The New York herald., 1921-02-24
BIG BILL EDWARDS
ENJOYS A BIRTHDAY
1t Was His 44th and Practical
ly Everybody Was There
TO Greet Him.

Up 10 last midnight William ii. Ed
wards. Collector of Internal Revenue
had not been nominated for Mayor or
Sheriff or any other job. But In the
presence of 1900 men who had congre-
gated in the ballroom of the Hotel
Commodore Big Bill was kissed by Mary
| Garden and accused by Luther b. Little,
William G.. McAdoo, former Gov. Smith
and others of possessing all the virtues
a human being can have and still be
human.
1t was Big Bills birthday---his forty
tour-th---and virtually everything that
can take place at a party that has any
license to be called a party occurred.
They gave him a birthday cake weigh
ing 200 pounds and adorned by A can
dies. 1t took six walters to carry ii
into the dining room. The Tammany
Glee Club, clad in the football raiment
cf the day when Big Bill captained the
Princeton team back in 1900, sang songs
until. overcome by emotion. they re-
tired. serenading AL. Smith by sheer
force of habit.
Mr. Little announced that he had been
informed that virtually all classes Of
society were present-"the very rich.
the very poor, the very righteous and
some crooks" He added that, despite
the presence of Police Commissioner
Enright, he had observed considerable
violation of the Constitution and the
law. Sitting beside Big BIZ on the
dias among others were Bishop-elect
Manning, Rabbi Silverman, Raymond
d. Fosdick and Stanley Keck, captain
OF the 1921 team at Princeton. And
down ON the floor sat athletes enough
to make UP several Olympic teams. suf-
ficient politicians to run the world for
twenty years or so and bankers, doctors.
clergymen and merchants enough to
stock q good sized city.
kilograms were received from John
Grer Hibben, president of Princeton
University George Foster Peabody and
Daniel Chaplin, Federal prohibition en-
forcement agent. 1t was difficult to
reconcile the crowd to the absence OF
Mr.. Chaplin. but when tho banners ap-
peared announcing hope that Big Bill
would live to be 100 and have a party
every year the more optimistic ones
braced UP.
After first rapturously embracing Big
Bill, Mary Garden declared that he was
of sufficient size to represent both Esca-
milo and Don Jose and that she'd sing
the Habanera II he'd consent to stand
beside her. Then, embracing him again,
she sang Coming Through the Rye"
There was some weeping about this time
and AL Smith loudly bemoaned the fact
that he had been born in December in
stead of February.
Then the speakers began deluging Big
Bill with "a Niagara of molasses." as
Mr.. Smith put II. Mr.. McAdoo declared
that his chief claim 10 fame lay in the
fact that he had appointed Bill Collector
of Internal Revenue. Mr.. Little reviewed
at great length the life Of the hero.
starting with the lay Big Bill was born
In Lisle. N. Y, and omitting not so much
as one brief afternoon since. Mr.. Smith
supplied side lights as they occurred TO
him. not forgetting n touching scene
of Big Bill reinstating to service a
recreant driver of rubbish cart Tin the
days when Big Bill was Street Cleaning
COMMISSIONER, and the long distance
parades that Bill organized in the inter-
ests of the Liberty loan drives