Los Angeles herald., 1906-07-15
CITY COUNCIL SHOWS
SOME STRANGE TYPES
EACH MEMBER HAS A REGULARITY
There's the Owl and the LOquacous, the Laughter
and the Serene the Croesus and the job
the Baby and the Father, and More
Besides in Civic CauIdrOn

Anyone with a grievance in which
there Is merit can always enlist the
! sympathies Of Uncle George" whether
/ the complainant lives in the Fifth
! ward or any other part of the city.
! Ihe accumulation of wealth has not
! had the effect of tightening "Uncle
| Georges purse strings lie is recog-
| hlzed as generous man and has a
/ reputation of giving largely to charity
| although without letting his right
| hand know what his left hand is do
! ing. His cigar box is always omen.
! whether or not the recipient of the
! smoke has vote i'm this city. and there
is quiet little bar room around the
| corner where "Tncle George" never
| takes a drink alone.
Is Young Mems Friend
! The happiest moments Of "trnc1e
Georges life are when he is doing
something for a young man. 1t makes
/ no dlterence who the young man is. If
| he has something in him, Uncle
/ George likes to see it developed. As
| young men seldom control more votes
| than their own he has never been ac-
cused of playing politics in what he
| mas done for the younger generation
Tie Is recognized as the most likely
candidate for mayor on the Republi-
! can ticket; in fact, it is said the slate
| mas already been fixed and Uncle
! Georges name heads all the rest.
| Dock Houghton represents the Sixth
ward. There is only one Dock Hough-
ton. 'Nuf sed."
Is Lone Democrat
Big Ed Kern of the Seventh ward.
! the only Democrat in the council. is
! nothing more nor less than 225 pounds
OF smiling good nature. There is only
one thing that can disturb Kerns S
| equanimity. He sits next to sid
| Hitler in the council row, and when
! the proceedings become dull they turn
! their backs to each other and doze.
4 Once in a while two bald heads will
/ come together with the click of bill
lard balls, and that invariably wakes
Kern. For minute he feels that his
good nature has been imposed on, but
/ he soon gets over it.
! Kern is the antithesis of Ford. He
! doesn't chuckle like Hitler, but he
laughs. a good honest laugh like the
/ BELOW of an enragcd bull One of
| Kern's laughs is the finished product
of high art in the merrment line. 1t
! begins to ripple at the corners of his
mouth. 1t spreads back almost to his
ears, an opening like the entrance to
the Third street tunnel appearing. That
is the stage setting for the laugh.
! Soon there is a rumble like train
| going over a bridge. This rumble con-
! tinues for few minutes, the train
( drawing closer, then there is an ex-
! plosion like the lid of a manhole blow
{ ing off, and the laugh has arrived
| When he isn't laughing Kern's eyes
are twinSling with the suppressed
| mirth below.
Gravity Is Lacking
Gravity on his face is as out of place
as is mirth on that of Ford. Now and
/ then, when he has to speak to the
! council, Kern will assume what he
fondly believes is a very serious ex-
, preston. He wrinkles up his brow
and reaches way down in his shoes
for his voice. He really looks quite
fierce and might scare a timid child.
but all the council and every one else
knows that he is only bluffing, and
are not the least bit alarmed
Kern says he is through with politics
and will devote his time to private
business when his term expires, but
those who know Kern well say that
he can no more keep out of politics
than cat can keep out of an un-
guarded bowl of cream.
If there is anything that can log
gle Barney" Healy of the Eighth ward
out of the calm, serene demeanor that
he always wears it hasn't been dis
covered yet. Nothing disturbs Bar
ney. He neither laughs nor looks
solemn His placid brow is unfur-
roWed by the cares of office.
l. the Serene One
His calm eyes see nothing to bring
curl to the reposefu mouth under
the heavy, well-trained mustache. His
handsome name of jet black hair shows
not single streak of gray. The
height of his ambition is to secure
some poor fellow a job on the street
gang.
His happiest moments are when he is
introducing a resolution to raise some
ones pay or grant working man
holiday with full pay Barney never
smokes nor CANDLES and the strongest
beverage he imbibes is buttermilk.
But he has one bad habit that his best
friends are trying to break him of. He
shakes hands too hard.
once he gets Il hand in his huge paw
that hand usually has to go into
sling for week. He promises time
and again to be more gentle, but he
is so strong that he does not know how
hard he grips. Barney will probably
ask for the Republican nomination for
councilman from the Eighth ward and
expects to get it.
Is Father of Council
e. L. Blanchard of the Ninth ward,
known to the council and all the world
as Pop" by reason of being the
father of the council, is the fun
maker His wit is the dry kind, but
his droleries often throw the other
members into paroxysms of mirth. on
these occasions even Ford smiles. !
Pop himself can never see anything
funny in what he says, and he looks
around on his laughing colleagues with
reproving but indulgent eye.
There is method in his fun, too. |
Whenever he wants anything for the |
Ninth ward he says something funny, |
and while the rest of the council are
laughing at his joke the clerk is call |
ing the roll and putting every member
on the affirmative list so that Pop"
gets what he is after without a strug-
gle.
No mention of the council would-be |
complete without something about |
Charlie Wilde, the minute clerk. Wilde !
practically transacts all the business
for the city fathers.