The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-05-11
Chas. Fl. Murphy Rose From Congested Eastside II
To Leadership OF Powerful ammany Machine

Swelled Head Chowder club. In bis
young manhood there resided close by
his home in the old 18th ward Of the
18th assembly district, in the territory
adjacent to Stuyvesant and Gramercy
squares, Hamilton Fish, William NJ.
Erarts, Peter Cooper, Samuel ]. Til
den, the Roosevelts with Theodore
just beginning to. sproutA bran s.
Hewitt, mayor in 1S87-1SSS; State
Senator James w. Gerard, the father
of the present ex-amhassador to Ger.
many; David Dudley Field, Cyrus
Field and Edward Cooper, who was
mayor in 1879 and 1880.
From this director it may be as
sumed that the part Of New York which
developed the slightly educated Charles
+. Murphy also developed men of. edu-
cation and wealth who took an interest
in public affairs and became leaders
in politics. 1t is recalled by only
few of the old friends Of Mr.. Murphy
that at time when he was coming into
power in his neighborhood the Tam
many organization reached q stage of
decadence,. which impelled many OF its
young adherents to desert 1t tempo
rarily.
Among those who walked out of the
organization and joined the county de-
mocracy, which gave signs Of being
strong enough to dispiace the parent
body in New York county, was young
Charles +. Murphy. He was lconsid4
cred Of sufficient importance to pc
given a place on the general commits
tee Of the assembly district. Among
his associates in the committee mem
bership were Abram 8. Hewitt. SAM
uel ]. Tilden, the elder Gerard and Ed
ward Cooper
These men respected the political sa'
gacity Of the smiling young red-head
from over among the gas houses. All
passed away long ago, but they left
behind friends to whom they gave an
estimate of the rising leader of the
,eishteenth district which made It pos
sible for Mr.. Murphy in the years of
his Tammany leadership to make many
astonishing deals and combinations
Even in the inner circles of the. or
eanizat ion it was not known that G.
Els embryonSc political associations
were 80 important or so lasting.
G. r. first went to school at the age
Of six in public school No. % in Nine,
tenth street, between Avenue 4 and
First avenue That school was aban-
3oned and he afterward garnered what
ever Of education he enjoyed in a pub
lie school in 10th street, between Sec
ond and Third avenues and In another
in Twenty-third street, the principal
Of which was Miss Sally Bodine.
Compelled To Quit School
This woman was much attached to
G. f.. and strongly advised against, his
leaving school to 90 to work in the
shipyard when he was ii. She saw
possibilities in the boy which she be-
lieyed an education would aid. but
there were q lot of young Murphy
mouths to be fed at that time and the
pay of the father and the eldest son
was strained to encompass the rent and
the milk and oatmeal and eOrned beef
and cabbage necessary to the physical
well being Of the family
In his off time C. +. played with
the other boys of the district in what
was then called s"rhe Lots" and Is now
known as THE Farm" vacant space
bounded by Eighteenth and Nineteenth
streets and Avenue B and the East
river The little fellows whipped tops
and shot marbles and played tags and
hide-And-seek and in warm weather
tossed a baseball about. One OF his
playmates recalls that when C. #. was
a freshman, as 1t were. on the. play
ground the boys made him the victim
of prank called Horseshoe the Mare. $
The boy selected for the divertisser
ment was blindfolded and led By 0
roundabout route tor the front of 8. pri-
vate dwelling. There he was compelled
to get down on all tours. His tor
mentors would then tie rope to- his
right foot and fasten the other end
to the doorbell pull Of the house, A
boy would go through the motions OF
putting a horseshoe on the elevated
foot and then the word would be given,
You're a raceherse. Runw
Never TriclEed Him Again
I'VE did that on C. +. when he first
came among u.s." one of his playfei-
lows told the writer, but we never tried
any other tricks on him. Even as a
child thOse eyes of his could flash fire,
and he wasn't afraid of anybody.
Years later, when, after the death
Of his father, he became the head of
he installed at the front door of his
home q pushbutton arrangement to re-
place the old fashioned doorbell. 1t
was the first Of it's kind in the gas
house district and people CAME from
blocks around to, experiment with it,"
Mrs. Eva Kaiser and Ed Weigand,
elderly and still living in the shadow
of the gas tanks, knew G. +. as atboy
and q young man. They say athat
when he left the shipyard he worked
for time in wire factory and then
( got a job AZ a street ear driyerT-but
not, as has been currently reported,
on crosatown car. 49,
e. f.. navigated car on what was
known as the Green Line Of the Dry
Dock and East Broadway system, He
was noted, Mrs. Kaiser says, for his
strict attention to the signals of pas
senaers desiring to board his car. WON
en- and children were never in danger
.f teass. kKa.s,1.~e. hv, &kn mssNIa. efa rRfn .