davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-20

the more able and honorable man, and
they therefore sounded him on the
subject of Robertsons confirmation in
case the incoming president should
nominate him to office. Crowley refused
to make pledges, saying he must be left
free to do what he might deem best in
any case that might arise
They therefore sounded Platt, who
said that If Robertson should he nomi-
mated to cabinet place The situation
would he embarrassing, but for any
other office he would support confirm
alton. The Depew men went over to
Platt In the caucus, which gave him
the nomination and consequently the
election.
Conkling's hostility to Robertson
arose from the fact that he led the re-
volt I'm the Chicago convention in 1880
against the unit rule imposed by the
state convention. The revolts i'm llli-
nois. New York and Pennsylvania
against the unit rule prescribed by all
their state conventions probably
caused the defeat of Grant i'm the ma
tional convention. At any rate Conk--
ling thought so. President Garfield
had been informed as to how Platt
eaained the senatorial seat, and when
he nominated Robertson to the col
lectorship of the port Of New York he
supposed the New York senators
would divide on the question of con-
irmation, and was disappointed when
he learned that Platt had Joined
hands with Conkling in opposition.
Saw Plat for Garfield
AS knew Platt and was on agreea-
BILE terms with him. Garfield asked me
to see him and find out why he did
not keep his pledge to the friends of
Robertson I did so and told him the
information the president had re-
ceived. He made no denial that he
made the pledge that has been stated,
but said he did not expect that Gen.
Merritt would be removed from the
collectorship in the middle of his
term.
Platt had not the nerve to attempt
resistance to the imperious will of
Conkling. That the two senator's re-
signed their seats. went before the
legislature, sought reelection and
failed are matters of public history.
Conlling at once passed into politi-
cal oblivion. When Garfield died he
plaintively said: "The pistol of Gui-
teau killed Garfield and destroyed me-"
Patt was not to be discouraged and in
1884 supported Blaine actively. For
time the party in New York had no
recognized boss, and Platt maneu-
vered to become the occupant of that
position, and by 1888 he had achieved
it.
that year Depew was a candidate for
the presidential nomination, but he
early discovered that the convention
would not look with favor on rail-
road president and withdrew. Hanna,
for Sherman, expected Platt
would turn the New York delegates
Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-20

of losing the sale of them, because the
average smoker is accustomed to pay
ing a fixed price for fixed grade, and
will change brands rather than submit
to an increase.
The only recourse for the cigar man.
ufacturer is to reduce advertising and
selling expenses, pocket the remainder
of the loss and wait for better times.
The next year will be a harvest time
for what manufacturers call fake"
cigars-a smoke which is everything
cigar should not be and nothing it
pretends to be-put out by irrespon-
sible makers under fine names invent
ed for the occasion, and sold at prices
that will yield fat profits. Also prize
coupon schemes of all sorts to boom
new cigars are already doomed to an
early death. Tobacco costs too much
to allow any manufacturer to indulge
in fantastic advertising schemes of
questionable value. over in England,
where the situation is somewhat diff
ferent, the price of cigars has been ad-
vanced Is per cent.
But every cloud has it's silver lining.
The shortage of the tobacco crop will
raise the price of raw material to
point which will greatly stimulate pro-
duction. There are only 100000 acres
of land devoted to tobacco raising in
Cuba, while there are at least 1000. 900
acres adapted to its culture. Good to-
bacco land is worth about $4,000 a ca
Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-20

Identification of Washington, for ex-
ample, a special feature is a great
bridge with heavy towers above the
central drawbridge.
Again, the community of the greater
Boston, which heretofore,t though sup
piled with a multitudes of smaller
bridges of more or less architectural
merit, has had no large bridge COM
parable in popular estimation with
some of the big spans of other Ameri-
can cities-such as the two great sus-
pension bridges over New York's East
river-has now very nearly completed
one of masonry and steel which will be
of distinctly monumental character,
making an important part of the land
scape Of the Back Bay and giving i'm
pressiveness to the former rather
mean and squalid approach to Harvard
university. This work has lately been
hailed by a writer in the Century Mag
azine as unquestionably the most artis-
tic American bridge yet designed 1t
will be one of the most conspicuous
features of the ornamental basin,
which, on a larger scale than Ham
burg's celebrated Alster basin, is
being created out of the salt water
estuary where the Charles river broad
ems before flowing into the ocean. 1t
has also a sentimental significance,
for it takes the place of the ugly, in
significant pile bridge which Longfel-
low immortalized by standing on 1t at
midnight, and which, if he followed
Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-20

