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antagonistic to the idea of there being a Tammany Hall, credits them with having been very strong and extremely helpful in times of crisis in this country. They did have a true patriotic purpose. These cheaper types of political influence only grew up later. I suppose they grew up as the population got cheaper. A lot of immigrants came, they were as good as anybody and they got in. Curry thought of it as an ennobling influence.
I remember asking Curry how one got into Tammany Hall. You don't get to be a sachem by anything you can do. The Democratic clubs around the city used to have names that were assigned to them by Tammany Hall. There was the Great Appawomis Club. It was one of the big Tammany clubs. For the life of me I can't tell what district it was in. There were two or three others whose names just don't come to mind right now. They can be found in old newspapers, however. They're probably predating the time I'm discussing, because I think they'd begun to refer to them by districts. The clubs were formed as little Tammany halls. That of course is the great secret of the strength of the Tammany Hall district organization today - that these clubs are social clubs and not just political meeting places. You can go down and have a good time. It is always urged upon
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