The Irish standard., 1903-10-03
Everybody in the District Knows Him and
Goes to Him for Assistance of
One Sort or Another.
He Attends Christenings, Weddings and
Funerals, Feeds the Hungry and
Helps to Bury the Dead.

possessed and gave them Il dollar for
food.
II Il. m.-.At home again. Found
four men waiting for him. One had
been discharged by the Third Avenue
Railway company for neglect of duty
things. Another wanted a job on the
metropolitan road. The third sought a
place on the subway, and the fourth,
plumber, WAS looking for work with
the Consolidated GAS Company. The
district leader spent nearly three hours
fixing things for the four men and
succeeded in each case.
3 p. Unattended the funeral of an
italian as far as the ferry. Hurried
back to make his appearance ut the
funeral of Il Hebrew constituent. Went
conSpicnously to the front both in the
Catholic church ana the synagogue,
and later attended the Hebrew confirm
alton ceremonies in the synagogue.
7p. m.-Went to district hcadquar-
tcrs and presided over !: meeting Of
election district captains. Each cap
tain submitted Il list of all the voters
in his district, reported on their atti-
tudc toward Tammany. suggested who
might he won over and how they could
be won, told who were in need, who
were in trouble of any kind and the
best way to reach them. District lead
or took notes and gave orders.
SIP. m.--Wcnt to church fair. Took
cream for the young girls and the chill
lrcn. Kissed the little ones. flattercd
their mothers and took their fathers
out for something down at the corner
y. MAT the clubhouse again.
Spent $40 on tickets for Il church ex-
curSiOn ana promised a subscription
for a new church bell. Bought tickets
for a baseball game to he played by
| two mines from his district. Listened
| to the complaints Of dozen pusllcart
prddlcrs who said they were pcrsecut-
| cd by the police and assured them that
he would 90 to police headquarters in
| the morning and see about it.
1890 y. m.--DOnncd dress suit and
attended Il Hebrew wedding reception
and dance at an East Side hall. Had
previously sent a handsOm' present to
the bride.
12 p. MIN bed.
That is the actual record of one day
in the life Of Tammany district lead
or. Tie does some of the same things
every day. but his life is not so monot-
OnOus as to be wcarsOmc. Sometimes
| his work is exciting. and especially if
llc happens to have Il rival who intends
Il make Il contest for the leadership at
the primaries. In that ease he is even
more alert. tries to reach the fires be-
| fore his rival. sends out runners to look
for "drunks and disordcrlios" ut the
police stations, and keeps a very close
watch on the obituary columns of the
| newspapers. A few years ago there
| was bitter contest for the Tammany
| leadership of the Ninth district be-
| tween John G.. Shpcllan and Frank J.
| Goodwin. Both had had long expert
rncc in Tammany politics and both
understood every move of the game.
Every morning their agents went to
| their respective headquarters before Z
O'Clock and read through the death no.
ticcs in all the morning papers. If
they found that anybody in the district
had died. they rushed to the homes of
their principals with the information,
and then there was a race to the house
of the deceased to offer condolences.
and. if the family were poor. something
more substantial. On the day of the
funeral there was another contest.
Each faction tried to sulpass the other
in the number and appearance of the
carriages it sent to the funeral. and
more than once they almost came to
blows at the church or in the cemetery.
On one occasion the Goodwinites play-
ed trick on their adversaries which
has since been initiated in other dis
tricts. A well known LIQUOR dealer
~ ln- St