The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York • Page 27

THE BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE. XEW YORK. SUNDAY. nVTlCTT T. 1011.

3 if CHIT MAMJEE SCfflDEME Henry M. Waite, Roundly Criticised at First, Begins to Convince Doubting Citizens That He's Worth His $12,000 Salary After Two Months of Active Service. Taciturn Czar of Ohio City Has Piled Up a Number of Radical Reforms to His Credit, and Promises to Resign if He Proves Unworthy. ab 1 ment has been suhjected to considerable I in the people running their own affairs, criticism it assumed office, owing I "id I hold mywlf simply as the alto the fact that Mr. Walte.

right the 1 at Pole's wishes." in Uo time City Manager school situation and other features of life among the people here. Baseball league organized for the city to develop spirit of clean sport among athletes of IJayton. Water works and sewage experts engaged to make thorough probe of tho city's properties, and to report within the next two months. Municipal skating pond for children (Special to The Eagle.) DATTONi February 28 Thers are soine people In Dayton who still remember a time Then It was possible to secure a man to serve as for $6,000 a rear. But tot waa almost three months ago, and man's memory fails him when he tinder-takes to recall former times such as the one mentioned.

Today City Manager Walte, a bachelor, ntll next April at least, a civil engineer by profession, an Ohloan by birth and a first-class, capable man of train- 1 If has d. llvered over 100 speeches he-fore improvement associations and various ors.inlz.itions in different sections. Dayton. Ills services have ben so mtifh. lu demand that on some nighU fcai noe two and thie speeches, outllirlug in different of Dayton the work proposed for that se.tton.

Within these tw months the City Manager has thoroughly familiarised hlmaclf with the situation here. Dayton has a $6,000,000 bonded Indebtedness Imaging his and former associates from Clntinnatt. to take offices in Dayton. The new serlce director. 3.

A. Barlow, came up and took a a year Job; Hugh Wall, also from Cincinnati, became director of nnnm-e: C. T. Martin was named as street commissioner, and a feeliug arose at. ouce, righteously, some thought, that this man who had come to Dayton an utter stranger, was carryii things on in a rather lilgh-handed way.noB., Somebody thought It would be MffMmmm -I'M.

and hillsides set aside for coasting in 1 winter Information bureau established In the city building, wljere any citizen can lodge a kick and be sure that It ib re- ported t0 the proper official, "nen police to be named soon. I Municipal dance hall to be operated iundor th direction ot the welfare d- partment of the city. Of course other things have been planned and some other, minor things, have been accomplished, but these things have been the chief features of an administration that la now scarcely two months old. It ought to be said, frankly, right here, that City Manager Walte has mado good. But it mustn't be supposed that he lias done all these things without having boun cussed and criticised for he hasn't.

For an example, the new City Commission, shortly after assuming office, decided that the old city council had no right to Increase the salary of the municipal court Judges. Accordingly at a rccont meeting of the city officials the salaries wore considerably reduced. This brought forth a storm of criticism from the Judges and resulted, finally, in the holding of a public meeting, where was understood tho matter would bo thoroughly gone over, One of the Judges William A. Budroo, chief Justice ot the Municipal Court, in a vitriolio speech denounced the city commissioners roundly, end declared that if the officials desired to reduce the expenses of the city they had better begin by cutting Mr. Walte's salary, Mr, Waite was on the platform at the time, and ho sat for two hours while a wild, howling mob ot men shouted in derision of the new government and with cat calls and all manner of unpleasant phrases gave the new city manager to understand that he had nn business (o live at all, Tire marvel is that Mr, Walte did live HENRY WAITE YHMffiTE BILLY MAS MH3H E.E FE 5BMELY3M tug, has consented to relievo the Gem Oity of the Miami Valley of all respon- lollltles In munlclnal eorernment for the modest sura of $12,000 a year.

