The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-09-18

Il fight for the leadership of tn
Ninth New York assembl
district clearly foreshadows his rise t.
the place in Tammany which has bee
vacant since the retirement of Croker
He has all the requirements of Tam
many boss. He is coarse, ignorant o
books though learned as to men, not to-
honest to offend the grafters yet homes
enough to give commercial value t.
his pledged word, and moreover, h
knows every in and out of the Tam
many system, including the relations
Of every person Of influence and thu
sources Of that influence. He has tn,
tough hide of rhinocerous and thu
grit of a bull dog. In short. he is exact
ly the type Of man fitted to rule fol
a time over the Tammany erganiza.
ton, until some other individual oil
shrewder intellect and more dominan,
will power arises to crowd him out.
| A word as to who Devery is and how
he got there. The first thing heard OF
force. From that on up to chief his
progress followed the familiar lines
shrewd combinations, the successful use
| Of valuable information and the pro-
| duction of results among the boys. On
a salary never more than $4,000 a year
Devery in a few years accumulated
three-quarters of million dollars. and
no questions asked. But he has been
free handed. He is not a niggard. For
the rest, we quote from New York
letter in the Washington Star, written
when Devery's campaign was just be-
ginning to attract national attentions:
Down on the west side about Twenty
ninth street is the Ninth assembly dis
trict. 1t is densely populated section in
the heart of. old New York. There are
thirty, thousand souls tucked away in the
narrow, contracted quarters between cell
lar and garret of the houses. There are
small tradesmen, mechanics with little
funds in the savings banks, and thou
sands upon thousands of people who don't
eat beefsteak once a month; who never
see a park, and whose only life is the
life of the pavement of the glare of the
electric light, of the smell of the street
and the crash of the immense traffic of a
busy section. In his service in the police
department Devery became thoroughly
acquainted with his people He knows
most of the adults by their ''given name,'
as they call it. In the old days he was
a boss in a small way. AS the chief po-
lice authority in the district he held
sway over the fortunes of the unfortu-
nate, and frequently was an arbter Of
differences and a counsellor in need.
There was a hydrant at corner In his
district-they called it a pump" Every
evening about o'clock the big chief,'
as he was nicknamed, on account of his
physical proportions, would lean against
the pump and hold court, hearing COM
plants. dealing out invective. warning
and advice. A neighborng saloon is
now called the pump and here Dev-
cry meets his lieutenants nightly to give
instructions, to distribute funds from
the war bags and to extend the glad
hand" to the recruits actual or prospec-
tive, his men bring in
Devery's campaign is unique. Probably
some readers recall the excursion that he
gave to the women and children in his
district. He chartered six steamboats,
and barges to take his constituents up
the Hudson. Tickets We're distributed
freely. On the morning of the day ap
pointed it was. evident that the boats
couldn't hold the crowd. "Get another
steamboat" cried Big Bill. She backed
into the slip and was filled in jiffy.
DOit, lie coilHltnueu anu
then thousand people We're left on the
wharf. He furnished tons of ham, chick
en-, bread, corned beef, candy, cakes.
barrels of lemonade. ginger ale. pop and
milk for his guests. Beer and liquor were
barred. along with the men folks. He
had a platoon of lifesavers to rescue the
kids who might fall overheard. Every
body had good time and enough to eat
for once. The scraps of corn beef and
1,Dr, f,,11 nI1 I,.,f
mothers and taken home. They say that
it was the only meat some households |
had had for weeks.
Since then Devery has gone every day |
over his district. distributing largesse.
He gets ice for the sick folks, milk for |
the kids; quietly sends the convalescents |
off on trips to the countryside or up the |
sound. If man is sick, out of work |
and behind with his rent Big Bill sees |
that his family are not thrown out into |
the street by an importunate landlord. |
The men he takes care OF after their |
fashion. 1t is open house in every saloon |
where he stops at night. Everybody |
come up and have a drink" is the |
The ''barkeep' throws it |
wide open, and as long as he is In there |
everything goes. Then he moves on to |
content with these methods. he opens a |
vaudeville theater. Between the turns of ]
the performers his picture is thrown on a |
while the roOters In the gallery |
start the applause. Later he will appear |
in the ntermssions and make speeches. |
The vaudeville runs in the afternoon for |
the women and children. At night the
bill is changed to suit the tastes of the |
audience.
The newspapers aided Devery by CIV
Ing liberal space and prominence to his |
unique methods and terse sayings, and |
some of the more serious of the able |
organs of public opinion probably also
helped him by jumping on him and
giving him the opportunity to pose be-
fore his people as having been perse-
,uted by the aristocrats. At all events,
Devery has won decisively In fight
that represented the combined opposi-
lion of many rivals. BY all the rules
Of the Tammany game, he is now it,
We are afraid there will not be
,peakerships enough to go around.