Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-11
new MAYOR PUTS
HUM IN CHICAGO
Cermak, immigrant Boy,
Once Fired From Mine,
HustIing Executive.
anecial nisnatnh Ia ,rhe star.


CHICAGO, May IL (N,A.N.A) Led
by former Illinois mine boy who was
fred for seeking a raise In wages this
city has gone back to work.
tUr four weeks now that one-time
apprentice miner, Anton J. Cermak,
has been mayor of Chicago and already
the bold strokes by which he Is paint
ing a new picture OF municipal govern
ment are beginning to appear on the
Fundamentally Chicago is still the
'pulsating. go-getting city 1t always has
been. But Mayor Cermak has begun to
restore order.
In the mayors newly decorated Of
fice. on the fifth floor of Chicago's City
Hall, one realizes quickly that the i'm
migrant mine boy has fulfilled his
destiny.
Getting Ready for Fair.
Here, in an appropriate setting is
working mayor at the head Of
far-fiung organization that is getting
ready for a world fair to commemorate
properly the amazing story of Chicago's
first 100 years.
Already TONY" Cermak has put new
life into Chicago's Police and Fire De-
partmentS. Each day he is showing
that he has an intense and detailed in
terest in the management Of the city'S
schools and the kind of education that
Is being provided for the half million
school children. big Bill' Thompson's
interest, Chicagoans have felt in the
declining years of his three terms, was
far more general and vague.
When two Chicago policemen were
shot down on busy corner by a fugi-
tive bank bandit Mayor Cermak took
q hand in questioning the killer who
had been captured by other officers q
few minutes later. and was highly in
strumental in securing q confession
from the prisoner.
When funeral services were held on
successive days for those policemen, the
mayor of the city took time of from
his manifold duties to attend. The
morale of the police department has
shown q decided improvement.
At a meeting, of the City Council
Cermak ushered to the rostrIm q fire.
man who had done yeoman rescue work
In the tunnel disaster that took the lives
Of IL persons last month. Immediately
the city's flreflghters decided anew that
their efforts are not in vain.
Long Hours on Job.
What are Mayor Cermak's office
hours? That's question almost as diff
fcult to answer as when 1t was asked
during the regime of Thompson. who
he has been seen entering his ONCE as
early as or in the morning. He has
been seen leaving as late as pm.
Today he was down by o'clock, get
ting in ahead Of his secretaries and the
influx of Office seekers, who have given
him not a minutes respite since he
took his oath of office.
In the outer Office one discerns the
9irst signs Of q more busineSSlike atti-
Tn Nf
tiers or large advertising pictures. one
finds bare. dignified walls. And. rather
than milling crowd. there are benches
for those who insist upon seeing the
mayor.
In the office Of the secretaries there
IS more activity. Typewriter keys
click. Stacks Of mail are sorted and
disposed Of. On one wall Is the gal
lery Of Chicago's mayors. The large
frame seems to allow space for only
one more picture and no one has yet
had time to insert the necessary por-
trait Of Cermak. Here, too, is a table
apparently all prepared for emergency
meetings of the mayors advisory COM
mission. It seems that Cermak in
tends to call upon his advisers often.
New Spirit Indication.
But the principal indication of a
new spirit is noticed in the inner ONCE
of the mayor. Sitting in corner, one
watches the procession through the
ONCE. For all Of the visitors Cermak
has smile of greeting. His express
sion becomes serious perhaps when the
business at hand is discussed. but
there is q marked absence of the
"hail-fellow-wen-met" boisterousness Of
Thompson
The hearts Of the citys taxpayers
are being won by Cermak through his
economy moves, which, II successful,
win eventually result in the reduction
of taxes. Professional political pay
rollers probably don't like the moves,
but the bulk of the voters do.
Cermsk is showing signs Of govern
mental intelligence. too, by his attempts
20 consolidate the overlapping bodies
in the city's archaic structure. Under
Thompson the municipality seemed to
be hodgepodge of ephemefal depart
ments that stepped into each others
territories with impunity. Lines of de-
marcation are being stenciled slowly
but surely by Cermak.
ChicagoanS are responsive, moreover,
10 the type Of men Cermak is bringing
TO his cabinet and other city positions.
For the most part his appointments
have been eminently popular.
And what the voters like perhaps bet
ter than anything else is the indie
pendence with which he is refusing to
be "let down" by the men of wealth
who have clamored for an improved
city government
(CopyriEht, 1881. by the North American
Newspaper Alliance)