The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-30

former employer and asked as to Strong
and was told in reply that Strong was a
very good man, but hard TO get along with.
Said his old employer If you can manage
him he is worth all that you can pay him,
but as for me, he told me when he left that
he would not work for me again for $4,000
a minute" This answer, strange to say.
pleased the man. He gave Strong the place,
and never had reason to regret it.
1 asked the mayor If he had found that
the men of New York were smarter than
those of the West. He replied: mo, don't
think so. There are now in village stores
men who are just as bright as any of the
merchants here in New York and there
are lawyers at the county seats who have
as much brains as those who advise the
big corporations in Wall street. This mat
ter of greatness is to large extent one
of circumstances and surroundings"
NEW YORK NOT DANGEROUS.
"Mr. Mayor / want to ask you If you
think mans life is safe in any part of
New York al any hour of the night? Many
people of the country are afraid of this
city"
Il believe" replied the mayor that life
and property are as safe here as in any
place in the world. There is no more dam
ger of a man being robbed or killed in any
part of New York than there is in the wids
of the West, or in fact, in any country
village. OF course robberies occur every
where, and the man who acts the fool and
does not mind his own business, who gets
drunk and goes into bad places is liable to
get into trouble in any city or anywhere
else. 1t is the same in New York, but not
more so than in other places"
1 am told that Mr.. Strong will not be
candidate again for the mayorship. l did
not ask him the question. But he said to
q friend the other day that he thought that
if he was ten years younger he would like
nothing better. He thinks, however, that
he has earned rest. and says that three
of the hardest working years of his life
have been spent at the City Hall.
There is one thing, however, that Mayor
Strong has kept before him during his
term, and that is that the mayor of a
great city like this ought to pay especial
attention to the complaints of the poor.
He said not long ago: Il am here to look
out for the poor people; the rich will take
care of themselves" He does look out for
the poor [ don't think he would like to
have it told but I know that very little of
his salary goes into his own pockets. He
is always giving to one charity or another.
Every morning when he comes to the Of
flee he has a lot of one and tWo-dollar
notes with him. These he places in the
drawer at his right hand, and when wom-
en- come in with their tales of woe which
the city can't remedy, he gives them a dol
lar or so apiece to ease the refusal he has
to make.
He watches the streets of the poor parts
of the city, and sees that the tenement
houses of such quarters are more carefully
inspected than those of other parts. Not
long ago poor woman came into the
mayors office and took her seat on one
of the sofas. She waited several hours un-
til the other and holder callers who pushed
their way before her had been disposed Of
and then timidy came to Mayor Strong's
desk. She drew a small bottle of a blue
chalk-like mixture from under her shawl
and said: Mr. Mayor, have brought you
a little bottle of milk to show you what
the dairies are selling to the poor people
of this town. l bought this bottle in a
grocery as l came here. 1t is what we have
to use for food for our babies, and we cam
not get anything better The mayor asked
the woman to leave the bottle and he
would attend to it. He sent for the health
officer. The officer said that the milk was
undoubtedly bad but that they had not
enough inspectors to enforce the laws.
How many more do you want?" asked
Mayor Strong.
I'VE need fifty or sixty" was the reply.
''Well, get them, and make them pay at
tention to the poor" said the mayor. This
was done, and the mayor saw that the
laws were carried out. He saw that the
fines were paid to the full extent, and
showed the milkmen that they would be
imprisoned upon a second offense if they
did not carry out the laws. The result was
that the poor people got good milk.
FRANK G.. CARPENTER.