St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-03-04

and conviction has become we'll known
to the reading public from one end Of
the land to the other. and, outside his
immediate following and the bosses of
the same stamp in different parts of the
country, the verdict of the jury that
found him guilty has been heartily ap-
proved.
A wealthy Brooklyn gentleman. who
owns great deal of property at Sleeps
head Bay, and who lives there IN the
summer time, communicates the follow
ing interesting particulars of the noto-
rious boss's inner life, with the under
standing that his name shall not be
used:
Il have known John 7. McKane since
was eleven years of age, that is forty
years. He is just six weeks my senior.
Even as boy he manifested the boss
spirit, and was considered a fighter,
though l will say l never knew him to
jump on boy younger or smaller than
himself: but l have often known him to
defend them.
John was born in Ireland and was
only about year old when his father
Bay. Here five more children were
born, all but one of whom are living.
The elder McKane was Woodworking
market gardener, and the fact that he
was a staunch Methodist distinguished
him in a noticeable way from the many
Catholic Irishmen about him. He was
a sober, hard-headed, hard working
man, who died only few years ago,
leaving his wife, who still lives with
her son John, though all the other chill
dren are in comfortable circumstances.
''As whole the population of Sleeps
head Bay at this time, and particularly
In the summer season, is not what can
be called select, but il is cultured and
heightened compared with what it was
when John and l were boys Then
my father moved into the city every
winter. as do now, and l recall that
John 7. McKane-it was spelled
''Mckain" then-waS the only boy in
the neighborhood he cared for me to
play with, for John did not swear, nor
use tobacco, nor drink, and after all
these years. amid associations at times
the vilest, he never contracted any Of
these habits.
when about fifteen, John gave up
school and never went back, and, from
that day to this, doubt if he has
ever read a book through. He was ap-
prenticed to carpenter and builder
about this time, and, as might be ex-
pected, he became skiIlful workman.
BY the time he was twenty-two-that
was along in q. he was not only out Of
his time, but he had been a jourHeyman
long enough to lay by some money, and
with this he started on his own account
the first planning mill ever seen on the
island south Of Brooklyn. He made
more money, and then began to branch
cut as a contractor and builder. He
put I'D many Of the finest houses in and
about Sheepshead Bay. and he had a
hand in many of the large structures in
the west end of Coney Island. Although
his religion forbade his betting-he was
ever an ardent Methodist-he made a
great deal of money out of gambling
ventures. He built the stables and
grand stand of the COney Island Jockey
club. the Brooklyn Jockey club, and
also those of the Brighton Beach Rae
ing association. About ten years ago
he discovered that more money was to
be made in easier work, and so he sur
rendered the building business TO his
brothers, and branched out as political
boss and land speculator.
About the time he started in as 2
builGcr he married Miss Fanny Most
r..
ily was descended from the New Ans
terdam Dutch, and after whom one of
the most important streets in Brooklyn