over to his candidate. He told me so,
but Blkins visited Platt In the interest
Of Harrison and won him over, II was
said, by promising him the portfolio
Of the treasury. If that promise was
made IL was not kept, and I'm 1892
Platt, like Achilles. sulked in his tent
and New York was lost to Harrison.
In the meantime and before 1895
Platt had Increased his hold on the
state machine and had again been
made senator. He was opposed to
Mckinley, as was Quay and others
Of the boss fraternity. Their strategy
was to bring out the noble son" in
as many states as POSSIBLE and at a
favorable time combine their scattered
forces against Mckinley as was done
against Blain I'm the convention of
1876 They had to contend with
Hanna, a bright man, who understood
their tactics.
Hanna's Strategy
Hanna had a strategy of his own,
which was to secure a majority of del
egates instructed for his candidate.
He began with the southern states and
captured all of them taking Louisiana
and Texas away from Reed, for whom
the delegates were elected. No politi-
cal manager was ever better financed
than Hanna. Opposition to Mckinley
in Ohio was removed by agreement to
make Foraker senator
When the convention assembled
there was no opportunity for Platt and
Quay, who controlled their states, to
exploit their strategy.
Notwithstanding the failure of his
scheme In the national convention,
Platt dictated nominations for state
officers and largely for the Legislature
through his machine that covered the
state. He devoted more attention to
state than national politics. His power
was in controlling state policies and
legislation. He never was In want
of money from those who were bene-
fciaries of his work.
Platt was opposed to RooseVelts
nomination in 1898, but the country was
in frenzy over the Spanish war and
the people were anxious to honor those
who had rendered conspicuous service.
Platt did not want Roosevelt for gov
ernor In 1900, and hence doomed him
for vice president in order to put him
on the shelf. The convention adopted
the suggestion. 1t was unfortunate to
Platt that Mckinley was assassinated,
which made Roosevelt president. In
1904 he saw he could not defeat Roose-
Welt for nomination and consequently
he did not attempt it. His power is
now broken through abuses of it. and
from age and physical decrepitude.
AS has been stated, Platt was never
in want of money, but he acquired
greater strength from the dispensation
of patronage than from the cash he
disbursed. Like all other bosses he has
recognized the Importance of keeping
promises and in discharging obliga-
tions. Men not infrequently have won
power through the advocacy of a great
Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-20

422 $50 little cigars in 1905. The amount
of manufactured tobacco and snuff in
creased in the same period from 259,-
l01 lis pounds to S55,620,970 pounds.
good example of what a short to-
baccoi crop in Cuba means to the peo-
pie of the United States was found
when Weyler the butcher prohibited
the expectation of tobacco. The price
of scraps and cuttings, which are the
refuse of cigar factories, at one time
regarded as utterly worthless, but
which were found later to be avail
able for stogies and cheap cigars,
rose in price from 2 cents a pound to
IA cents. In view of the prospective
shortage in Cuba this season the to-
bacco trust is making strenuous eff
forts to get hold of every available
pound of scraps and cuttings at %
cents a pound.
The result is already felt by those
who smoke stogies for they now get
two for a nickel, instead of three, as
formerly. AS usual, it is the poor man
who bears the burden. Those who can
afford to smoke cigars of good quality
will not be affected if they are careful
to stick to brands of established rep
utation. Large manufacturers here
carry a stock of raw material suf-
ficient to last them from twelve to
eighteen months. They dare not in
crease the price nor reduce the quail
ity of their leading brands for fear
Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-20
NEW BRIDGE sUPPLANTINe FAMED LoNeFELLoW

