that young fellow got into the Assembly he paid no attention to
bills or debates about New York City. He didn't even show any
interest in his own district. But just let Brooklyn be mentioned, or
a bill be introduced about Gowanus Canal, or the Long Island
Railroad, and he was all attention. Nothin' else on earth interested
him.

The end came when I caught him-what do you think I caught him
at? One mornin' I went over from the Senate to the Assembly
chamber, and there I found my young man readin'-actually readin'
a Brooklyn newspaper! When he saw me comm' he tried to hide
the paper, but it was too late. I caught him dead to rights, and I
said to him: "Jimmy, I'm afraid New York ain't fascinatin' enough
for you. You had better move back to Brooklyn after your present
term." And he did. I met him the other day crossin' the Brooklyn
Bridge, carryin' a hobbyhorse under one arm, and a doll's carriage
under the other, and lookin' perfectly happy.

McCarren and his men are the same way. They can't get it into
their heads that they are New Yorkers, and just tend naturally
toward supportin' Hill and his hay-seeds against Murphy. I had
some hopes of McCarren till lately. He spends so much of his time
over here and has seen so much of the world that I thought he
might be an exception, and grow out of his Brooklyn surroundings,
but his course at Albany shows that there is no exception to the
rule. Say, I'd rather take a Hottentot in hand to bring up as a good
New Yorker than undertake the job with a Brooklynite. Honest, I
would.

And, by the way, come to think of it, is there really any upstate