It is easiest to reach them in the holiday mood of expansive good-will, but on their side it seems natural and kindly that he should do it.

The alderman procures passes from the railroads when his constituents wish to visit friends or attend the funerals of distant relatives; he buys tickets galore for benefit entertainments given for a widow or a consumptive in peculiar distress; he contributes to prizes which are awarded to the handsomest lady or the most popular man.

At a church bazaar, for instance, the alderman finds the stage all set for his dramatic performance.

When others are spending pennies, he is spending dollars.

When anxious relatives are canvassing to secure votes for the two most beautiful children who are being voted upon, he recklessly buys votes from both sides, and laughingly declines to say which one he likes best, buying off the young lady who is persistently determined to find out, with five dollars for the flower bazaar, the posies, of course, to be sent to the sick of the parish.