The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-04-03

sui fresh In the puDnc memory. 1ndeea,
they are still in progress. In their cases it is
hard to find one redeeming feature; they
were for the most part coarse and thick
skinned politicians of the New York city
type, men to whom the disgrace is but trifle.
And still their story is saddening. OF the
guilty aldermen Arthur ]. McQuade, Henry
w. Jaehne and John J. O'Neill are in Sing
Sing prison for long terms; Charles Dempsey,
Sayles, De Lacy and Rothman are exiles;
Ludolph A Fullgraff, Michael Duffy and
Waite, ''informers," are in very private life;
Francis McCabe is in a lunatic asylum; Ken
ney and Mclaughlin are dead, while Cleary,
Farley, Finck, Kirk, Miller, Pearson, Reilly,
Shells and Wendell are waiting on the slow
processes of the courts, with increasing
chances of joining their three colleagues in
Sing Sing. And Jacob Sharp, their original
Mephistopheles, is dead The list reads like
one Of the rolls of Nemesis or an extract from
the records of Tartarus
A CURIOUS STORY
The story is from beginning to end a very
curious one, and, though told by bits in the
papers, will bear repetition on a few points
The value of franchise to lay railway on
Broadway was so evident that many schemes
have been proposed for many years. A. T.
Stewart offered to pay round million for
the privilege An elevated iron street and
promenade was suggested and a company
formed to construct it, the object being to
run steam cars on the street below. Still an
other company conceived the plan of an
underground or arcade railroad. A portion
of the tunnel for this was excavated under
Broadway at Worth street. This tunnel,
some three hundred feet long, is still there.
1t is used for storage purposes, and at one
time served very well an inventor, who day
after day tested patent gun of marvellous
destructive power"
But with all the cunning that men possess
10 practical scheme that ended successfully
is to execution was devised until few men,
by means of alleged bribery, secured the
passage of what is generally termed the
Broadway railway bill
Governor Cleveland vetoed the first bill, the
marks of fraud being apparent; then the
projectors tried a scheme very common in
the United States, by which general bills,
very innocent in appearance, conceal clauses
applicable to the city to be plucked. This bill
passed the New York legislature April is,
1884, and was signed by Governor Cleveland,
Its title reading, innocently enough, as fol-
lows:
IAN act to provide for the construction,
extension, maintenance and operation of
street surface railroads and branches thereof
in cities, towns and villages
Jacob Sharp s. Co." were already at work
on the aldermen, and as the bill was of no
use to the conspirators till the common coun-
Gil of the city had granted the franchise, the
former could not afford to pay anybody for
work done at the state capital, so the doodle"
manipulators at Albany Immediately took a
hand in making doodle" aldermen in New
York city, and many queer stories are told
of their conclaves at the Aston house and
elsewhere. The two sets of boodlers pooled
their issues and the measure went through.
New York city practically gave away a fran
chise for which responsible men would have
paid millions.
HOW THE TRUTH WAS DUG OUT.
1t is needless to detail the tedious processes
by which the truth was finally dug out from
under mountain of lies. One dramatic in
cident excited great interest. 1t was shown
that the conspirators first met at the Aston
house and arranged for more private meet
ings for the aldermen at the house of one of
their number The conviction Of Arthur j.
McQuade upon his second trial turned upon
the evidence that he and other aldermen had
been seen to enter that house at late hour,
and to this fact the witness was a most I'M