New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-12-19
A CIRCUS AT THE CITY HALL.
THE Funny SIDE OF THE ALDERMENs
SESSIONS.

r.uu.Sy HAS AMENDED THEM AND
THEIR APPLICATION TO oBsTREf-
ERous PERFORMERS"
There are q good many amusing things apout
the government Of the city OF New-forh' ou'
they are only amusing If one can forget the s'uo
of them that is exasperating. The taxpayer 10
the man least likely to appreciate the hunlor Oh
the municipal administration. but II he can
imagine himself stranger to the city there IL
no limit TO the enjoyment he can secure to HIM
self by observation Of its rulers. IL ne is IN
search OF such amusement and has made up his
mind to forget that he is paying part OF the
freight the hes. thing ne can do Is to drop IN AT
the City Hall when session OF the Board OF
Aldermen Is in progress.
The Board OF Aldermen has always been an
interesting body for variety Of reasons. Dut IL
has seldom been so amusing as II Is al present.
The very large proportion Of Tammany mem
bers Is responsible for this circumstance. TAM
many Office holders do not intend to be AMUSING
and therefore they are. They are amusihe' !"
the first place. in appearance. Most OF them
Irish good many OF them are German
Here are some of their names: Byrne. Geagan
Dooey. Reagan McGrath. Dunn. fennessy
Geiser. Roddy Keahon Schneider. Cronin. CAN
ney. McEnearney. Finn. McKecver 1hese w
the rulers Of the American metropolis. III
the visitor to the city Hall couid ioree.
where he was he might easily be induced
to believe that he was attending brewers
convention or a meeting Of the Universal Bar
keeps Association. There IL PERCUSSION vi
eishteen-inch necks ive-foot waists. Bowery
mustaches and crimson noses. There u.s. more
over. such conglomeration of various sorts OF
English as can rarely be heard in any one place
The wits OF the Board Of Aldei men are hu-
merous but they don't know It, At the head
of the list Of unconscious humorsts STANDS Al
derman Bridges He is what is known on tne
Bowery as bold" No session Of the Board
Is compl tie without his presence, ana ms pres
ence invariably includes bon mOs OF dlstlhc'-
~ Hibernian character. At recent meeting
OF the Beard Alderman Howard n oKie'
who was OF the few elected on inc
Citizens Union ticket. introduced resoiu''o"
asking for an explanation from the comihis-
sioner OF Street Cleaning as to why the cltys
garbage was dumped into the sea where IL
would he taken up by the tides and carried upon
the Jersey beaches
Now AllarmIn Dixie. having been elected by
tie hated ref)rmers Is not Popular In the Board
Of Aldermen. No proposition Of his - ever re-
ceived with favor by his colaborers on that
Board. Alderman Pridges especially never al
lows an opportunity for 'iocmpin' on other dom
refoormcr" to get by. This time he arose IN
righteous Indignation and remarked: "Misthcr
Piisidint phwat dive want ter bcdder Ourselves
about der Jarsey beachis? 'Tain't der con-
thracthor's fault. anyway He jis doomps
other garbage It's other fault other toide
It gifts over ter Seatrlgh'." TITS view of the
question SO profoundly impressed the Aldermen
that they promptly voted down Alderman Oke's
resolution It Is not improbable that they Will
soon seek to discipline the intractable tides
Parliamentary procedure N the Board OF AL
del men IS thing to roar at one moment and
shed tears over the next. Tammany rides rough
shod over anything that's anti-Tammany. To
hell with REFORM Tammany's campaign
slogan and now that the vietors are in full en-
joyment Of the spoils the reformers are con-
signed along with reform. At another meeting
Of the Beard OF Aldermen the clerk read
resolution forbldling the operation by electricity
OF cars over more than two tracks in Amster-
dam-ave While Alderman Dixie was moving
immediate consideration Of his resolution, a
rammany voice heard moving that the
resolution be referred to the Committee on Rail-
roads. 1t mattered not 20 Alderman Iuh, who
was then presiding. that the Citizens Union
Alderman was first on his feet. His ears were
Committee on Railroads the resolution went.
whence 1t will probably never emerge. In vain
Alderman Dixie shouted that before the election
every Alderman had answered in response to a
circular that he would favor just such resolu-
ton To the committee 1t went. The committee
system, while doubtless n necessity, IS n great
invention from Tammany point Of view. There
are various lucrative processes by which reso-
lutons are get out OF committees or held up
there
While the methods OF procedure I'm the Board
Of Aldermen curious the legislation itself is
often equally eccentric The other day one
member introduced a resolution reclting the fact
that the war tax law forced the retail liquor
dealers to pay the tax that the wholesale
brewers ought to pay. and calling upon Con-
gress to repeal the tax on beer for that reason.
Alderman Dixie again bobbed up serenely He
said such a resolution made the Board ridicu-
lous. but a little thing like that didn't bother
the Board. and the Tammany Aldermen cheer
fully voted down the motion 10 lay the resOlu-
ton on the table, ard passed the original notion
Alderman Dixie thus far remains combative
ard energetic He is gifted with an optimistic
temperament. All the other anti-Tammany
members got tired long since. but Alderman
Okie continues obstreperous. Anyhow he is
cot In LOT .,ft,r