Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1900-04-13
HIS L|F[ IS A BURDEN.
Something About Des Moines' New
Mayor and the Troubled Life
He Leads
Was Once Mayor Of the Town Of
Sheldon. Which Was Easy to
Manage.
But Des Moines Politicians Have
Caused Him Lots Of Grief Re.
form Measures
cial to Times-Republican.

Il b Il
Special to Times Republican.
Des Noines, April 13.-s Uncle Jerry
Hartenbower. who defeated John Mac
Vicar for mayor of Des Moines at the
solid trouble in his two weeks in office,
probably, than any other man who ever
occupied the executive chair of Des
Moines. Every mayors life is hard
They all begin to get sick of the busi-
ness in the first few days of their adj
ministrations, and wish they We're |
back in private life again before they
have been in Office two weeks. But Mr..
Hartenbower's cares have been unusu-
ally numerous and extraordinarily se-]
vere.5 And if the new mayor of Des
Moines has felt the painful regret of
lunwelcome sofHcialsca once 1t is safe
to say that he has wished a thousandl
times in the past Two weeks that John
| MacNicar could step back into the Of
\ ficial shoes and leave your Uncle Jer-.|
lsry'' to go back to the little town of
Sheldon, in western Iowa. and stayl
There forever. Sheldon is Mr.. Harten-l
bowers home. He wasn't born there,
4 but from all accounts it appears that
his parents must have moved to the
town soon after. Jerry 81 friends and
lenemies agree that he must have been
at Sheldon mighty long time to have
\ scraped up the handsome fortune
4 which he is known TO possess. The
I people of Sheldon loved Mr.. Harten-
bower. and made him mayor. He ruled
the town, and ruled 1T Well, for three
or four terms, and then moved down to-
4 Des Moines He did not come to the
capital city with the expressed inten-
|stion of being mayor, but he had MOI
A been here long before he conceived the
a Idea that it would be a nice experience
for the long time mayor of Sheldon to
i be for a little while at least the chief
4 6leNecutiyesof a city.
j Uncle Jerry is big and good
natured, and kind-hearted, and shrewd
4 in a business way, and very fat. He
likes to sit out in the cool shade of a
|, summer afternoon and smoke and gaze
loft at the river and wish he owned thar
!. fine stretch of land Just outside the city
limits. II is a pretty picture now. and
lit would cut up handsomely into sew
era. hundred of the best suburban lots
the neighborhood affords. A force of
carpenters has just finished new
) house. for Mayor Hartenbower on the
picturesque banks of the classic Des
; Moines. and there the ex-mayor of
!, Sheldon has been wont to spend his
-;ileisure He had lots of leisure few
q months ago but it's all gone now. He
II decided to be mayor, and from that
Il
j been only dim and hazy rccolections of
5 a happy past. The people of Des Moines
took Mr.. Hartenbower for what he was
worth. They wanted somebody II
Z made no difference who. TO take the
& place of John alacNicar John had
Titled the mayors chair two terms il
0 succession. and had come out for an
other trial at the same old race Their
lit WAS the voters turned him down
t After AacVicars had secured the repub-
Y lican nomination Jerry Hartenbowel
e announced to the world that he woult
e defeat MIR. MacNicar. And he did.
e Mayor Hartenbower went into hi:
S new office, as he himself expressed 1t
t l..untrainmeled by embarrassing prom
i Iises.. But the half dozen ringleader
of the citizens committee" who hat
= .SISsEettt lHelf. W sOluSe
+ fused to be shaken off now. Harten
e bower himself is Il democrat, and 70
It THAT reason the democratic members o
X the committee had a shade the bette
n of the graft. With the mayor, which
y and whom, they worked for all the,
t, were worth. They watched with hin
Z ard ate with him, and took him hom
e at night, and walked down With him i
the morning. They sat in his priyat
e office. and received. with hin
n the hundreds of applicants for city job
who called every day. They siezed upo
the letters of recommendation of tn
candidates and took the management
'e of his own business entirely out of tn
e hands of the mayor. MIR. Hartenbowe
had little difficulty in convincing tn
z people that he was showing no favorit
= ism in the selection of his policeme
y and other officials. The managers of hi
campaign relieved him of all choice
the matter, leaving him only the re
y sponsiblity and the curses of the dis
= :, appointed ones. The other day th
- mayor gave it out that his police fore
Twas complete. Examination Shove
.. that 1t was about equally divided be
" tween republicans and democrats, wit
u a slight advantage with the latte
y Most of the appointments are fairl
2. good or i, and the reason for that fat
!. - appears to be that at the last mome1
! the mayor put his foot down in tt
: presence of his sitting committee" an
= named his policemen for himself. aft,
y having received advice and instru,
tions very attentively from half a doze
- sources ever since his election. No
1.-the republicans are sore at the may
for giving the democrats the best
4. the appointments and the democra
1. are sore because he allowed u few di
:, gruntled republican ex-otfice holders
!, dictate what republican appointment
- he did make. The republican and den
ocratic members of the sitting cor
mittee" figure that the mayor has hi
himself, and yet they agree amor
4. themselves that he has pursued pre-
lty straight course thru all his trouble
,r- The ministers OF Des Moiles, vi
ed had som thing of hand in the electi'
nm LOT Hartenbower. are insisting that
a. shall drive out Whitechapel. Whit
N chapel Ia the district where the 8toul
women reside. 40 all Iowa knows Pr