Every time the clock ticks Henry M. Walte picks out another penny from the city's treasury. He gets $1,000 a month, a modest sum for a very modest man, because City Manager Walte Is not given to talk. He floesn't careto exploit nim-elf. When you try to interview him, he iniis yon a perfectly good S-cent cigar, thrusts out Ills hand to bid you goodby, and Invites you to come back to see him (gain.

Dayton wanted Colonel Goethals, of Panama Canal fame, and the City Commissioners would likely have paid him $25,000 a year to have become City Manager. But Colonel Goethals was entirely too busy to think of leaving the Canal, and so the next man whom the Commie-eioners selected very generously consented to accept the position at $12,000 per. City Manager Keeps Business Jumping, City Manager Walte has kept municipal business Jumping since he assumed his office, January 1, I'M, One night an alarm of fire came in from some section of the oity, or other the exact location is of no consequence and when the wagons and motor trucks arrived on the ecene, there was Mr. W8'te' watch in hand, timing theiu arrival find expressing jits satisfaction oyer the fine re sponse, Of course no one could take exception to a stunt of this kind, because Mr. White (9 the highest priced city official jn the country.

He gets $2,000 a year more than Governor Cox pf Ohio, who Is a citiien payton. He gets more money that William Jennings Bryan, Secretary nf State; the salary ot TJnited States Senators from Ohio pals into Insignificance alongside of Cily Manager Walte's salary. And the Strang part about the whole thing is that this man who has jumped into the limelight as manager of a city of 110,000 people, the largest in the country to adopt the commission-manager form of government, refuses absolutely (0 discuss this salary busine3sr 'What I want to do the first year of my administration is to get Dayton people Interested in Mr. Waite said recently. I know there Is a lot expected ot me, but I'm not worrying about anything ot this sort.

I want to make good, and if the people pf Dayton are for me, that's all that's neccsBary." City Manager Walte talks just that. way. He Isn't bandsomo by any means in fact he has decided leanings toward homeliness. Someone once said that if Henry M. Waito was handsoma he could have commanded a salary of $190,000 a year.

But no one could accuse him of that, and the fact that he iBn't troubled along this line has doubtles permitted him to attending strictly to the Job which has been assigned to him, and to keep his mind off himself and his own busi-' ness. The second month ot City Manager Walte's administration is drawiug to a close. Here Is what lias happened thus fnr; Municipal lodging nou6e established lor Bleeping cots for homeless. Movement om foot to do away with the worMiouse and buy a prison farm Jest outside the city. taegal advisor for the poor, who lia in Welfare Department and who charges 10 cents a case to those who cannot afford more.

This is the second office ot Its kind in the country. flans for greater playgrounds for city under -way, to be perfected this sum-ei fltvle Music League organised for the i purpose of getting together a municipal symphony orchestra for Dayton, to pro-! Vide programmes at popular prices. doelal Surrey started which will result Mb eomplete investigation of social ron- llttons, homing problems, factory and good thing to start an agitation for a new city building, with the opening of the new administration. "This city needs a receiver more thau it needs a new city hall," was Mr. Waite's only response this suggestion.

The new city hall may not come for five years yet. Here is thn dally schedule for the new City Manager: Gets to his office at every morning. Goes over his mall until 8 o'clock, then out on the street and visit to the various municipal plants and cenferences with heads ot different departments. At o'clock he Is back In his office for the daily meeting ot his cabinet which, by the way. Includes the heads of various departments ot the city.

After lunch Mr. Walte is usually in his office for a couple of hours dictating letters and listening to complaints and receiving representatives from various organizations or societies who think thingn ought to tie done differently from the way they are being done. The rest ot the aftornoon Is spent M'lng over different phases of the city' activities, and utter the evening meal the City Mannger not Infrequently spend three hours In his office before going to bed. His ordinary working day is twelve hours, filled With business ot ft diversified nature. Was City Engineer of Cincinnati.

Before coming to Dayton, Henry Walte city engineer In Cincinnati. Hie last two months In which position ho drew salary of a year. It is generally understood that his salary will bo increased to $16,000 a year beginning January 1. 1015, It ho continues to give satisfaction. Ho was named by live City Commissioners elected by the people of Dayton, following the disastrous flood of March, one year ago.

