The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-04-05

cent courage could be handed to no success
sor. and Kinsella'S pen, not, perhaps, quite
fine enough in point, but destructive as
broadswOrd was made for no other fingers.
1t is as sure that Mclaughlin is the last Of
his line as that Plymouth will echo no more
of the thunderings of the Titan of the
church. His scepter will be buried with
him for the same reason that the Lord of
Luna's blade grew rusty after he fell like a
thunder-smitten oak on Mount Avernus:
"And in his hand he held the brand,
Which none but he could WELD"
The arbiter of the democratic destinies of
Brooklyn is worth looking at as he stands on
the stoop of an auction room noJ far from
the city hall. From beneath the shadows Of
a pair of shaggy brows he glances at the
passers by. His prime has been protracted,
and the sun of his strength has even now
scarcely begun to set. The face, almost
literally without mobility, is scarcely in
vitlng. His nose was never classic. Its
massive bridge has been thrust just notice
ably aside from the perpendicular, diver
sion dating back to the times when Brook
lyn primary without fight was regarded
as a monotonous and commonplace affair.
His gray eyes dance to the music of few
emotions. They are steady, cold searching
and not unusually brilliant. If they were
ever passionate the fire has disappeared with
the fuel of youth. They share with the
distinction of contributing to an expression
quite cynical. Other characteristics speak
plainly enough for themselves. They in
clude heavy jaws, square and spreading
shoulders, brawny hands, a forehead high
but not expansive. and neck thick enough
for any purposes and thicker than most de-
mand. Out of a thousand Brooklyn voters
nine hundred and ninety mine regard him as
despot pure and simple. His authority is
looked upon as a solute. To fly in the face
of his decree is to invite political death.
He is credited with determining for whom
about $4,000 democrats shall have the
privilege of voting The more such dom.
ination of single will is pondered the more
staggering it becomes. There Is not club
room in Brooklyn in which McLaughliu's
name fails to provoke constant discussion.
Democrats, with few exceptions, and re-
publicans with fewer, regard him as mys-
terry Attempts at the solution of the
problem have been made in probably every
household III the city. Those who have
striyen and those who strive to account for
his supremacy; for the art which gained
and the ability which holds it have almost
invariably ended where they began-in I'M
certainty, on the wrong track.
Two or three times he has gone through
the pantomime Of retirement 1T looks
like rain" he remarked, with grim humor,
on one OCCASION 81 think | will go in" He
ballots and republican mayor, but the at
mosphere soon began to clear and Nc
Laugnlln came out again. In six months
he was whiting a stick on the auction
room stoop and in six months more his ad-
yersarleS were impaled upon its point
The truth is that he is the peculiar growth
OF most peculiar conditions. All That he
learned at school could be written on a boys
slae, and even then there would be nothing
to be rubbed off. He may be said to have
had literally no education. He takes posi-
tive pride in the fac that in his early days
he sold fish for living and that little
later on he was navy yard laborer.
Though he now lives on the nights, which
Is IN the core of Brooklyn's fashionable
heart, Mrs. Mclaughlin often listens to this:
All right mother; have things as nice as
you can, but don't forget the old fish stand"
Ills concessions to Llndley Murray when
they are made are accidental, and four
rounds for scientific points" entertain him
infinitely more than anything but political
combinations, horse racing perhaps ex-
cepted.
Habit and inclination have undergone no
change and brown stone front surroundings
nave smoothed off none of the edges. Sucn
instincts are often the legitimate prey of
superstltlons, and Mclaughlin is at home in
It's very jaws. He holds Friday a bad day
Tor beginnings Investing all sorts of
nihcance, as the case may be, no provoca-
uon could lead him in directions which
seem to him calculated, as he would put it,
10 spoil his luck" Enough has been said
10 afford some idea of the quality of his in
tellgence but back of it there is that which
Is not easy of description. 1t is what may
Ds called In the absence of better term he
force" OF the man. 1t is so much a part of
ms integral individuality that its assertion
Is natural with him. Men draw upon their
resources In proportion to the emergencies
.uey are called upon to encounter. They
make supreme efforts at supreme moments.
HclIaughln's force" seems to be part Of
MS lmpslpable fiber. 1t gives an impulse to
al he says aud does. He does not seem to
nave TO draw upon it, it is there at all times
Not bcing of the same family as obstinacy
u serves all its good purposes and avoids
99early all its plumbers. 1t keeps him from
uasnlng full tilt against a stone wall and yet
carries him over fences high enough to
snake the nerve Of a reckless rider. Those
"no engage Ia a passage-at-arms with him
stumble across prodigious tenacity Of pur-
pose almost Immediately. To the end IN
view everything else is subordinate He
sees II not only clearly, but turns his gray
eyes on nothing else. Bitter humiiations for
ssolhe or his friends and bitterer humliations
aor ms Toes are, of course, inevitable. They
are alke regarded as mere contributions to
'ue main design He holds relentlessly that
''The rule
Jt many isnoa well. One must be chief
~ war, and one is king"
Under the Juggernaut of his authority
RIIucal lives are merciessly sacrificed
ne car has deviated once or twice. not be-
N~u'e aus driver softened, but SO that its