The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-09-13


exciting the imagination of the masses, (
but the contrary was the case.
Mr.. Guggenheimer'S costly hospital !
ity was extended mostly to Tammany
men sure enough. but the function was /
distinctly social and not political. The F!
guests included Supreme Court judges,
the then Mayor Van Wyck and neacly /
a score more of Guggenheimer's per-
sonal and political friends and their
wives, though just who all these friends
We're no reporters were ever able to
discover with complete certainty.
Mr.. Guggenheimer would not give out
the list and the hotel folk dare not, but
all hands-and probably the cook
agreed that Mr.. Croker was not pres
ent. The cost of the feast was various
ly estimated in the papers next day.
the most conservative figures being
$4,000 That would be $3.50 a cover"
for the forty guests.
Nothing half so picturesque as this
dinner is found in the records of any
of the other men-aside from Jerome
and. Devery-who are bound to be
prominent in this falls campaign.
1t is true that Seth Low gave
$1,000,0O0 library building to Columbia
University some years ago, and that
the structure is said to be one of the
United States. But there was nothing
picturesque in the manner of it's pre-
sentation.
At the time, Mr.. Low outdid him
self quite, in having nothing to say"
Always reticent to newspaper men
when personal information is demand
ed, he then shut up, tight-''like a
clam" cried one indignant young re-
porter sent for a special story about
ftn
Mr.. Low would talk upon any public
question, as usual, but when the liz
brary gift was preached he merely
smiled and begged to be excused. He
didn't withhold the legitimate details
of the gift from the press, issuing
them simultaneously to all the news
papers alike, but he was positively
silent" on that topic-so far as giving
out anything that could be twisted into
a yellow newspaper feature-and.
having told all there was to tell to all
the papers at once, he would Vouch-
safe no further information whatever
William S. Devery-"Big Bilr-
thought little of, alike by Tammany-
ties and Fusionists, will make plenty
of fun throughout the campaign, even
if he doesn't count for much, and pos
sibly may not be so insignificant after
all.
Devery reminds New Workers a lot of
Pat Gleason, now deceased, but for
years Mayor of Long Island City be-
fore that curious place was CONSOLE
dated out of existence and into 1.-THE
Greater New York. Gleason's legis-
lation out of office was somewhat like
the elimination of Devery as police
chief. The result in each case was
slngularly like the result in the other.
Neither Gleason nor Devery had
hitherto taken any interest in politics
outside Long Island City and 1.-The
Ninth, but Immediately afterward
both began to branch out"
Some time before the first municipal
election in this town after the consoli-
dalton, Gleason announced himself a
candidate for Mayor of the entire i'm
perial city. In almost the same way
Devery now announces himself.
Gleason, it is now conceded. never
dreamed of election Cf he did the
dream surely never came true), but
thought he could control enough
votes to make the successful candi-
| date give plenty of patronage to him
| after election. In like manner they
are now saying Devery doesn't ex-
| pect any great showing at the polls
| next November, but he does expect to
Tammany and the Fusion crowd look
out for him-to make some of the ap-
| pintments he may suggest and to
| treat him with the respect that is
always accorded strong man, even
| if his strength is not enough to COM
| pei everything.
That Devery will fail as signally as
| Gleason did is freely predicted. The
cards may run the other way, never
theless, and whoever wins may have
to give big Bill" a boost whether or
not he wishes to.
Gleason lost his money and then
died. But Gleason's money was most
ly invested in Long Island City street
railroad stocks, good as long as Glea-
sons official place and power lasted
and no longer. 1t is not generally
known how Devery's money is in
vested, but no one believes much of
it is in street railroad stocks, and
everyone understands that his reti-
| cence about his pile would make any
attempt to get it away from him a
difficult task.
Gleason, like Devery, was a bluff
and exceedingly outspoken individual,
also given to all manner of new and
| spectacular slang. AS is their Gus
tom now with reference to DeVery. the
reporters used to haunt Gleason in
hope of finding either the idea for
some specially desirable Sunday
special or such a brand new assortment
of explosives as would make a column
of current news gossip.
Like Devery, Gleason used to be
very popular with the kids" tossing
them pennies whenever he walked
abroad, and never stinting the drink
ing of his grown-up followers at his
expense.
When he fell from his high estate
as Mayor, Gleason expected all the
folks whom he had befriended in his
prosperity would do everything in