In fact, the Commission-Manager form of government is the outi growth ot a spirit born amid the days ot he great disaster. John II. Patterson, president of the great cash register company, was tho leading spirit la tho movement which resulted tu the adoption ot this new form of government for Dayton. The commissioners occupy the same rc-Istlon to the city government as the old city council did. They compose the legls- lutlvo.

executive ana 'u uiieetors, so to speak of thlu city, and have selected Henry M. Watte, ns the general manager for the business. Mr. Wslta Is In entire charge of a(i appointments and even the commissioner do not go over his head In matters per talnlng to the. naming of men to office.

or devolplng plans for carrying pu thn work of the city. tlcorge W. Khroyer is Mayor ot Dayton, under the niw charter, by reason of having received the highest number of votes of the live commissioners. His position of Mayor rueanB absolutely nothing, however, except a salary of $1,800 a year and the name itself. He, of course, signs all ordinances as the city's cbJet executive, but.

names no one to office ami has no edmlnlatrative authority In lilm self. Mr. ftaito iB the Czar Hiiyton. so far, as his powers aro concerned. He has to answer lo 110,000 people for what ho doea, but he doesn't have to go to thstn 110,000 people and sk them for the prlv liege of doing what he thluks ought ta fc-! done.

But Ihe new City Manager Is soon to take on additional responsibilities. In Apr'J he In to desert, forever, the. ranks of baehelordom. Ho la to ha married tu a most rharmltig young woman of Lralnf ton, ana tne cuivns ot Dayton are liking him so well now that already there Is talk ot securing a municipal wedding prosent lor Dayton's new boss. The general fojllng existed here.

Just prior to tho ushering In ot the new eity administration, (hat there would be a general slaughter of the Innocents holding city ohs. Pretty nearly everyone (n authority expected to go. but most of them lave beta agreeably surprised. The chiefs of tha fire nud police departments, with hundreds of capaulo u-el tffVlrat em- ployees, were retained. Henry Walte has a tremendous rt- eponsiblllty, onl he realir.ea It.

but he hue the utmost confidence In bis ability tir provo that the CI'V Commissioners mado no misUike In sulceting him, und gradually tli of local citlstus Is drifting into ''lis same wy ut thinking, add pruning out ot what I ate! dlsgttsfi In going out of town to get men to 1111 all the good Jobs. But the city eommis-fionors looked at the thing In a different way. For years and years political rar- ties had made a plaything out of Dayton. When the Republicans were In power, Republicans got tho offices; when the Democrat were in the saddle, their followers were riding In ihe chirlots. The commiBStoner-monager form of government was to Bervo the (Ity beet.

If it eliminated polities, took everything that smacked of politics out of the city's life. Therefore this man was brought to Dayton, paid a big salary, ami given unlimited authority, and If he considered It iropor Co go out. of the city to Ret men to till Important ofllces, the thing was nil right. And the city manager took them ot their word when they said to him: "Mr. Walte.

you are for the city's affairs, you go ahead." He went alidad, too, and he has gone ahead, nmf wliilo he listens to everyone, from 1he poorest to the wealthiest, ho forms his own opinions. ITn came to Dayton stranger, with no knowledge of the city's political or serial life. He privately Inquired os to tho standing of Ihe men he wanted for ofn-e. Tils director of welfare Is Dr. D.

Frank Garland, paa-lor of one of the largest Lutheran churches in tho Middle West. Dr. Garland quit the pulpit and a salary to take this political office at $4,000 a year. In other lines of work Mr. Walte's appointments have been correspondingly clean.

