The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn, New York • Page 3

A 3 BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE, NEW YORK, SUNDAY, MAY 6, 1934 Cunningham Was World War Hero Before He Took Up City Financing vWvSW. weni.uver wun oyiii And Bravery Earned Him Title of Major Soldier, Business Man and Banker Became Candidate for Controller on LaGuardia's Insistence Was Hard Worker and Very Popular By WILLIAM WEER lr Y'AP r.i 17 Lawyer, soldier, businessman, banker and finally con troller and chief fiscal officer of the City of New York that was W. Arthur Cunningham, who died at Northport yesterday of a heart attack during a weekend ride on Death thus came suddenly, while Major Cunningham, at 40, was battling with the obstinate problem of New York's financial tangle, just as he was approaching a solution of the problem. He was born in the 4th Ward, downtown Manhattan, the same ward which produced Al-- other of his colleagues, and many fred E. Smith.

His father had been an engineer, for 28 years in the observers of all parties expressed their belief that he was the out- New York Fire Department. Two 1 Ciyi v. i ft Sisters are still public school teach- Bogrd Estimate. ers in Sheepshead Bay. I .11 I A Harl Worker When the future controller was a i He was hard worker.

He kept very long hours, digging into the I tangled web of the city's finances, Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn anH thjr Via uoa hrnnahf tin I seeking ways to straighten them He attended St. James Academy out. It was not unusual, during the and then went to Fordham Univer- sity; from which he graduated in I omy bill for him t0 stay up untu 1915 with the law degree of LL.B 4 a.m. at a legislative session in Albany, get perhaps three hours sleep, then take a 7:30 train to New York and plunge into more Mr. anil Mni.

Cuilninnliuin work on his arrival at City Hall that afternoon. Through it all, he retained his dignity and good humor. Veteran newspapermen covering City Hall noted his good-natured smile under all sorts of provocations particularly smiles were considered unusual for city controllers. The strain of dealing with municipal art nhoicn tihore lipr entpred He was admitted to the bar the following year. Went to France with 69th That was in 1916, when the World War had already been raging for two years in Europe Presently the United States, too, was dragged Into the bloodshed.

Young Cunningham, who was beginning to feel his way as a lawyer, enlisted for the First Officers Training Camp at Pittsburgh, and was commissioned a second lieutenant of Infantry in August 1917 and went to France with the old 69th Regiment now called the 165th It was part of the 42d, or Rainbow, Division. In his first engagement, Lieu the Hotel Anlor in Manhattan 7 lat to join in the f'un'on party celi'hratitm of it tweeping tirlory, when, he wa elected Controller. Top right, Mr. Cunningham in the reviewing ttand with Mayor LuCuurdia (left) and Borough President Ingermill (center) during the Brooklyn centennial parade. Lower left, the Controller at hit desk.

Lower right. Mm. Cunningham and children, John, 5, and Robert, 2. nnances Had, evidently, anything but a smiling effect on the city's chief fiscal officer. Carried Problems Home Major Cunningham continued to drive on, largely without rest and without a break in his good humor.

He attended ta xhearings, Board of Estimate meetings, all sorts of TT luuw is uiavci In Her Sorrow tenant Cunningham was wounded, and for his valor in action was awarded the Croix de Guerre. The citation made with the award read: "Having had one of his pieces buried by a torpedo of large calibre, he took all possilbe measures under the most violent bombardment to organize the rescue of several soldiers burried under their shelter and to save his material." Earned Title of Major He came back to the United States in 1919, having been promoted to captain and then major. He retained the title of major in the United States Army Reserve for the rest of his life. conferences in which the city's finances were involved. He labored over figures, figures, figures In his office, and he took his problems home with him.

He slept with them. He awoke with them and was deep in their intricacies over breakfast. Warned by Friends Only a few weeks ago, close friends said to him, in effect: "Let up, Slack down. You're working too hard. You can.

afford to go slow now. You can get any Continued from Page I rather than sentences Mrs. Cun ninghamls courage as she knelt be- tswufc-sn other deputy controllers, was no indication last whom the Mayor would Mathewson.Deputy There fnntrnllpr. Takes Ingersoll Says Controller Was 'Burned Ozt' by Overwork appoint as temporary controller. appomt side her husbands' inert figure, the interminable vigil while they waited for a doctor whose verdict they dared not think about.

