The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-06-28
Leon Dennery Chosen Secretary Of
the Board of Health.
The Mexican's Creatures Obey His Commands to the
Letter-A Motley Herd Appointed to Administer
.- Health Affairs for the City.

decent, official degradation that
. is perhaps without parallel in
= the history Of the city. The
members of the board drank the nau-
seating dose of blackguard patronage
presented to them by Dan Burns. and
sauirned in disgust even at their own
actions They were forced to sacrifice
their. personal and professional reputa-
lions, to dishOnOr themselves in the
eyes Of their friends and Of the public.
to cover themselves with humiliating
shame and appoint TO public Office the
ruffianly crew selected by their political
master.
The scene was piiable in a public
place 1t seemed an act Of gratuitOus
righteousness to force decent men so
20 debase themselves at the dictation
Of a political outlaw. But the mem
bers of the board had to submit. If
they had not done so Burns would have
dismissed them from their positions as
Contemptuously as he would discard a
shoe which did not fit him. The mem
bers Of the Board OF Health are his
creatures and their only pledge and as
surance of official station is their syco-
phancy to him.
SO they became last night his official
laCkeys. They placed themselves cheek
by jowl with the unspeakable Dennery
lifting his disgusting personality into
their own nest. They brushed shout
ders in fraternal goodfellowship with
the ill-smelling. vile-mOuthed, foul
Drained deniZens of the tenderloin who
become public servants because they
are in the train of Burns. The mem
bers of the board followed their in
structiOns to the letter. Each was pro-
vided with a typewriter list of APP
pointments. and each in turn proposed
shamefacedly the name of a faVorite of
the Mexican for an allotted position.
There was no deviation. no suggestion
of independence of action.
AS spectator remarked: TT is bad
enough to submit to the indignity Of
another mans lash. but it seems to me
the limit of endurance is passed when
man must drag himself through the
mire Of another mans shame and then
exhibit himself to public scorn. But
the MeXican's command had been given
and it was obeyed. The programme as
foreshadowed in The Call was carried
out with one exception.
Long before the meeting was called
to order the rooms Of the board We're
crowded by a motley herd. whose pres
ence made it necessary frequently to
open the windows as measure Of
sanitary precaution. At o'clock the
board convened. After the transac-
ton Of some routine business Dr.. COT
fey arose. and hesitatingly moved to
declare the position of secretary va
cant. There was a buzz OF expectancy,
and Secretary Dunno presented a
written protest against removal. 1t
was ignored, and Secretary DUNES
official head was decapitated
Then followed one Of the dramatic
incidents Of the session. DR. Coffey
moved that Leon Dennery be appoint
ed to fill the vacancy. There was d
mutTnur Of surprise in the room. The
sound seemed to strike Dr.. Coffey like
blow. His face flushed until it was
crimson, and some one said pityingly
that the young physician was not yet
altogether lost to shame. He probab bly,
felt what the name Of Dennery typi-
fies; and he is not yet ready to accept
the: consequences of his own action.
y
he could not raise Dennery To his own
level. he has sunk to that Of Dennery.
-. DE-. Coffey sat down and Leon Den
merry was unanimously elected secre-
tary. Mayor Phelan was not there
and did not attend during the evening
Dpnnery's friends, as a matter of
course, are gratif1ed at his appoint
ment They take it as a vindication
Of his manner and method of life
-Four reputable physicians have made
him their official equal. and it is only
an. imaginary line that divides the Off
eial from the individual As an equal
Of the members Of the Board Of
Health. it is suggested that Dennery
be dined by the board at the home Of
John. l. SabiD, the father-in-law Of DR..
Payne, for example, in honor Of the re
Mobilization of the tenderloins most
disgusting representative.
After the election Of Dannery the ap-
pointments came quickly. The next in
Importance was that Of Assemblymln
L. A. Devote to succeed J. p. Dockery
as Chief Food Inspector All that De
vote knows about food is to eat it. His
qualification for the position to which
he Has DctH tHOSell is ludl ne voted
for Burns for Senator and will do 50
again at the extra session Of the Legis-
lature. The position Of Food Inspector
is the bride of allegiance to the Mex
can.
The next head to fall was that of
Ben Davis, the Market Inspector. The
prize went to William Cans. a friend
of Senator Eddy Wolfe. In the an
pointment Of Cans there is disap-
pointment. The place was promised
by Burns TO Mike Dunn, bunko man.
eX-salOon keeper and rounder. The
friends of Dunn are justly indignant at
his defeat. They admit with the frank
ness of their breed that his appoint
ment would have been an outrage upon
the city, but they justly insist that
Dunn is a paragon of responsibility in
comparison with Dennery, and the
honorable physicians who could place
a Dennery in their nest would befou it
no more by throwing in a Dunn.
But there is compensation in all
games and the disconsolate may find
some balm in the fact that the Board
OF Health has appointed Long John
wilkins messenger to the Quarantine