the dictates of his artistic tastes, he
probably ran away from by daylight.
In the building of the new bridge a
distinct effort was made to secure
beauty of line and mass and to avoid
the mistake which was committed
when the low, stringy and unimpos-
ing Harvard bridge was thrown across
the Back Bay about a mile to the
south. Given a wide stretch OF water
width on the one side, a hill covered
with high buildings, and on the other
an espianade soon to be lined with
apartment houses or possibly with
educational institutions, the bridge
must be massive to create any positive
Impression at ALL and a certain swell
ing bigness of effect is what City En-
Rineer Jackson of Boston and Ed
mund M. Wheelwrght, former city
architect. who drew the plans, evidently
had in mind. The bridge is composed
of eleven spans of steel arches with
graceful curves between twelve piers
of granite, the spans varying In length
from 1O1 to 1888 feet. The two center
pieces, as Is the custom with most OF
the ornamental bridges OF the world
are by far the heaviest. When com
plete, they win carry -four granite
columns, around the top of each OF
which will appear a cluster or electric
lights. on the front or the TWO center
piers is a massive granite carving rep
resenting in the one case the seal OF the
city of Boston carried over the prov OF
a galley, with dolphin heads ana other
accessories, and in the other case the
Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-20

but humorous selections from all of
the best modern literature. Not Only
those known to the reading public as
humorists are represented but the great
editor of this series goes further and.
gives full and rightful place to all writ
ers who, while working in a wider field,
have given expression to real humor.
Each volume is fully illustrated by well
known artists and complete in itself
Mark Twains Library of Humor. Vol
l.. Men and Things. Vol. H., Women
and Things. New York: Harper & Bro
Into the Light, and Other Verses"
is as handsome a volume as has come
forth of late-fit dress for the five
poetic offerings of Edward Robson
Taylor. An especial point Of pride is
that ii emanates from San Francisco.
The verses are of varying theme,
thought mostly stately in movement
and high in thought.
Into the Light. and Other Verses. by
Edward Robeson Taylor. San Fran
cisco: The Stanley Co.
The halo of romance that crowns the
pushing back of the American frontier
and the settlement Of the great south
west has lent inspiration to many fic-
ton writer's But the real stories of the
men and women who did this work arc
far more thrilling than any romance
ever penned William, Horace Browns
THE Glory Seekers is a book of true
stories that is more exciting and inter
esting than most Of the novels of ad-
venture now published. This is a case
where truth is really stranger than fic-
tion. and 1t is safe to say that few of rs
nowadays realize what a wealth of
romance is to be found in the history
of the old southwest. Certainly theT e
were never more dashing adyenturers
than the turbulent freebooters who be-
came notorious as the leaders of fill
clustering expeditions into this region.
The Glory Seekers, by William Horace
Brown. Chicago A. c. McClurg & co.
Lillian Bells books have a certain
charm which makes up for most of
their deficiencies. She writes for the
people who want to take one novel at
a gulp and not suffer mental dyspepsia
from the richness Of the dose, but only
experience a certain eort Of transitory
! delight as eVanescent as Is that o. the
! cherry I'm the cocktail. Carolina Lee"
her latest has the usual accessories
and eharacters-a sweet girl, the old
farm the villain, a mortgage, ad lib.
! IL Is worth reading in an idle hour
! Carolina Lee. BY Lillian Bell. Bos-
] ton: l.. c, Page & co. $3.50
Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-20
United Conkng Hanna

cause, but Platt was never Of that
class-he is wise enough to know that
he has not the capacity, nor has he
the inclination to control men I'm that
way Because he made IL profitable to
them peculiarly he attached men 10
him. Any price available that would
aid the achievement of his objects he
utilized. That is the practice of all
political bosses There seems to have
been no incentive with him beyond the
pleasure of possessing the power to
make men do what he wanted done,
There is no evidence that he used
money to corrupt the people. but he
paid well for the work of going into
the highways and byways and rally
ing voters to support him. Besides
this he made the best use of partyism.
New York has ever been CONNER
cial state, as Pennsylvania has been
Industrial. Pandering to the one gave
Platt his power and to the other by
Quay gave him the dictatorship Of his
state. That New York should be gov
erned by commercial ideals Is nat
ural result of long existing conditions.
From the beginning New York has
been the financial and commercial
metropolis of the nation. For many
years 1t has been the port through
which so per cent of our imports have
been entered and from which dis
IllDuttus ana through II muCn the
larger part of exports have passed.
The influence of New York city ex-
tends to the adjacent states of Con-
necticut and New Jersey. On flnan-
cial and commercial subjects the in
fluence of that city Is o1nnipotent.
A political boss was never a great
man; boss rule is by small men, so
far as moral qualities are concerned,
or for attachment to great and hu-
name principles. He is one that has
the cunning of the fox and the in
dustry of the bee Neither Platt ncr
any other political boss ever accon-
plished anything of benefit to the
nation.
The American people will be under
control of bosses till they make up
their minds to conduct their own busi-
ness. Till then there will be men who
will assume to have in their pockets
large blocks of votes to be thrown as
they shall direct. Bossism tends to
undermine the foundations of popular
government through ema sculating men
of independence and self-respect. The
coterie. of bosses that grew up in the
last third of a century are nearly all
gone, some still linger on the stage of
action, but they are rapidly being dis
credited, and the great question Is,
will the people permit a new crop from
the succeeding generations?
Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-20
MR.. CROEsus

