Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-05

sounded grand at the time. but 1t was a
mass of glittering generalities.
The office had been ably conducted by
Shugrue; he had made no personal or po-
Iitical enemies except in the conviction of
dozen or more criminals. and was per-
sonally very popular. II ne had worked
for his reelection the result might have
been different, but no one dreamed or de-
feat and the man who predicted the cleo
ton of Moran would have been promptly
locked up to await the action OF the In
sanity board. M,
5000 majority and Immediately became an
object of public interest. The result was
and Is still a surprise to the Oldest poll
ticians. There was nothing striking IN the
platform. nothing magnetic about Moran.
and the previous administration had been
without reproach.
Screen Law Notoriety.
Moran began his administration by ap-
pearlng at the Office at noon and chatting
with a few friends. Two months after his
induction into office he began a contro-
versy with the republican police board. APP
pointed by the governor, over the sup
posed violations of the screen laws by the
leading hotels. The Massachusetts, law
prohibits all screens or curtains at doors
and windows Of bars. Some Of the leading
hotels had gauze curtains, some had slight
ly colored glass and some had glass slight
ly ground so that faces could not be dis
tinguished through it. The bars. under
the law had to be on the ground floor,
with a frontage on the street. 1t being
the intention of the trainers of the law that
saloons should be in their interior arrange
ment as public as the street outside. and
that every part of the saloon should be in
plain sight Of passers in the street.
Moran indicted the proprietors of the
Touraine. the Parker House, Youngs and
the Essex. which had stained glass win
dows. Ali these bars were closed pending
the trials and the proprietors lost thou
sands of dollars. All the bars were opened
again under a new application, after a con-
formity to the law as Moran demanded 1t.
but a months notice had to be given and
in the meantime the leading hotels Of Bos-
ton were dry, and the guests. who were &C
customed to wine with their dinner, brought
1t in their hip pockets No one recalls any
convictions in the hotel cases. The first
juries disagreed and then the subject was
lost sight of by the public. 1t cost the
managers of the aristocratic hotels thou
and to keep the bars closed for a month.
and the masses said Great is Moran"
Sixty days afterward the bars were running
as usual under the new licenses and the
new arrangement of the rooms.
Moran Not a Worker in Office.
Moran did not work in this campaign.
He came to his Office at II, talked to news
paper reporters till 4, then went to his
hotel. His deputies did what work was
done, which was very little. Six months
after his term of office began he had OBJ
tanned only one indictment outside of the
hotel cases and the defendant in that case
was acquitted. In the year he has been
In Office he has the poorest record as to
results of any district attorney of recent
years, but in playing to the grand stand he
has been distinguished success, or per-
haps 1t is the bleachers he has caught in
this instance.
Shortly after he took his Office the IA
nous Ubero cases came up for trial The
indictments had been obtained by Shugrue.
and Moran stated to the court that he had
not obtained the indictments; that the cases
were very complicated and involved mass
of testimony that he was not familiar with.
He asked that Mr.. Shugrue's deputy, Chase.
be employed to try the cases at a reason
able fee. say. $1,000. The court SO ordered.