Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1885-12-05
PENNSYLVANIA BOSSES.
Sketches Of Matt. Quay and Chris.
BEagee the two Republican Lead
ers of the State.

ers OF the State.
[caFp In tie Cleveland Leader
A leading Pennsy ivania Congressman
gives me some Interesting gossip about the
Senator from Pennsylvania VIII be- in al
probability, Matthew Stanley Qnay. Quay
has been a leader IN Pennsylvania Politics
Tor nlany years, first Is Z lieutenant under
Cameron. and lateF on his own hook. he
comes from Beaver, d quiet little country
town about twenty eight miles below Pitts
bnrEh in the western part OF tho State. the
population OF Beaver is INSIDE mp Of retired
farmers and easy gcing business men, ami
IL IS 50 quiet fnar it has been dubbed the
Ssinte' Rest Of Psnnsy lyahia.s Matt. Quay
has a fne house there aud a pleasant family
Among his children there IS boy whom he
has named after Gov. Curtin, and w hom he
always calls Curtin when be speaks TO him.
This boy is now aE West Point.
'sCurtin and Qaav are great friends, and it
was through Gov. Curtin that Quay FIRST en-
tered politics. He acted as Curtin's private
secretary while be was Governor Of Pennsyl-
vania. At this time Simon Cameron and
Gov. Curtin were close friends. They were
both big nen-roo big TO work together in
the same etate, and during Curtin's last
term as Governor OF the State old Simon
Cameron began to oppose him secretly.
Curtin was the greatest Governor, perhaps,
thar Pennsylvania ever had. At about the
close OF his term a proposition was intro-
duced into the Legislature to compliments
him upon his distinguished administration,
saying that 1t wSs credit 70 the State. ST.
mon Cameron, while noIninally Curtin's
friend, went about quietly to his friends
among the legislators ana asked them to vote
against this proposition. Curtin heard of
This. and IL was probably the beginning of
the quarrel between them 1t resulted,
eventually, in Curt;a being driven from the
party.
'.Quay wes then found among the Cam
eron men. They discovered that he was a
good politician, and he soon became the sub
lieutenant of Boo Maclsy, of Pittsburgh
who was the Cameron manager, aud vne
was one OF the ables5 politicians of Pennsyl-
yanla. Mackey was remarkable man.
He could settle disputes better than aay enc
/ nave ever known. Es would cross the
stats IL q night, talk with the troublesome
factions, and vvi5hin q few hours every thing
would be moviHg quietly. His Hsthods
may have Eeen question: ble, but they were
always successful. II was under this man
that Matt Quay got his political training,
and when MGckey died. about decade ago,
Quay succeeded TO bis positiSn as chief man
ager for the Csmsrens.n
''Matthew Quay is now about forty-five
years of age, ~ continued the Congressman
''Hs is & short, refund nan, with plump,
round face, which fairly beams with good
nature. His complexion is fair, and his
eyes are blue and as laughing - these of
girl at her nrst dance. he mas q handsome
face, or one that would be handsome if it
were not affected by high living. His color
is more that made by champagne than by
Liebig's beef extract, and he eats too much
and exercises too little. Quay is s. curious
fellow. he likes TO go eli by himself, and
he spends great deal of his time at Atlantic
City. There he is known as ths lone fishe--
man, and hs spends days and days sitting
all alone In boat some distance out at ssa
trolling for blue ASA. He Is now tbs State
Treasurer OF Pennsylvania. The present
Legislature ars the creatures of his choice,
TO large extent, and if he can produce the
same sort of a BODY for their successors he
will be our next United States Senator. -
''Has Quay no eneniase'
eyes his chief composition for the leader
ship of the party is Chris Magee, of Pitts
burgh. All the tins that Quay was grow
ing up as Aackey's lieutenant and as Cam
srun's leader, Msgee was developing himself
in Pittsburgh. In time Quay, from his
many visits to Philadelphia and living at
Atlantic City during The summer, came TO
be looked upon as q politician rather of the
East than Of the " est, and Magee finally
became the leader of the western part of the
State.
"Magee first appeared as a ward politician
ia Pittsburgh, and ne was afterwards elected
FireSCommissioner there. For the last three
or four years Quay has been q sort of
standStil, and Aages has been growing.
His strength has extended here ard there
over the State, and, much 10 Qusy's sur
prise, he sprung a candidate fer State Tre2s-
urer a. the election a ysax- or two ago. and
elected bin over Quhy's candidate. This
resulted in quarrel between Quay and Ma
zee, but Magse showed his siren gtn in elect
ing James l., Graham for Speaker OF thu
last Legislature, ana he had absolute con-
troi over that Legislature. In the mean
time the CaElsrons, seeing that Magee had
gained such a hold over the State, rather
dropped Quay ana took up Magee. -
''Ihese bosses IN Pennsylvania ara curious
fellows, " the Congressman went on. Here
tofore they had ruled the State through
others. While QuRy's man was Treasurer IN
name, Quay was Treasurer in fact, aud it
was Ihe sane with Magse as to the various
defeat at the last Legislature he went
OF to his tent and suiked. He Thought how
be could elrcumvent Aagee, and decided 10
do SO by coming out as candidats himself
He would stake MIS- own personal popularity
against that of any man that Magee could
put up. he became b candidate for State
Treasurer, New, many OF Magee's friends
were Quay's friends. They would vote for
Magee's man as against any Quay man who
was put up, but hen Quay himself came
ana asked Uhen as personal favor to vote
for blHS they could not refusa, The result
was that Quay was elected. He thus got
back his grip, and at the election of tbs
Legislature MS friends controlled it'll
Tell me now Chris Magee locks, - said /.
'Chris Magee,' was the reply, sis one of
the handsomesu nlea in Pennsylvania. He
is = tail, bread heuldersd, dark haired
young man, with form as erect as that of
an Indian chief aud = walk as elastic as thEs
OF an athlete. dis chest measures fully 80
inches, and he throws it well 10 the front
He has good head, dark hair and eyes, and
= heavy, dark mustachs. he is a hard
working politician, and he never drinks n
drop, though ne is often up all night and
about saloons continuously during q big
campaign. He is worth from $3.50, 600 to
$500, 900, and the most of this he has made
in politics. He is the President of q street.
railroad in Pittsburgh and has other inter
estS there. | don't know that lac wants to
go to the Unitsd States Senate himself, nor
that he will be a cAndldats against Quay"
Does Simon CamsroH srill engage In poli-
tiesl'.
Eyes, but eniy as an adviser When the
party gets into tight snap they always
come 70 MIN. he still dictates the policy OF
tas Republican party, and his brain is as
bright and clear as whsa he managed the
whole machine. lie lives al Harrisburg, and
GENES down TO Philadelphia occasionally.
There be always stops at the Girard House,
nRd never leafs about the hotel Hobbies. The
landlord gives him q seat at the FIRE in his
private room on the efice haor and he
spends his time there or IL his own ROOM
He does not like to be interviewed on current
political topics, but hs will talk most inter
sstingly about Ehs olden time. One Of his
greatest Newspaper friends IL Erask Burr,
aRd Ssnasor Cameron has, il is said, chosen
him for his biographer, and intends TO leave
hiR his papers"
1.-TWO Looks and a Hoot,"
New York SUM-
"Devn in North Carolina, where live"
IS a..