Omaha daily bee., 1909-04-04

is in the best physical condition, clean as
a hound tooth, and looks like an athlete,
straight and %springy.
Scotch-Irish by descent and parentage,
he has gone through all OF the gradations
from close-held boyhood, public school life.
country school teacher, principal of a
small town school, law student, office
holder as county recorder for one term,
admitted lawyer, practicing attorney, city
attorney for thirteen months by appoint
ment, then more general law practice
and now the duly chosen leader of a clti-
zenship which picked him out for favor
in a public primary.
Mr.. Breen is a bachelor, and 1t must
be from choice, because this type OF man
appeals to sensible women, as a rule. He
lives happily in the home OF a married
sister, out Hanscom Park way, and has
nieces and nepheVs enough to make him
feel 1t is good to- be represented in the
next generation.
There is an air about John p. Breen
that has been subject of criticism to some
extent. and even those who regard him
very kindly have wondered what 1t is. The
mar is not repellant in manner or at all
unsociable; In fact, quite the contrary when
you get inside his guard, break down the
rather crusty reserve that a studious law
yer unconsciously acquires. Breen's air
that puzzles is a relic of his pedagogical
days. the indefinable hint OF authoritative
administration that is common to all men
who have been teachers for a longer or
shorter time.
Colleges and schools are the salvation
of this country" said Mr.. Breen, emphati-
pallW aa ha eiunaA a naffffnp rannaaflnn
the legislature to buy for the state the
Wayne normal school, the creation of the
late Professor Pile, now orrered to the
state at a, figure said to be greatly below
its cost. This candidate for mayor is a
studious man, a book-lover by reason of
early training and natural disposition. On
his desk top stands a set of Theodore
R~oosevelt's works, and in cases about his
office are many law books in orderly
array.
Mr.. Breen taught four winter terms OF
district school in Iowa and served one
year as principal at Dayton, in that state,
always with an eye on the law. Fort
Dodge, Ia, was the scene of all the upper
schooling he had. except one year at Ames.
When elected recorder of Webster county
Iowa, he worked faithfully in the dis
charge OF his duties and studied hard in the
law books. so that at the end of one term
he gained the certificate of admission to
the bar. Then he practieed in Fort Dodge
and Cedar Rapids until 1857, when he came
to Omaha. Here he has done very we'll in
his profession and has taken on a hint OF
gray in the thinning hair on a we'll
shaped head. 1t Is a large head. too, es-
pecially about the upper region, and bears
on its front a very good face. which IL
decorated with a military mustaehe. The
smile that fits across the countenance IL
not perennial. for this man Is Of a serious
character. with whom life has been a
serious proposition from the days OF youth
in Lockport, H.. to the hard-working year,
OF busy manhood in Omaha
II was as city attorney for thirteen
months, perhaps. that Mr.. Breen becams
first very well known TO the people OF
this city, When he assumed the office there
were something over 20 cases pending In
state and federal courts. left over from