Evening star., 1932-10-09
HARDNESS COSTLY
. TO JIMMY WALKER
Lost Chance for Renomina-
tion on One Event He Want
ed to BE on Time.
BY LEMUEL F PARTON.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW YORK October 8-James j.
Walker was always deliberately late. 1t
was system-there was method in it.
Oscar Wilde characterized it in The
Picture of Dorian Gray:
He was always late on principle, his
principal being that punctuality is the
thief of time"
And so, mischievouS fates, in due
time, shared the leisurely Mr.. Walker
In one of his pet principles. For once
IN his life, he wanted to be on time.
when he boarded the gaudy new italian
liner Rex at Genoa. This swift. smart
new ship was the perfect triumphal
chariot for his homecoming.
Insiders knew that Mr.. Walker had
by no means been counted out. There
at Madison Square Garden would be the
big, inflammable Tammany mob. There
would be an equilibrium Of political
forces, latent and unchanged fanatical
loyalty to the playboy mayor, needing
only a glimpse of his trim figure, the
infection of his SMILE gallant thrust
or two. a hoarse denunciation of his
Misunderstanding only this to stampede
the crowd and make him, once again,
Tammany'S candidate for mayor. Maybe
he would be just a few minutes late,
spotlighted dramatically, just to create
the moment of high suspense. The fuse
was laid for an explosive moment.
Three Agencies Combine.
An ironic destiny chose three mex
orable agencies to confound the man
who was always late. One was the
exactitudes of the law. one was an i'm
placable ocean, not yet in Tammdny'S
domain, one was the vagaries Of an cleo
trio current in a commutator brush.
away down in the hold of a proud new
ship
On the Rex, the former mayor came
to Gibraltar. There the dynamo cur
rent went wrong, and there James J.
Walker was sidetracked on his way back
home-late, indeed, this time, with his
"vindication," his glamorous career at
stake. He grabbed train that carried
him north to the English Channel, and
the regal ship Europa bore him swiftly
across the Atlantic, but for once in his
life the late Mayor Walker was just too
late. Boss John F. Curry and the other
Tammany potentateS waited until the
last minute before counting him out.
Mr.. Walker. likewise, avoided commit
mentS on the ship which would elimi-
nate him. The known fact is that the
resilient Jimmy was primed for a spec
tacular comeback but the vagaries of
dynamo threw switch on him.
Whatever llSCTuldUle lOTCeS OTQ6TeU
all this, managed it all in the tenets of
good theater, Surrogate John P.
O'Brien, who got the Democratic nomi-
nation for mayor with the crowds
cheering for Walker, is the perfect
dramatic antithesis of Walker. He is
a ponderous, seasoned, bulky oldline
politician, extolling the copybook max
inns as earnestly as Mr.. Walker f1ounted
them, circumspect. literal. punctual and
punctilious. That's system, too.
Walker Considers Offers.
Fusion talk centered on Mayor Nc
Kee filling the gap between Mr.. Wal
kers resignation and the incumbency
of next months winner. Most of this
talk was rather dipirited and casual
1t was generally agreed, in advance of
the city convention, that there was
little likelihood of the Republicans, in
spite of the non-partisan cheers at
tending Mr.. NcKee's budget-balancing,
getting behind even so promising a fu-
sion candidate The still comparatively
young Mr.. Mckee, however, has caught
the fancy of the town, and his political
horoscope is cast by the sages in bright
colors-whatever happens at this par
ticular election.
In the meantime, Mr. Walker, the
man who was late once too often, is
said to be considering alluring business
Offers in which his charm and his high
ly publicized name may be useful.
Copyright 1927