Mrs. Cunningham Courageous "Her courage was remarkable," Ingersol lsaid. A hearse drew up and preparations were made for that last homecoming. Presently the hearse had stopped behind a clump of trees, ready for its journey, and a red fire department car stoo dat the door. Robles and Gang Reported Balked Tucson.

May 5 (P Ten days have passed since kidnapers snatched June Robles. 6, as sh8 walked home from school, and apparently no contact has yet been thing you want from this city as It is." -And he replied: "All I want is to get the city's finances straightened out. its credit back on a god basis. There's nothing else I have in view, nothing I want. Only that.

But that, gentlemen, can keep a man from his sleep o' nights." Refused to Take It Easy And those who heard him be- 0verEx.Cl.iefS.Iol,W'tyr.awTt the children ride on it," said In Continued from Pare 1 tor Mr Man bis gersoll. i From inside the house came thej'jU Carrv OH Until Mavor made with the aoauctors wno ae Mrs. Ingersoll, directing the nu- Appoint. a Snoerssor Washington. May 5 (Pi The Post- manded $15,000 nffina rbnartmpnt HpriHpfi tflfiaV Her family, still clinging to hope lieved him-and he didn't slack ficlency walked nere and there dwn- There were the controller's golf He served as judge advocate the general corps, attached thi-165th Regiment.

He was aoUve as a member of the Bill Brown Post of the American Legion and was for many years counsel for that post and foi the Sheepshead Bay "'ar Memorial Hall Association. He served as a first vice-president of the National Rainbow Division Veterans Association. LaGuardia Urged Him to Run He was a life-long Democrat but had taken no active part in politics, beyond that of a citizen casting his vote on Election Day, until, on the insistence of Major LaGuardia, he became the Fusion candidate for controller last Fall. After his return from overseas, he became counsel of the Textile Banking Corporation, and several years later, its vice president. For 14 years his work was that of reorganizing banking and industrial enterprises which were in financial straits and putting them back on white funnels of a yacht riding at anchor.

His shoulders were stooped and his face lined. As he puffed on a cigarette, his hand trembled Just a trifle, evidence of the shock. He wore a gray tweed suit, shoes and no hat, his white hair rumpled by the afternoon breeze. For something to do anything to distract his mind from the trag At the long hearing last Monday, clubs still in the Ingersoll car. voices of the servants preparing the evening meal which was to have been a Joyous occasion.

Ingersoll dropped the stub of his cigarette on the drive, said "Goodbye" and went in where a few minutes before the body of his friend had rested on a diva nand there the parish priest had prayed for the departed soul. Must Beillext 30 Days not to ask for bids at the present time for transporting air mail on 1 the Newark-Fort Worth route. Because of the death of control-1 A request Ior bds withdrawn, ler Cunningham, Douglas Mathew- tne department, said, so that it son, first deputy controller, was act-; might "further consider the ad lasting 4'i hours, there was noticed Drove Out Last Night "We drove out together last night you see," the borough president ex- plnined. "We picked up the Cunninghams in Forest Hills, about 6 o'clock." something of a break in the man's determination to cut the city's expenses, to do everything possible to make its credit sound. Even then he remained good-humored, dignified, smiling.

But now it was a somewhat gaunt figure, somewhat too slender, that smiled. The question at issue was the abolition of more than 1,000 city jobs, and as ing controller last night. Under the provisions of the city charter Mayor LaGuardia must appoint a temporary controller within visability of running the route irom Fort Worth to Washington and connecting with planes operated by companies already awarded contracts between Washington and Newark." edy that settled over the low, rumbling stained shingle house the borough president walked under the trees and picked up a blanket and put it on a rocking chair and then walked back to the drive. she lives, has appealed to her captors to take the ransom and return the child. Rumors were abundant, among them a report Fernando Robles, father of the girl, was followed by a mysterious automobile that prevented him from meeting the kidnapers as he drove along a road last night pursuant to instructions in the note sent to him by the abductors two hours after they took ths girl.

Members of the family again discounted the reports. The situation was becoming tenss among authorities who stopped ths manhunt, but it was made known that official action would be held in abeyance for "a time longer" at least. Jury Frees 17 In Racket Trial 1 30 days. He is to remain in office 'until the end of the year, to be suc-iceeced then by a controller elected jnexr November. Acting Controller Mathewson lives I at 2024 Crescent the Bronx.

He lis a quiet, unassuming figure and. No need for the golf clubs now. Mrs. Ingersoll had them taken from the car. "It is tragic," was all she said.