Waite Believes in Town Meetings. "I believe in tho old-fashioned town meetings," ho told a newspaper man the day he took charge of hi new office, "and I'm going to vlcit every section of Dayton this year and outline my plans and ask suggestions from the peoplo. I believe Martin's Stores, Beard's Stores, Robinson's Stores, aud others of like nature, all names well known to Brooklynites of fifty yeai-B ago, and by which names thoy are known today, despite the fact that tney imve long since passed out of tbw control of the original ow'iiers. "What's all this twaddle the newspapers have been printing here of late (hat New York has no facilities for dry docking big boats? Did yoil ever see the time that. Anierieans foil short where other countries lead? 1 guess not, People that don't know what they are talking about have been going around saying that; it New York don't buck up and build new piers and put, in new dry docks, Boston will bo gottlng all the trade.

"Whim did Boston ever grow big enough to steal anything from New York? Thern are more people going about blowing off what they don't, know than you can ahako a stick ar. New York Is tile natural port of entry and departure in the I'ulted Stiiiei, und Brooklyn Is perfectly well adapted to take caro of any extensions which may be made, "Hlght here in Brooklyn we have dry docking facilities for all purposes that will ever be needed, and, what's more, we have a dry dock Hint will anything that floats short of tho Imperator, and if. lniBiness warrants tho extension, private capital siauds ready to enlarge Ihe dock to accommodate u-vessel 1,200 teet long. Does that look as though wo were bohlnd the time' Why, If New York can'; keep up her end, UruukLvn will do as she has always done -Jump in and help her. "(inly a week or so ago (he C'arpathia.

t.he ship thai under Captain Iloslron did such gr. ai. wjrk rescuing tho Tltaniu victims, was run Into the Kobblns Dry Dock aud Ui pair Company and completely oerhuuled and repainted, all within thre0 days. Kt.o went on tho ways on Monday nfternoon and was floutod at o'clock on Wednesday. That alone shows that hot only can the work bo done here, but It can be done r.pldly and well.

"While It is truo that it was the first time that a transatlantic ressul of such proportions has ever been dry docked hero (n the history of shipping In Now York, that by no means shows that It will not. bo done gain and often. "Well," said "Dynamite Billy" ns the noon whistles blew and the (latter of engines and the of the teamster gave way lo silent hurrying srours o' men laden with dinner pails and "I must bo going, to have met you. Drop around and tun ng.i.u day time you'ri In hulling diiUinct." I cfter that meeting. When Judge Budroo completed his denunciatory speech the elly inauacer was called upon, He faced r.nA i.

1'i upio in uayion largest audi-i ids nun mat ntgut, but In his customary cool, collected way, he thundered a dial-! lenge to these who mado fun of the new government and wound up his short, I shrouded Quarantine and Rtatcn Island, "this Is the time of year I get Ihe Yes, I want to be away, out tliere with a good bottom under me, with nothing but water as far as the eye can see. I watit (o hear tho creaking of Ihe gears and the wind through the halyards, 1 want to feel the heaving, of the sea and the sting of the spray. I want to feel the lash of the snow and the hall, to hear the flapping of the canvaa and the rattle of the chains and then I want to turn her nose South, out of the frozen North, toward the land of cocoanuts aud palmettos." As he spike, with a rattle that could be heard across the water, Ihe booms seemed to sink on the four-master, and with a (Treat billowing ot snowy canvas the sails came down and settled In tho gaskets, where they were Instantly furled into shipshape torn. A little tug, which had heretofore been chugging noisily at a distance, then drew near and whirled a line over the schooner's bow, to which was attached haivser. Once mado, fast, the tug steamed toward Ihe shore with the schooner in to her anchorage.

"The lubber!" said Billy in disgust. "That," he continued, "expresses more than words the difference between the old days and the new. Why, In tho old days there was not one among us who oouldn't bring our ship almost alongside, of eur doek under full canvass. I've seen Captain Jack Pitcher work the Dora, which wad a erurky an old maid and ar mean as an army mule, In the face ot a contrary wind, aud drop kls anchor nose South, out of the frozen North. I sharp speech by saying "If 1 don't pioe to you in a yrar'f, time that I am worth $18,000 year, you won't have to ask nio to resign, I'll step down and out of own accord but I'm Ruing make good." There were a good many of Mr.