This befell Mr. Croesus, when he had
debauched
The senate, the judges, the whole
Had purchased elections while citizens
watched
Morality crumble to swift dissolution,
Had raised a food rate
And starved out state
And sert up his bribes to the heavenly
gate.
In utter embarrassment roared, Let
him halt
Since proof of his cormorant methods
is ample.
Well make of this Croesus an awful
example,
UncieanIY.' we'll dub him
And utterly snub him.
Condemning his methods to death and
We'll drive out the scandal
With bell book and candle,
With business boycott and social ex-
clGsion.'
Then lo how the world with frantic
Fell upon Croesuss ill-savored tram
quillity!
Bankers and brokers and wall street
magicians.
Tammany leaders,
Congressional feeders"
Stock yard decoys of Armourial breed
ers.
Gentry and mob
Rich man and slob,
Mrs. MCGinnis and Mrs Van Snob,
FroWned on poor CroesuS,
Though once well acquainted,
And pointed the digit
OF scorn in their tidget.
Shouting, Take back your gilt bau-
ble-it's tainted!
And when the Four Thousand exclu-
The taint Of dishonor that clung to
his millions.
Four thousand front doors were exclu-
sively closed;
And poor Croesus, Jr, was dropped
from cotillions,
From box parties tea parties, gin par
ties, clubs;
with snubs
BY matrons whose daughters had mar
ried the poerage.
CWhose fathers. It's true, had come over
by steerage.)
And next the -Four Million their favor
Attempting to do as the Four Thousand
When Croesus appeared
on the streets, as he neared,
The gamins threw missiles the popu-
In Wall street the reign OF his terror
was ended,
The stock exchange posted his name as
suspended:
The newsboys and 'Micks."
And the cabbies said NIX
When he offered 'em money-good land,
what a FIX
For the wealthiest man In the world,
whose lost glamour
Had barred his stark form
no a national storm.
popular wave OF unpopular clamor.
Wallace Irwin I'm Success Magazine.
Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-20
New Books for General Reader

r OR the first time in American his
tory we have book devoted en-
tirely to an analysis of THE Elec-
toral System of the United States" ].
Hampdeu Daugherty is it's author, and
he has rendered signal service to stu
dents of government in presenting it,
This volume vivdly portrays the extra
ordinary results which have followed
the use of the words i'm the constitution
of the United States, the votes shall
then be counted" after the provision
requiring the opening by the president
OF the senate, in presence of the senate
and the house of representa- tiVes, of the
returns of the electoral colleges. What
counting means, what are votes, who
shall count, these are questions which
have been the subject of lengthy de-
bates i'm congress. The judgments of
the electoral commissions in Florida,
Louisiana, Oregon and South Carolina
are reviewed; and the electoral COM
mission law of 1887 is subjected to
searching criticism. There is a concise
account of the several amendments re-
lative to the electoral system that have,
from time to time, been brought before
congress, and the author closes with
the presentation of a constitutional
remedy. The book covers a new field
and contains matters of great interest
upon subject of vital import. 1t Is
invaluable as "A historical treatise upon
the subject of the electoral count in the
United States.
The Electoral System of the United
States, by j. Hampden Daugherty. New
York; G. p. Puunam's Sons.
The freshness, simplicity and tender
ness of Mr.. Gison's books are widely
known. Miss Primrose" his latest,
pictures typical American rural COM
munity with a group of interesting
characters, among them Bertran
Weatherby, a little boy whose mind is
filled with dreams of Tom Brown al
Rugby. Miss Primrose's romance adds
a touch of sentiment and humor to a
story of delightful originality and
elusive charm.
Miss Primrose, by Ray Ralph ellison
New York: Harper g. Bro.
That Mark Twain is Americas great
est humorist goes without saying. That
he, therefore, should be best qualified
Of Americans to select the best humol
Of American writer's. is equally self.
evident. Ergo. Mark Twain's Library
Of Humor" may be set down at once
as an anthology remarkable. This
series Is, i'm fact, veritable encyclo-
paedia. which contains not only choice
selections from Mark Twains writings
Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-20