"The less said about it the better." A moment later Mrs. Cunningham herself stood on the porch of the Ingersoll's lovely rambling home, a tall fair woman, pale, almost ashen-faced. She stepped into the Are department car and bowed her head in a gloved hand. There was a task ahead for her. Mr.

TRl'STY BREAKS JAIL Albany, May 5 Iff) William Harding, 27-year-old "trusty" at the Albany County Penitentiary, ran away from the jail today. It was the first escape from the Institution since it was opened about three years ago. the victims of this Job-cutting one after another, in person or through representatives, pleaded their cause and the cause of their dependents, th Cunningham determination gave way. Human to the Last From time to time he voted Continued from Page 1 their feet. Unconsciously he was thus training himself for the job of taking over a jrreat city's badly disintegrated financial system, reorganizing it, rehabilitating its credit.

He was still vice president of the Textile Banking Corporation, now married and the father of two Had Been Working Hard "He had been working too hard," said of Major Cunningham. "Yesterday, you know, with the Board Estimate meeting and everything, he didn't have any lunch. "Last night he seemed all right an dthis morning he didn't com I llKe me IHlC uuuliuuc, wemo a Squires as head of the Cleaners mustache. His salary, after various and Dyers' Institute. icuts, is $13,390, as against $10.000 against the Fusion Mayor and the The prosecution, after nearly a year of investigation, had put a parade of witnesses on the stand other Fusion officials and for the Ingersoll watched the car drive away, followed by the hearse, and sighed.

plain if he didn't feel well. He was anxious to get started with the 11a- Children at Home to tell of violence and terrorism in jobholders who were about to be ex-jobholders. He it was who introduced the resolution, which was or This Week Only ReducedJ fnnr ti'nriac in nnpaflnn thp rlpfln Ingersoll turned way and there fh '1 must have been tears in his eyes. He puffed on his cigarette and con- h', i milieu tuc iimiaiivc children, when Major LaGuardia became the spear-head of a Fusion drive to oust Tammany from City Hall, and he made it a condition of accepting the Fusion mayoralty nomination that Major Cunningham, up to then an independent Democrat, be his candidate for controller. Viewed at Weak Candidate During the campaign, which developed Into a triangle battle, with Fusion, Tammany and Recovery Party candidates, the main emphasis was, of course, laid on the Mr.

and Mrs. Cunningham drove adopted, to give the outgoing employes two weeks vacation with pay. He was a human being before he was a public official, or even a controller. Though he had no gift for self-dramatization that goes to make a popular politician, he found himself, frequently to his own aston apt "There are their children at home," he said. "Both boys, John, five the little fellow who's three.

We played with them last night for a while before we started out. Cunningham didn't have time for lunch yesterday but there was always time for those children. "We called the housekeeper after this thing happened today but I suppose Mrs. Cunningham will have to tell the children. It is a dreadful task." Aldprman Oscar Nelson, who with Sapiro and Squires headed the list of defendants, won a directed verdict of acquittal at the end of testimony.

Nelson has announced he will be a Republican candidate for Mayor. Other Defendants Besides Squires and Sapiro, the ishment, amazingly popular. Veterans Stood by Him Thus last September, the Father He looked tired down to our place here with us last night, and at about 11 o'clock this morning Mr. Cunningham and my son, Raymond, got on their horses for a little ride," said Mr. Ingersoll.

"They dore down the hill to the bridge path, with Mrs. Cunningham and myself watching them. When they turned into the road they started their horses galloping at a rapid pace. "They were in full view of us, and after they had gone a half mile I don't think hardly more than a moment had passed we saw Mr. Cunningham fall from his horse.

'l 5 SrviSllk anil 1.25 Silk Chiffon Ourttl.4 Brooklyn Library inch garter top with picot edge. Non-run Entertains Guests Duffy Post of the Rainbow Division Veterans Association did an unprecedented thing in its history it indorsed his nomination for controller and set an organization of veterans working to help bring about his election, The association had never done anything like that for any candidate before and the major was, somewhat naively, puzzled as to why they should do it for him. More recently, during the Brooklyn Centenary celebration, Mayor LaGuardia moved the municipal tripi Reinforced French heel ond cradle Finevert all ilk chiffon. Picot edge. Fine gouge defendants cleared by the jury's verdict were: Morris I.

Kaplan, attorney and expert on trade associations; T. Henry Klein, laundry owner; Arthur L. Canfield. beverage company head; Walter Crowley, dye works president; Joseph B. Iwaniec, George Bendel and George L.

