The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1904-01-09

the Irish wakes and funerals in the
ncighborhood, played the simpler
games Of cards with shrewdness,
worked hard, saved nothing and clung
to his fellow-imnnigrants for society,"
typical Irish peasant of early New
York.
This was Mr. Murphy's father. His
mother, Miss Prendergast, was a
beautiful and intelligent Kildare girl,
who met and married her husband in
New York. She came OF race of
blacksmiths, and in Kildare, country
OF bloodcd horses, the blacksmith shop
is apt to be in some sort political
centre, as the saloon is elsewhere.
So that Mr. Murphy is the descendant
OF peasant farmers, horse breeder3
and blacksmiths-clean blood strength
cncd by centuries of manual labor. He
probably got his strong qualities from
his mother.
The man to whom the millions of
inhabitants Of New York now look
for good or bad government is tall,
broad-shouldercd and strong-limbed,
erect, clcan-shaven, the very picture
of healthy Irish priest. His face
is rosy and his chselss are plump and
firm. His eyes are blue-gray-cold,
suspicious eyes, that smile only upon
intimatcs. His nose is strong and
straight. His mouth is straight slit,
and the thin lips have curious trick
of Tightening, the sign of close, sus-
picious nature.
1t is pure Celtic head and face,
known to science as the do1ichocepha-
lie type-long and narrow, rather. than
short and broad. The bulk of the
brain is in front Of the ears, where
the aggressive, energetic, ambitious
qualities are to be found. The back
head is straight, showing a deficiency
in easc-loving, domestic qualities, the
usual traits of the brachecephalic or
Saxon type.
If Mr.. Murphy's head and face are
reliable indications domestic life or
love of good living will never hamper
his ambitions in politics. There are
| men who hold that it is this difference
in cranial balance that enables the
Celt to maintain his political command
in New York over his Tcuton, in spite
OF the weight of numbers.
Mr.. Murphy is and always has been
fighter, from the days when he
thrasfed the boys in Roach's shipyards
to the political battle of two months
ago, in which, he overthrcw the power
of Hugh Mclaughlin, for forty years
the leader OF the Democratic organi-
cation in Brooklyn. How he came by.
his secretiveness no man can say, for
his ancestors were neither suspicious
nor reticent Nor was there an am
bilious man among them. Even those
! who know him best, men who have
grown up with him, are in doubt
| whether he is merely obstinate and
stubborn or morally courageous. All
| recognize the fact that he has an iron
will and can brook no interference,
but he is a willing and patient listen
! er, hopeful sign.
Out Of the toughest element of the
rip-roaring "gas-house district" this
son of peasant parents has risen to
wealth and power, inch by inch al
ways silent, always clean of life, al
ways temperate, always working re-
lentlessly for himself and his imme-
diate friends-a natural leader OF men.
He has been a ship calker, car
driver, saloon-keeper, famous
amateur baseball captain and the most
successful district leader in the his
tory of Tammany Hall. Yet he is
known as man of strict personal
habits, hater of profanity and no
one can tell SHADY" story in his
presence without rebuke. All of
which suggests powerful and discip-
lined personality slowly maturing in
man who was regarded outside of
his district as dull but careful and
selfish plodder until he emerged ass
the nali liticai4 mast