arrest follows.
The way of the Sunday liquor seller is
temporarily made so hard that saloon
Keepers who have hitherto paid no regard
to the law, now not only close their places
but leave their curtains up so that it can
be seen that no one is inside. A city
ordinance requires this in Brooklyn, but
New York is not likely to have such a
Jpi mol law for inn tn
the present board Of Aldermen, like its |
predecessor, is largely composed Of saloon
keepers. 1t is very different with the |
hotels, however. By constituting every
customer guest" ard having him sit |
down to table, in place of standing at |
the bar when being served, they are able |
to evade the law with impunitv.
Funny enough the present effort of the |
police to prevent liquor selling on Sunday |
Is aided and abetted by an association Of |
liquor sellers, who declare that they want |
the law rigidly enforced, and 90 about |
collecting evidence against those who in .
fringe it. Their purpose is to make liquor |
selling on Sunday OdiOus, but with diff
ieTent view from that of Gen. Porter |
They hope that the enforcement of the
law will secure its destruction by act of
legislation resulting from the indignation
of an outraged and thirsty community.
Inspector Byrnes' raid on the gamblers
on Tuesday night was also inspired by
Commissioner Porter, who is performing
the part of the new broom that sweeps
clean. 1t is two years since the last raid
was made, and it will probably be two
years more before there is another, al
though there may be a few sequels to
Tuesdays attack.
THE CHOICE OF MIR. EVARTs AS SENATOR
seems to meet with general acceptance.
Although an accessory before the fact in
the Presidential steal of 1876, and
sharer in the spoil afterwards, not to
speak OF his close communion with cor
porations, he is so much more able a
man than Mr.. Morton that even Demo-
Gratis are contented with seeing him
Senator. He is, after all, no more of
partisan than his defeated rival, and his
intellectual attainments are such that
New York will no longer have so much
reason to blush for her representation in
the United States Senate. d,
OF EARTHQUAKES.
How They Would Affect a Darkey,s
Chances for Catching Chickens.
Chicago Herald.