Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-07-13


| about him as Mt" connor. Voters in
other election districts Of his assembly
district began TO come 10 him with their
troubles. and he sciGor, sent them back
to their proper canains. tie NJ yer wa
ovrrcarefnI ia finding oGt whether or no;
there was vote in II.
| When Mrs. Mailcy. who lived on the %
floor of IA rear tenement. was gong TO pe
,Ijsuossesscd because she could rot ray
her rent and somebody tod c0nnor about
H. he never stopped to inquire whether
Ma,icy had belonged to the party or
not before he died. or whether he kept
his dues up at the club He went to see
the landlords agent at once.
] you are not going to turn ntr on.
with the two young ones sick" he said
10 the agent.
| Tho agent raised his eyebrow. "B Mi
ness Is business, Connor. he said.
Connor knew that well enough He
had known men and women and niue
children to die from exposure ana wan,
because business is business. But. as
have said. Connor was equal 10 the cmer.
gcncies. He walked To the window ana
looked diaeonaily across TO one Of me
agents towering ten.nents.
ITS wonder the department am :
after you about those fire ccapcs. "e
observed. as If changing Il g sub1.c.. ,.,
| The agent laughed. They dc u bothcI
us, the department don't he said. mean
ingly. 60
mo. | suppose they don't" said Con
nor. You don't have to keep your nan hatrs
lighted or YOUR airshaft clear and ciean.
and Won amt over-particu!ar who rents
or what they do after they've rented.
No. ! suppose not.
THAT'S right. said the agent He
was ra her proud OF II. BIT connor had
met his emergency. He icf, the wincow
and leaned over the agents desk. looking
down at him.
Say how INCH do you pay?' lie asked,
quietly.
| The agent frowncd. That's my bus!-
ness" he answered. sharply.
| And It's nv busir, ~ To keep Mrs. Mai
10y and her kids from getting turned OUT
while they're sick, gee? replied tonhof.
Want 10 pay jnst double what you pay
now?'
See here. Counor-" began tn, agent
ON. / can do Il. dpn't ynu worry.
know who your" papn to, "nd h' al
@Of course interrupted the agent. II
don, want any trouble .,., ,.....
"Of course you d"H.t re2t,d CJnn2r.
/ with his good nature ir1n- diI'cly re-
stored You leave Mrs. Mail"y alone
and ther" won't b" any
"it can 90 over thS month, groNird
the agent but ir.Si-'
IN The Kids : wrll can r:oHab s. g Z
her In somc whore before most. sh" can
work ali right. said 'puu"r. fou Dei
ter give m.. receipt for thiS month
B.for.. ''ucNt Mrs MaIluY Mas a deeply
grateful scrubw"nnH at ,h" 'i.y hall an
mex. the kid havinL been restored 10
health BY ON" uf those miracles uI nature
which MAKE the laws 81 sauitIt On and
hygiene numtntariiN ridiculous ana alb
Sufd.
When Connor became leader OF the
Who'll" district he was jG4t thr same. on
, a scale a little broader. BY this tim hr
weighed NOR. than Two hundred pounds.
ana he had 4 Comfort bic b.rtn in the
water tax bureau. IL. liked hl~ oaic"
there. for IL WAS splendid rlic" {" r''st
Hc went there frequently when things
were running Smoothly IL MS district. IL
/ was now "A mcmb.r uf The exc, itlVe com
mite. ~ Tammauy Han. and hc wGr"
| silk hat and frotk coat most "l tn"
! time In his shirt front. which MAS not
always very ci"Iu. liz "ur" handsome
diamond. Unt Ui his own buying. hut ihe
gift of th" Mirnnri j tuhuur AsS"r ton
! the successor uf thr gang. organized
for social and political pJFpuseS. In
Guiding ~ annual cNcuIsipn. 'olr non
urcd president Sdid TIA district orator
| In making the prr$"utltton, who uas
done more for ~" party in. this district
than any tw" leaders before aim. ana goi
more jobs for his friends. ! fn"% q :nun
! IN the eleventh who wanted job and he
went - his header. ana the leader told
/ him that he cuuidu't get it frr him. on
| account Of the civil service. But YOU
never heard Michael j ConnUr talking
about civil service. heard someone say
thai he ought MI 7" have l'i Pop Gun
| ningham get sent Up but let me tell YOU.
there Was reason; for Il. II YOU don't be
licve 1t. look AT Jimmy Bailey. DO you
rem, mber how NJ hurt Scann,Il IN Me
| Dun 5? Nearly murder 1t was. aud him
caught with thr Knife still in his hand
and who got him of. who got him off,
but Michael J. toNUuT2
In these days when Cunnor walked
! through the streets in his district the
children followed him for squares. as long
| as their legs could keen up with his
| wholc-hearted strides. and sometimes
| they caught hold Of h,s coat skirts as
| You hold onto the taii-boarJ of an apple
| wa ,un which you are following In the
hope that sooner or later the Vender VIII
toss you an apple do not know what
il was that Cunnor tossed to them. for
only saw the proct ssion. but they must
have been satisfied, Tor they kept il up,
aud never heard of a disappointed one.
in politics there was nothing mystic or
mysterious about Connors methods. He
| knew every one of his thirty-fiVc eleC-
ton districts thoroughly. and he knew all
the captains as well as they knew them
| selves Two weeks before election he had
TO make his report to the executive COM
mittec. and n day or two before that his
captains made their final reports to him.
| Each captain reported on every voter in
his district, not what the captain hoped
about him. but what he knew. 1t was
not safe to hope. Voters not known TO
be for Tamm1ny were counted on the
that Conner would not stand for" and
that was lying on the paIt If his election
district captains. The reports We're kept
until after election and compared with
the results. Then. some times. there were
changes in the captains.
| Friendship was to him the greatest of
| virtues: inEratitude the most unpar1ou-
able of crimes. Few who were in the
rooms of the Michael J. Conuor AssoCia
tion on the night after the election of
1897, when 1t was discovered that Flynn
had thrown" the ten votes which he
| controlled will ever forget Connors
outburst OF wrath. He had grown silent
and apparently emDtionless in thes years
| of leadership, but now his words were
reminiscent OF the period before the po-
lice court incident None who knew the
facts blamed him. FlNnn was nobody nj
all before Connor took him up. but in one
| way or another he manag ged to catch the
| leaders eye and finally Cunnor got him a
| place as inspector of underground con-
| struction. For a while things went on
smoothly, but before long Flynn began TO
get behind In his dues to the association.
AS he had Il regular Job. there was con-
| siderable complaint about this, so much,
| indeed that Connor walked into Flynns
| fiat one night to rcmonstrate. Flynn
| wife was there and she told CJnnur wat
| a hard time her husband was having 10
get along on his pay, which was s. a day.