Princeless

Tammany was without a chieftain. Charles F. Murphy was dead. Tammany was looking for a new Prince. Tammany chose James A. Foley. Foley was a son-in-law of Murphy-- had married the Tammany boss's adopted daughter. He had been in both Houses of the State Legislature of New York. He had a good job on the bench as Surrogate. He was not anxious to succeed his father-in-law. Mr. Foley was not anxious to be boss of Tammany, but his wife, who had been the daughter of a Tammany boss, was determined not to be wife of a Tammany boss. She protested vigorously. Tammany also protested--that it needed Foley. Foley yielded, not to the daughter of a Tammany boss, but to Tammany. The great news was announced. Tammany had found a Prince. The Wig-wam's bonfires were lit. "The King is dead! Long live the King!" That night Mr. Foley was not well. He had an attack of acute indigestion. Next morning he renounced the throne. His doctors said that if he accepted he would be dead within a month. If the indigestion was real, or if it was metaphorical, it was certainly acute. Tammany went again in search of a Prince.