Walte's friends in the- midleno '-'it who within but five feet ot where ho had said lie would, without reducing an inch of her canvas. "That was lung before Brooklyn's waterfront wac as It. is today," went on "Dynamite Billy" rcministeiitly. "In those days there were no such facilities for handling cargoes. When we took off the hatchcH the- cargo had to be lifted out ot the hold with hand-winches operated by thn rew.

"Today, though, conditions uleng the waterfront for tho rapid handling of fl-cieht fire peennd I et nn nnrt tn the world. r.very meeiiunieul device, tor mai.iiig inu loading and the unloading of shlis easier is in use here. Today a giant Meamir can be unloaded and prepared for sea In half the time, it used to take our goods ready to land. "It he ilrhily salil an i'i iy I hat the ii re. r.niMiua'ed nn! repMly irto decay.

Lord, uhn look back at the lima, when these i ra 'Tli'b lU of Year shook la their seats us lie rose Cut that last sentence won the day or him. It waa a hold challenge, hacked up by a strong man, nud ever since that you don't hem- very much In Dayton ah it the year Ity malinger nut making good, Ah a matter of fact the new govern- were first built, I thought then they were the last word In pier building. Today they are old, and wnat Is needed more than anything along the waterfront new piers. "Brooklyn is undoubtedly better adapted to the docking of big steamers thnn any other port in tho world, and 1 am of the that it is on the eve of a tremendous Impulse of Improvement and prosperity. "I can remember when It was composed of nothing hslt than a few shaky, jettieii prutruding out into the water on equally shaky piles.

I have seen these pais one by one und give place to somewhat better ones, owned by various of the old Brooklyn families upon -whose property they cro built. Back of these were erected the, old warehouses, at that time called rtores, and It was Ihrough these thut the waterfront became known ns series of stores with the name of the fumilles that owned them, such as iiiill H' was standing on a string piece fac ing a stiff northwest gale and gas- Ing wistfully out to sea. A gray, grizzled figure, large pf frame, which yet retained its erectness and masDlveness of shoulders that must have gone to make up a wonderful phyaiquo in his younger days. There be stood, the personification of much Pf the mystery and romance that one thinks of as the hall mark of the grim old sea dogs that commanded the ships of the United Stairs mercantile marine in tha days when it was second to none. Such is William MeQuire.

famous in tho days of clipper hnilt ships as "Dynamite Billy," once the most famous of filibusters, adventurers aud gua runners, but now descended to the roll of ''character ot (he Brooklyn His experiences through the ST years of his life have covered almost every portion of the known and many parts of the unknown world. He has been a sealer, whaler, gold hunter, soldier, sailor, pearl hunter, slaver, soldier of fortune and what not. Many of the episodes of his adventurous life have been beyond the pale of formality. Out of the annals ot his memory he can bring many a tale far beyond the imagination of the ordinary home-loving mortal. The old man's face is kindly.

The cheek bones are high and the nose large In fact, ponderous? There is nothing hard or cruel about the face which must have been a striking one In Its younger days. The eyes sre undlmmed by age and they have little dancing lights in them when he talks. The eyebrowB are luxuriant but the most striking feature Is the old man's mouth and chin. The mouth Is a large one and It has a peculiar faculty of twitching at the corners into quick, fleeting smiles. Below, the chin swung out In massive outline square and firm.

That was where the fight was; the determination. It was aggressive In Itself and one could readily understand that It had belonged to an adventurer of a day long past. "Hollo, my hearty," he greeted in a voice way down in his chest. A voice with the great resounding booming note of a bell. The voice in itself held somewhat ot tho romance of Its owner and brought up views ot sparkling surt ponnding upon reaches nf tropical sands.

"I fcuppose lis a yarn you're after," he Said: "Most cnine here nowadays are." "you know," raid Hilly, casting his eye seaward, where the billowing canvas of four-master, a survivor of other days coming up through the mists that I tfk WJ J1P' I Get the li.tuku-iiiY' Hog..