Evening star., 1897-05-29
Mayor of New York.

1t is a big thing to be mayor OF city
like this. The office carries almost as.
much responsibility as that of the Presi-
dent of the United States. There are, l
believe, about four thousand policemen
now in this city, and there will be seven
thousand in the new New York There will
be, all told an army of city officials greater
by that which Xenophon led on his re-
treat to the sea than the army of the
United States. and the salary list will
amount to more than thirty-three million
dollars a year. The property interests of
carried on is of every kind. There is more
manufacturing done here than in any other
town in the United States. The shipping
interests are great that three thousand
these wharves every year, and two
f1fths of all the products we ship to
? foreign countries are sent here to be loaded.
The banking interests are the greatest on
this hemisphere The New York clearing
house does a business of twenty-five bill
lions annually, while the stocks repre-
sented in Wall street affect every country
town in the United States. There are in
the greater New York one hundred and six
ty thousand dwelling houses and business
houses, which the mayor must see are in
sanitary condition. The streets which have
to be looked after would make line longer
than the distance between New York and
Chicago, and the mileage of the surface
railways would make five tracks from New
York to Washington. l don't know the ex-
tent of the sewerage OF the greater New
York, but four years ago New York proper
had more than four hundred miles of such
works. and the bill signed by Gov. Black
will largely increase this number. All of
these things have to be looked after. In
every part of the vast city there are men
scheming to get money out of its treasury
or to evade its laws. All sorts of axes are
brought to the city hall to be ground. and
the mayor has to be a very smart man If
he keeps the wheel turning in the right
direc ton and uses it solely for the good of
the people.
Morning With Mayor Strong.
I believe that Mayor Strong does this
He has no ak Of his own to grind, and
he is the mayor Of all the citizens. He has
brought civil service rules into what was
enc CT the most corrupt spoils cities OF
the world, and he has really worked won-
ders in reforming the government and the
police. I spent q morning in his Office
| ard was struck with the free American
way in which he does things. Whatever
| there may be about the other departments
| of New York there is no red tape about the
city hall. The mayors office is open to
| all. You walk in and take your seat and
when your turn comes you step up to the
| mayors desk and state your case. When
arrived at the Office that morning it was
$50. Mr.. Strong had already been there
a half hour and he was still engaged in
| answering his mail He had received at
| this delivery one hundred letters and more
than half of these were already disposed
OF. He went over the letters rapidly di-
recting his secretary how they should be
| answered, and later on the secretary took
| the mail and dictated the proper answers
to stenographer. After this delegations
began to come in. The mayor heard the
spokesman of each party and in many
cases decided the disputes without leaving
his seat.
Look at Mayor Strong.
1t Was between two such delegations
that vas introduced by Mr.. John Sieicher,
now one OF the city officials Said Mr..
Sleicher: Mr.. Mayor, here b newspaper
man who wants to look you In the eye
THAT ID an easy thing to do. !" replieds the
mayer as he turns his face to me and a
peir of shrewd, honest blue eyes look into
| mine. study his face as we chat and am
more and more surprised at his vigor and
strength rs he goes on. The mayor of
| New York IL by no means an old man, and
/ still he Is more than three score years and
ten. His eyes are bright and full of life.
His complexion Is rosy and his face almost
free from wrinkles. The thick thatch upon
his head and chin contains but few gray
| strands and his voice Is as strong as that
of man OF forty. As he chats think OF
the enormous amount Of work he does and
resolve to get at the secret Of his vitality.