some twenty-five years ago by his gov
ernment to look into the railroad sys-
TEN of the United States reported
among other things: "In America pub
lie works are executed without refer
tury witnessed the erection in this
country of so noble a structure as the
arched high bridge which carries Gro
ton water into New York city; the mas
sive and not uninteresting Cabin Johns
bridge near Washington. famed until
very recently as being the largest
single arch bridge in the world; the
Eads bridge across the Mississippi at
st. Louis, representing a striking and
generally pleasing combination of
masonry and ironwork, and many minor
structures of distinct artistic merit.
Even the all iron bridge, in the hands
of some engineers who are willing to
look at their work as an architectural
proposition. has proved to have an at
tractiveness OF its own, though beauty
of the highest type 1t can never pos
sess.
Among the older bridges of the coun-
try, those especially involving stone
work of the colonial and revolutionary
period, there are many that are truly
notable i'm appearance.
The spirit of esthetic improvement is
on us at last, and the opportunity that
structure thrown across body OF
water offers for picturesque and deco
rative effect has become recognized by
practically all architects and by the
intelligent public. In the plans Tor the
Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-20
Written for The Herald by ex-eoV
Lionel A. Sheldon

THOMAs G. PLATT for some time
has occupied a conspicuous place in
the public eye. not for any great
public service he has rendered but for
the reason that for a series of years he
has carried the Republican party of the
greatest state of the Union in his
waistcoat pocket.
Platt went into the house of repre-
sentatives at Washington on March 4.
1873 from the middle western part of
the state OF New York of which con-
gress was a member. At that time
I made his acquaintance and have
since met him on many occasions, and
am somewhat familiar with his politi-
cal operations. He remained a MEM
Der of that body for two or three
terms.
Though Platt sojourns chiefly in New
York city, where his business and
political headquarters have been, he
has retained his voting residence i'm
the county where he was born and
reared.
In the Fortythird congress 1 am
quite sure that Platt never introduced
a bill or resolutions; certainly he did
not attempt to make q speech, and /
do not remember that his voice was
ever heard except in response to the
call of his name, when an aye and no
vote was taken. He attended the ses-
sions with commendable regularity and
silently took note of the proceedings.
He Is not a speaker nor emotional, nor
is he man of large learning, and for
knowledge of public questions his at
tainments are meager
So also Platt is n man without at
tracttve personality. He is neither
large nor handsome, nor is there in
him mach electricity or enthusing
power. On the contrary he is lean,
cold, unsprightly and cadaverous.
There are men who excite admiration
by their mental strength, their intense
feeling for humanity. or their moral
grandeur. Platt belongs to neither of
these classes. One is only impressed
by the coldness of his calculations, his
demeanor being neither suave nor
bland.
His Power
1t will be asked in what then lies
his power of achievement in politics? =?
1t is in the marvellous and dull work
with the details of organization, in
tremendous influence with those who
have a taste for political manipula-
tions as the chief object of life, in the
finding of holes and the pins to put
into them in the comprehensive and
exact management of the machine so
that as little friction as possible may
be encountered. Platt, like other con-
spicuous bosses, never labored to build
up q party on high principles but to
Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-20
MISUNDERSTANDING PLANT

A Trinidad botanist in examining a
collection of plants from the Pitch lake
at La Brea found a species of utricu-
laria which catches mosquitoes. Its
bladder traps are curious pear-shaped
organs, and some of them were found
to be holding mosquito larvae by the
tails. The captives were quite dead. In
another a larva had just been caught,
and though struggling was unable to
escape. The notwithstanding utri-
cularia should be encouraged as a
seconder of the efforts which are now
being made to exterminate this disease
carving insect London Globe.