A STUPENDOUS SWINDLE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XIV, Issue 4773, 26 January 1887, Page 4

A STUPENDOUS SWINDLE.

The American correspondent of the Dunedin Evening Star says : New York City is in the throe 3of excitement over the revelation of corruption unparalleled even in the days of " Boss " Tweed. A little over a year ago a railway company applied to the Common Council for the right to lay its tracks upon Broadway, but there arose a perfect storm of opposition, and whilo tho matter was under discuaaion tho ordinance to grant the franchiso was passing through in the Council, so that its defeat seemed certain. But when the test vote catno it was passed by a largo majority. The Mayor vetoed it, but the Council passed it over tho veto, and so the franchiso was legally obtained. Now for the scquul. The railway company worked cautiously, and oiled tho municipal machinery. At a private caucu3 of thirteen aldormcn they submitted twr. propositions : They would give for the " franchise " LloO.OOO— half in cash and half in bonds of tho company — or they would give £110,000 in cash for it. The latter proposition was accepted. The thirteen aldermen stuck together, voted the measure through the Council, paid the expense of securing the necessary votus to pass over the veto, and had about £4000 apiece net. This was too much money to conceal among such a crowd of villains. The actual result to the thirteen ia as follows : In the State prison, 1 ; in exile in Canada, D ; in the grave, '2 ; pronounced insano, 1 ; on trial, 1 ; under indictment, 3 ; turned State's evidence, 2. The deliberate coolness of the thirteen, as told in tho Court, beggars description. Ordinarily it is an honor to bo chosen as an alderman in a great city. It will not bo much honor to be an alderman of Now York for somo time.

lt You men arc incorrigible, and should be sat down upon," said a young lady to her bashful young man as they occupied the parlour alone one evening. And yet the !unk-hcad kept right on rocking in a big cushioned chair that was never calculated to hold less than two at a time. Never Return.— lt is said that one out of every four real^invalids who go to foreign countries to recover health never return, except aa a corpse The undertakers, next to the hotel-keepers, have the most profitable business This excessive mortality may be prevented and patients saved and cured under the care of friends and loved ones at home, if they will but use American Co. 'a Hop Bitters in time. Read.