"Boss" Tweed : the story of a grim generation / by Denis Tilden Lynch.

The Capture

401

the sorry appearance of Tweed. He was dressed in the nondescript shore clothes of a poor sailorman, a collarless linen
shirt, an old black alpaca coat, a still older brown vest, and
trousers of black and white check.
Tweed was assigned a salon adjoining the Commander's.
It was a long and stormy voyage. Tweed messed with the
officers, one of whom said on the ship's arrival in New York
on November 28: "His behavior was that of a perfect gentleman. He was always glad to see any of us when we called
on him.... In his habits he was very abstemious. Though
everything on the ship was at his disposal, he made no extra
demands. He did not smoke, nor did he drink, either wine
or spirits, unless when unwell. Most of the time he spent
in reading, and when urged by the Captain, on the Surgeon's
recommendation, to take an airing on deck, he availed himself
of the privilege only once. Perhaps he felt it humiliating to
walk on deck in company with an officer on guard."
Tweed gives us a possible reason for remaining in his
salon and not seeking the freedom of the deck. There was the
temptation to end it all by leaping overboard. He tells us.
that he frequently contemplated suicide, but was restrained
by the thought of the additional sorrow and disgrace this would
bring upon his family. Then, too, this strange mixture had
profound religious convictions that interposed. Thus he explained: "It would have been a wicked end to a very wicked
life." Still another reason was his ill-health. He was a very
sick man and knew that he had not long to live. His intense
life, and the hounding of the past five years or more, had
told on him. Tweed had a superstitious dread that he would
die as his father had died, of heart trouble. Several times
on shipboard the FrankViln's surgeon had prescribed sherry
and water.
Tweed when returned to the jail was no longer held as a
prisoner awaiting trial in the civil suit for $6,000,000 brought
by the State, but as a debtor to the People in that sum, judgment having been obtained against him in his absence. Reporters sought interviews with him daily. He denied himself
to all. He was very bitter toward the newspapers and their