Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-05-30

It was the biggest real estate deal on rec
ord. Twenty-fOur dollars then-worth bill
ions now. Think what the Indians lost!
4 Big Thing to BE Mayor of New York.
It is a big thing TO be mayor of a city
like this. TIL office carries almost as much
responsibility as that of the president of the
United States. There are. l believe, about
1900 policemen now in this city. and there
will be 1908 in the new New York. There
VIII be. all told. an army Of city officials
greater by that which N%enophon led on his
retreat TO the sea than the army Of the
United States. and the salary list will
property interests Of such a city are enOr-
nous. The business 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 so great
that 5000 ships come from foreign countries
10 these shores every year, and two-tifths Of
all the produce we ship to foreign countries
are sent here to be loaded. The banking in
terests are the greatest on this hemisphere.
The New York clearing house does a bust
ness Of 81. 600. 600. 600 annually, while the
stocks represented i'm Wall street affect ev-
cry country town i'm the United States.
There are i'm Greater New York 10000
dwelling houses and business houses, which
The mayor must see are I'm sanitary condi-
zion. The streets which have to be looked
after would make a line longer than the dis
lance between New York and Chicago. and
the mileage. of the surface railways would
make five tracks from New York to WASH
inEton. ! don't know the extent Of the sew
CraCe Of the greater New York, but four
years ago New York proper had more than
4Wl miles Of such works. and the bill signed
by Governor Black will largely increase
that number All OF these things have to
b. 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. An
sorts Of axes are brought to the city hail to
be ground and the mayor has to be "A very
smart man if he keeps the wheel turning i'm
the right direction and uses il solely for
the good of the people.
4 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 one of the
most corrupt spOils cities of the world. and
he has really worked wonders in reforming
the government and the police. / spent this
morning in his Office and I was struck with
the free American way i'm which he does
things. Whatever there may be about the
other departments Of New York there IS no
red tape about the city HAN. The mayors
office is open 70 all. You walk in and take
your seat and when your turn comes you
step up to the mayor desk and state your
ease. When I arrived at the office this
morning II was 800. Mr.. Strong had al
ready been there a half hour and he was
still engaged I'm answering his mail. He had
received at this delivery 100 letters and more
than half of these were already disposed Of.
He went over the letters rapidly. directing
his secretary how they should be answered.
and later on the secretary took the mail
and dictated the proper answers TO "A stem
oErapher. 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.
A Look ut Mayor strong.
It was between two such delegations
that I was introduced by Mr.. Tohu Sleicher,
formerly the editor Of Frank Leslie. and
now one Of the city officials. Said Mr..
Sleicher: Mr.. Mayor, here is a msWspa-
per man who wants 10 look you in the
eye
That is an easy thing to do" replies the
mayor as he turns ms tace 10 me, and a
pair Of shrcwd. honest blue eyes look into
mine. / study his face as we chat and am
more and more surprised at his Yigor and