The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1892-09-24
SULLIVAN COMES TO LIFE
lie Makes a Frantic Attempt to Glorify
Himself Before the People.
His Speech q Fair Sample Of the Man-Pict-
ures Of Democratic Candidates Swung
to the observation-disclosures lnsulied.


SULLIVAN Has AN INNING.
The viaduct Celebration Turned Into q
Mutual Admiration Society.
The Virginia-ayenue viaduct was formal
~ opened. dedicated and consecrated to
Mayor Sullivan last night. The event has
been officially postponed since the compile
ton of the structure in July that the cere-
monies and speeches of the occasion might
favorably reflect on the coming election.
Aside from the fact that the conception of
such o demonstration over q bridge built
by q railroad company strongly savors of
those outside and backlying precincts
whose pleasure it Is to e~ffervesce
whenever and wherever the bottle is shak-
en-. it must be said that last nights exer-
cises followed to the letter in every partic-
ular the prescription of q country town.
The redeeming feature of the affair was
the presence of Father O'Donsghue, whose
words were. of all uttered, land there were
many, relevant tn the OCCASION, and in
sympathy with the honest object for which
like meetings are usually called. Father
ODonaghue, like the multitude who gath
cred to witness the performance. seemed
unaware of the fact that the occasion had
been taken advantage OF for merely a po-
litical purpose. until the time for speeches
arrived with no Republican speakers pres
emit, at which time the reverend gentleman
did the next best.thing and Oficiated half
hearfedly. The viaduct was crowded and
damned with standing people it's entire
length. The arches were decorated with
the word Welcome" tied to them. a few
sky-rockets were turned loose. and then
the sound of brass bands and
dethroned. and debilitated Gray Club,
headed by the German-AmerIcan Club with
q torchlight procession proceeded to
shoulder people about on the bridge. Great
Lord Mayor. who did so much In o small
way. glared, grinned and took upon them
selves veriegated cholera pans as they were
carried about the crowd and deposited IN
front of the speakers stand, which occu-
pied a place on the east side of the south
approach.
There were campaign banners floating
and awful pictures of Sterling Rufundus
Holt, with scowling eyes. every here.
Seyefa ~ pieces OF ft ehe Ppon muslin ! 1xn were IO,t de;
down on the people with q countenance of
spanked yermilion. with General"
Stevenson on the other side. trying hard
to seem brainy. Any way. the sign paint
ers had done their best. and were, probably,
not far from the mark.
Councilman Olsen took his place in front
or the speakers and pecked nke O tOmtit
for order. Nr. Olsen pecked with q short
stick for o long time. bnt no order. Then
the police formed into a line of attack and
stuffed a contagious solo down the throats
OF some dozen brass horns, but still no Or
der. Mr.. Olsen waited and at last intro
duced Father O'Doneghue. whose strong
voice Quieted the crowd TO q certain
extent. The reverend gentleman expressed
his gratitude that the viaduct was COM
pleted and that the union of the North and
South sides would be followed by good re-
suits. He was hopeful that the improve
m - xvortI ha fonoyaA h- ruHfI xoUa,t
and thought the south Side had been dis
eliminated against. Thanks, he said,
should Be given the railroad company for
its expenditure OF $1,000 G in the erection
of the road way.
Miss Lillian Olsen, the councilman's
daughter. was then introduced. She said
that ir was customary to christen and con-
secrate similar great works In other coun-
tries, and broke q bottle of wine over the
railing. consecrating the bridge. and at the
same time christening 1T The sullivan vi
aduct." And then the battery of rejuvena-
ton was applied to the Mayor.
He came forward, but was not ap-
plauded. strange as it may seem. The
ex-great man presently showed symptoms
of lite and OF last spoke. In the. beginning
he was grateful for this, that, and. in
fact. for no end of things which had come
to pass, but principally because he still
salary md only a few welcome speeches to
make anon. The Mayor informed the peO-
pie that q viaduct had been built and that
the passage-way was safe.
The people seemed TO have had some pre-
vious knowledge of the fact, and did not
fall down and worship him for the intel
ligence The people, he said. had come
there to rejoice over its completion. and
t~hereupon the Mayor proceeded to talk pol
itics to them. The crowd was so noisy that
not over one hundred nearest the stand
could possibly have heard. At this time
the crowd began leaving. The speaker
began at the beginning and narrated
the long. long tale of wee. telling how he
had helped him.. The old story of the alley
viaduct fallacy between Pennsylvania and
Meridian streets was thoroughly mastl-
Gated. Himself and the Eminent Gauss
overhanging catastrophe. Mr.. Sullivan had
begun the fight for the viaduct with q new
City Counoil aud q Waterbury watch.
His first important step was to get on ia
miliar terms with Mr.. Ramsey, general
anage of the Big -Four system, cultivate
that gentleman. and at last felicitously
open with him a bureau of correspond
ence. After this the little Mayor
had performed one feat after another
until he had not only opened the way to
the building of o viaduct. but his clinical
operations on Mr.. Ramsey had been so
socially effective that he had hammered
the grado down to four feet in
cline to the one hundred. Mr.. Sui
iiNan ACto v - nhiC Va tbO
Democratic councilmen who had voted
for the passage of the ordinance and eulo-
gized himself iDdustriOusly all along. clos
ing with an electric rapid. transit prophecy.
But the strangest of all strange things was
the utter absence OF anything that might
have been mistaken for applause at the
Mayors completion of his address.
The Presshen's Glee Club then sang sew
eral good selections that had q restorative
effect on the crowd. The whole thing was
entirely too thin, and every body seemed to
see through il. The next speaker was
Councilman Gauss. His speech was Demo-
cratic and demagogic to the core. John
Keeling spoke briefly. assuring the people
that the visduct would bridge the way to
prosperity and obliterate such sectional
terms as North" and "South" Side. Father
ODonaghue then closed the exercises with
O few remarks.
Oh, What a Name!
A South-side citizen who knows Thomas L.
Sullivan thus unburdened himself last night:
"'The Thomas L. Sullivan viaduct. What a name
to give to part of one of the great thoroughfares
of the cityi Why was Olaf Olson not hOnored