Evening star., 1905-11-04
GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN
Stories About Tammany's
Candidate for Mayor.
49,.
-
A STRONG FRIENDSHIP
THAT WHICH EXISTED BETWEEN
MCCLELLAN AND HIS GUARDIAN.
-Ts
20.
How He Got Into Politics-His News
paper Career-Richard Croker's
Little Surprise.

Within few days the country will know
whether or not George Brinton Mcclellan Is
to- succeed himself as mayor of Greater
New York. One of the mayors intimate
friends declared the other day that even II
Mcclellan Is reelected he doubted that the
victory would prove half sweet TO Mr..
Mcclellan as the one that was his two
years ago.
"For II is this way" explained the friend;
"Wiinam C. Prime died in February, and
= SO there will be no hearty congratulations
from him on the morning after the election,
as was the case when his boy numerically
trounced Seth Low
And the why of this?
Well, one os the stanchest friends that
General Mcclellan the mayors father
ever made bore the name of William c.
Prime. The friendship springing up during
the stress Of civil war days rtpened each
succeeding year, and after the generals
rather sudden death in the autumn of 1885
II became known that he had named Mr..
Prime as guardian of his son. then in his
twentieth year.
Now. 1t is proverbial that the relations of
guardians and wards are rather more or
less strained. but at no period of his guard
ianship could this be truthfully said of Mr..
Prime and young Mcclellan. The new re-
lation seemed but to increase the friendly
feeling existing between the two from the
DaDynOOd, almost, ana Ar. Prime
early fell into the habit, which lasted until
death claimed him. of invariably speaking
OF his ward as his boy
The end OF the guardianship found the
two. despite the disparity of their years. as
fast friends. apparently. as Mr.. Prime and
the elder Mcclellan had ever been. And
the succeeding years served but to ripen
became Mr.. McClellans bride Mr. Prime
welcomed her to his house and took to call
ing the happy couple his children" As
political honors fell to his former ward the
old gentlemans delight grew apace. and
Colonel McClellan-he was a colonel on
former Gov. ID. b. Hills staff-has confess
ed that among the congratulations he ap-
preciated most al these times were those
of his old guardian.
The Prime house was ever omen to Mr.
and Mrs. Mcclellan: II was their New York
headquarters for weeks at a time during
Mr.. McClellan's ten years of residence in
Washington while representative; and
whenever Mr.. Prime would turn southwark
In the winter he would always be visited on
the train on his way through by ''his chill
dren," as a matter of course.
But perhaps Mr.. Prime revealed the real
depth of his feeling for Col. Mcclellan when
the latter was running for mayor two years
ago. An unusual thing for a democrat up
TO that time Mr.. Prime had not taken the
any sort for over twenty years. But when
Tammany Hall nominated his boy" he
let II be known that II he had to be carried
10 the polling place he would cast his vote
for George Brinton Mcclellan True to his
VOW he was at the voting booth bright and
early on election morning and. though well
up IN the seventies. and accustomed to re-
tlring early, he sat up late that night talk
ing over the triumph of his young friend
In February of this year-the month Mr.
Prime died-Mr. McClellan's friends got a
clearer idea than ever before of his affection
Tor the olo man. Dropping his official du-
ties. he accompanied the body to Connecti-
cut for burial his last service for his
fathers and his own stanch friend being
10 cover the coffin with earth and since
then he has shown his devotion to Mr.
Primes memory by wearing a seal ring that
the latter left him. The seal itself is over
two thousand years old
Cynics and political enemies have de-
clared that the best friend Col Mcclellan
has ever had is Charles F. Murphy of
Tammany Hall. Mr.. Mcclellan himself
nyou VIII take the trouble to ask him
friend he ever had was William c. Prime
and Mr.. McClellan's friends will declare
should you ask them. that they have sell
dom known OF so warm friendship az that
which existed for over twenty-five years
between Mr. Prime and Ibis boy"
Mr.. Primes profession was that of the
iaw. This may have had something TO do
with Mr.. McClellan's study of the law,
which he began while he was still treas
urer OF the New York and Brooklyn bridge.
But he was newspaper man before he was
lawyer; his bent was never for the science
OF engineering. to the regret OF his father,
who made reputation In this field before
he became civil war leader
rresn from college, young Mcclellan be-
gan his journalistic career on the Morning
journal. when that u,ac tfyda no
management Of Albert Pulitzer. brother of
Joseph. and as ten-dollar-a-week man his
Hrst successful effort was an editorial on a
political question then much before the pub
lie. The mayor frequently refers to this
editorial and laughs at his presumption in
writing opinions before he had even started
to cut his eye teeth In his new Held
During the next few years he id all sorts