The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-05-02

rr.,,. - ,.o,,,,,ot oroantzaHon and
Sa,r,i M bci5ere az ne beck and call
~ ~ -, -, u, -. a,taI,-
- - .,,tt-.i ,ss,trs in,r,ediatelv after
o-,,.sr1 - &c, 80 and before he was
Ses'ie ~ - ~ -, t,,l, Irish Ia ,,ee
~ aIsl,,'1a,, - ,be e,reat civ al New
- r.. - se,e,al t5r,es elsofed to that
-, "a Us lee,ielated ont of it
istra,,-,[i,. a,,o,,gb tbTo,lgb the influence
I - - - ,-ias, ,f American bossisr1
I XK-ft,ta-, NJ -r1,saJ whose successor in
-, ~ n. ro.ratt. ,or,tcs he is paner-
I an corsi7.yed to-dav Mayor Havenever
mad MIN marshal r. ooIeot the arrears
{ Of tayes on nersonal nronertv He did this
labor Vol catherine In four months over
. 500 ooo and for his work was publicly
/ compl;mented When but thirty years of
age he was elected one of the coroners Of
New York Then an in1Dortant office and
/ rich in foes. and was reelected 10 that no.
I sitjon. In 1852 after A severe political con-
! test he again became an alderman. and in
( the latter part of the same wear Mayor
Edison made him fire commissioner and
he was given a reapDointment by the re-
/ former. Mayor Abran S. Hewitt. He aban-
doned this task 10 accept Mayor Grants
appointment as chamberlain Of the city of
! New York. which position he res! gned in
February. 1890 on account of illness. Since
: then he has not been in public office but
[ since 1887 he has been the recognized leader
! OF the Tammany Han Democracy.
/ Was he ever accused Of murder?
/ lie was, and was lried, and was never
| acquitted by jury. In justice to the
man, however, let the facts of record be
fully understood, and then you can form
your own conclusions. At the election
held in the city of New York on sthe Sd
of November 1874 Abram S. Hewitt. an
eminent social reformer, was the Tam
many Hail Democratic candidate for Con-
gress in the Tenth congressional district
His opponent was James o. Brien, The anti
Tammany candidate Early in the day il
was evident that the friends of OBrlen
We're determined to resort TO acts of vio-
lence in order TO aid in his election. About
o'clock in the morning the workers OF
O'Brien, including two of his brothers be
gan perpetratng a series of outrages
They destroyed some of the Tammany
Hall booths for the distribution of tickets
and assaulting the men In charge of them
1t was very apparent to the friends of
the Tammany Han ticket that unless these
acts could be stopped the election would
result in Hewitt's overwhelming defeat.
Richard Croker, then coroner. considered
il his duty 10 protect the Tammany booths
and the men stationed in them and while
engaged i'm the performance of this duty
he ana lanes O'Rrien met Angry words
wore followed by blows. While the two
were clinched and engaged in personal
combat-a large crowd having assembled
shots Uere fired and one John McKenna.
who At the time was quite a considerable
distance from O'Brien and Croker fell
roortaIv wounded and died soon after.
On tho dav of the shooting and shortly
after the occurrence Coroner Croker
made the folIoNing statement concerning
his part i'm the fatal ARRAY: Eat 7I5
O'clock was at Thirtv-fourth street and
second avenue. where l had gone to look
after the regular Democratic tickets. as l
had heard that there was a crowd of
rouehs to be brought there by James
O,Brien TO destroy the Tammany ticket
and heat the Tammanv men. l was met
nv Mr. O'Brien and his crowd and as
sau1ted nv him Some words passed he
tween us resulting in a blow from him
with me were the two Hickeys and Mr.
sheridan. there was a crowd with Mr.
O,Rrien. tbev ureed hin, to strike me
only had words with him. told him
that all we wanted was fair play. and
did NOT wish to have our men driven out
Of the district nv thieves that he had
brought there Previous TO this one of
his crowd and his own brother. Larry
O'Rrien. had been arrested for assaulting
our men, The fight was general and
shots were dred-some three or four.
don't know who fired what side they
came from. but did not fire. as 1 never
carried a pistol in nv life The police
came I'D. and l asked to have O'Brien
arrested. but they refused. 1 do not know
John McKenna the injured man nor do
l know who shot him"
On the day following the shooting at n
meeting of the Tammanv han general
committee an address was made bv
Abram S Hewitt. O'Briens opposing
candidate for Congress. and as Won all
know. a man of sterling rectitude and
possessed with the full courage of strong
convictions. The New York Herald. Of
the following day, made this report of his
remarks upon that occasion:
Mr.. A. s. Hewitt was the next sneaker
He spoke in strong terms of the recent
election outrage. He said that the man.
James O'Brien, who had nominated him
self as his opponent. had boosted that he
would be returned by a majority of 10000
and he felt assured that if murder would
have served his opponents purpose it
would have been done. 1t was the last