rs, in which he had also been interested while in
private life, received his official attention and prompt action. Notable
among these were good pay for laborers, purification and improvement of
the water supply, a useful system of parks, sanitary reforms, schools,
abolition of the poll tax, and last but not least, low taxation. He has
always been found on the right side of these and other important
questions and has labored long and diligently, in the face of
opposition, to carry out the ideas of the taxpayers in relation to them.
Bostonians well know the signal success which has crowned his efforts.

In December, 1884, Alderman O'Brien was elected Mayor for the year 1885.
During the first half of his term, the old charter being in force, he
did many meritorious things which no other Mayor has done under that
instrument. And now under the new city charter, which makes him directly
responsible for the honest and efficient management of the city's
affairs, his actions are speaking loud enough to be heard even outside
the city, and they challenge the admiration of all readers of the daily
press of Boston.

In appearance, Mayor O'Brien is a little over the average height, of
robust build, weighing over two hundred pounds; has a florid complexion,
with keen blue eyes. He has what physiologists would call a
well-balanced temperament, knows how to govern himself, has an
indomitable will and pluck, and is a man for emergencies. He is an
indefatigable worker, and the details of a large business do not prevent
him from despatching work promptly. