The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-01-03
ONE OF TWEED'S TRIUMPHS.
STOOD IN THE GALLERY AND SAW
a BOUGHT VOTE DELIVERED.


Is7I-Lerry O'Brien Held Up Bust
rcss Because He Was Playing PO-
ker-Downfan of o. $. winans.
Justice Goodrich's Scorn.
From The New York Sun.
A Broadway iounger who can be seen
any fine afternoon at Twenty eighth street
and Broadway, TO use his own words,
has seen the rise and fall OF many a
king" He is tail. robust, of rudy COM
plexion, made all the ruddier by his bushy
white hair and mustache He dresses
,, well and lives well because he has an
income that comes from sums prudently
invested when the famous committee Of
seventy took a hand in things, and the
Tammany ring was shattered. He was in
talkative mood the other day as he
stood gazing at the crowds of Christmas
goods shoppers.
There goes a little man, said he, who
recalls to my mind the most outrageous
scene that ever took place publicly in a
session of a legislature, and 1t cost one
man an immense sum OF money. What
was the scene? Wei, in the first place,
that little man going along there was
known at Albany in those days as the
member from Sligo How he got the
name I don't know, but it stuck to him.
He was an assemblyman for several terms
from the Second district in this city. His
name is Denis II. Burns
"Oh. that scene in the legislature,
You've heard of Smith N Weed, of
. II. a. 4
is in this town often. 1t was in 1871. Smith
M Weed was a Democratic member from
Clinton county. James Irving was
Democratic member from the Sixteenth
district of this city. The assembly stood
sixty-five democrats 10 sXty-three Re-
pubncans. and as sixty-five was the con-
stitutional majority, You can see how Billy
Hitchman the speaker, and Tom Fie.ds,
the chairman of the committee on griev-
ances Gin more senses than one), and Alec
Frear, the chairman of the committee on
cities, had to hustle every Democrat in his
seat when pet bill was up.
why, one night the Boss-that was
William NJ Tweed you know-gaye out
word that a New York city bill had to be
Sut through the Assembly that night.
1t had passed the Senate and Gov. Hoff-
1nan was going to be away a few days,
and that bill the Boss wanted signed the
next day. Wen, the Assembly was all
right till we came to that bill. George
Jones of Albany (of greenback fame) and
/ were attending TO the lobby end when
Tom Fields ran out 10 me and said
Where is Larry o. Brien?' Larry, by
the way, was a brother of Jimmy O'Brien,
the sheriff, and he was from the then
Eleventh district. Sure enough, Larry
was missing, and there we were, one
vote short of the constitutional majority.
We found Larry at a good game of poker
in a gambling house across the way He
refused 10 bulge. The Boss was notified
| He told Sergeant-at-Arms Rhoades to so
to the chief of police and have the house
pulled if Larry wouldn't come out. Sure
enough, the police came: Larry got his
back up. You pun this house. he said
to the chief of police, whom he went out
to meet in the hallway, and I'll never vote
for that bill il we're in session for a year
Let the Boss put that in his pipe and
smoke it"
Again was word sent TO Tweed. He
was in quandary He knew that Larry
was stubborn dog. Just at this point
George Jones and put our heads together,
and George fastened across the
/ street TO the Boss (after we had talk
! with Larry with a compromise This was
! 1t; Larry was immersed in that game and
he would not leave the table just then. as
J luNh WAS On Ills Stues ne would. however,
! he said, take a run over TO the Assembly
in half an hour and vote for the bill, pro-
! vided the police would be called off then
! and there and he would be allowed to re-
turn TO the game al once! Devillsh cool
wasn't it2 But he had Tweed by the
! back of the neck. The compromise was
accepted. and for a half hour the Assem-
bly, was kept busy on small things till
Larry was ready. That bill passed that
| night, and most Of the boys from this city
after the session went over to the gamb-
ling house to try their luck just as Larry
was trying his.
Now, you see that hold up of Larry
O'Brien's made me forget that scene 1
was~geing TO tell you about, IN which that
| little man who has just passed by. the
member from Sligo, Smith NJ Weed. ana
Jim Irving figured That scene robbed
Tweed of that constitutional majority in
the House, came near killing one man.
ruined another socially and politically for
ever, and cost Tweed thousands of dollars.
What makes it all the more vivid to my
mind is that the last time I ever saw
: Tweeddo speak 10 him was when the vote
I was being taken on the bill that brought
the great outrage about This .was9wbat
happened that night:
THE bill was being read Smith NJ
Weed went up to the desk. So did Irv-
ing. So did Denis Burns. So did Dick
Flanagan from the Thirteenth district Of
this city ana many others. Weed was