ne year and was then released on a flimsy
technicality by the Court of Appeals. Civil suits were now brought, and,
unable to obtain the $3,000,000 bail demanded, the fallen boss was sent
to jail. He escaped to Cuba, and finally to Spain, but he was again
arrested, returned to New York on a man-of-war, and put into Ludlow
Street jail, where he died April 12, 1878, apparently without money or
friends.

The exact amount of the plunder was never ascertained. An expert
accountant employed by the housecleaners estimated that for three years,
1868-71, the frauds totaled between $45,000,000 and $50,000,000. The
estimate of the aldermen's committee was $60,000,000. Tweed never gave
any figures; he probably had never counted his gains, but merely spent
them as they came. O'Rourke, one of the gang, estimated that the Ring
stole about $75,000,000 during 1865-71, and that, "counting vast issues
of fraudulent bonds," the looting "probably amounted to $200,000,000."

The story of these disclosures circled the earth and still affects the
popular judgment of the American metropolis. It seemed as though Tammany
were forever discredited. But, to the despair of reformers, in 1874
Tammany returned to power, electing its candidate for mayor by over 9000
majority. The new boss who maneuvered this rapid resurrection was John
Kelly, a stone-mason, known among his Irish followers as "Honest John."
Besides the political probity which the occasion demanded, he possessed
a capacity for knowing men and sensing public opinion. This enabled him
to lift the prostrate organization. He persuaded such men as Samuel J.
Tilden, the distinguished lawyer, August Belmont, a leading financier,
Horatio Seymour, who had been governor, and Charles O'Conor, the famous
advocate, to become sachems under him. This was evidence of reform
from within. Cooperation with the Bar Association, the Taxpayers'
Association, and other similar organizations evidenced a desire of
reform from without. Kelly "bossed" the Hall until his death, June 1,
1886.

He was succeeded by Richard Croker, a machinist, prizefighter, and
gang-leader. Croker began his official career as a court attendant under
the notorious Judge Barnard and later was an engineer in the service of
the city. These places he held by Tammany favor, and he was so useful
that in 1868 he was made alderman. A quarrel with Tweed lost him the
place, but a reconciliation soon landed him in the lucrative office of
Superint