Knott, officer of the Laundry Drivers Union; Robert Rado, Charles Golstein and Jean Franks, 1 agents for that union; James P. Mother I heads of the respective tickets and, In any event, it seemed that of all of LaGuardia's running-mates, Major Cunningham had the weakest chance of election. He was opposed, on the straight Democratic ticket, by Frank J. Prlal, former deputy controller, spokesman and idol of the city's Civil Service employees who had decisively beaten a Tammany-Mc-Cooey candidate in he Democratic prlmaris. It seemed a matter of course that hi would beat a political unknown like Cunningham.

As the campaign progressed, however, Major Cunningham developed into something of a surprise to observers. In his public addresses, he showed none of the oratorical tricks and also none of Visiting librarians from West- My son went to his assistance im- with French heel and cradle ole. chester, Nassau, Suffolk and "Mrs, Cunningham and I rushed to the car and drove to where my Queens were guests of the Brook No. 1050 Rcj. $1.45 Ne.

125 g. $1.25 son was trying to revive Mr. Cun uingham. lyn Public Library staff at 1. Pacific Branch, 4th Ave.

and yesterday. Milton J. Ferguson, chief librarian of the library, welcomed the more than 100 delegates. "The place where he fell was soft offices City Hall to Brooklyn. The controller, tied up in Albany Adaptos KWuIarvSise with conferences on the economy bill, did not move on the first day.

OOilk Service Gorman, president of the Retail Cleaners and Dyers" Organization; 1 Boris and Ben Abrams of the Inside Dyehouse Workers' Union; Jerry Donovan, official of the Carbonated Beverage Drivers, and Marshall Rose, secretary of the Cook County Hand Laundry Our $1.00 Silk Chiffon anu81. Some 24 hours later, however, he Ferguson expressed the hope that they would be able to obtain new ideas which would aid them in their work at home. The sessions were conducted by Miss Julia A. Hop slipped into the Brooklyn Municipal Building and found his temporary offices there crowded with an en sand, and there were no signs of bruises on him. Physicians and the coroner were called after we had taken the body home, and they believed he had died from heart attack, probably induced by the fast pace at which he had been riding and the Jogging of the horse.

"We also sent for a priest, but it was too late, of course, to administer the last rites. Mrs. Cunningham and my family are prostrated by the tragedy." Horse 22 Years Old Week I'tvl ttie political hokum which even the most Inexperienced of politicians running for office had as part of his stock in trade. Impressed Voters had no "gestures." He spoke simply and clearly. He told what he wanted to do in office and why It should be done.

He tall and i i Clear even fine gauge. Jocquord lace top, French heel ond cradle sole; olto reinforced ervice weight for greater durability. Sizes lo II Old Gold Bought: kins, supervisor of staff instruction. Forestry Program Awaiting Funds Washington. May 5 (P) A forestry program which would provide work for thousands of men was described today by Capt.

John B. Woods, director of conservation for the National Lumber Manufacturers Association, as awaiting only Con slender of build and affected a thusiastic gathering of men and women. Found Friends in Brooklyn Democrats, Republicans and Fu-sionists, old friends and new, who cheered themselves hoarse in his honor. Again that puzzled, though it also pleased, him. For the past 24 years Major Cunningham had lived in Queens, at 68-10 Continental Forest Hills.

He had become well and favorably known there. But the friends and acquaintances he had Down at the foot of the slight r0R CASH. 33 TIAS Of OIO- oane ryant cropped mustache. Both physically and in his mental processes, he gave the impression of a "clean" personality, a man who could be trusted. That confidence in Major Cun- rlse on which the house is located NIFIIO MRSONAl IIRVICi.

I are the garage and the stable In BONDED a box stall, the sorrel horse, OLD GOLD BUYING OFFICI "Woody." with the white nose and 0- OVT. UCINSI NO. 67 the white feet nibbled at a stack RO William Street, New York City of hflV iKntraaM oa Matflfta Lane) A. ninp ham increased after election Just ol! Fulton St, 2H3 lavinpston Si. 115 Hanover Place gressional action ir providing funds for povernmetftl participation in the conservation pro visions of the lumber code.

made in Brooklyn had not forgot-Len him. He was the sort whom friends do not forget. after he assumed omce. bven political opponents said they would rather deal with him than any I "This horse is 22 years old, and I.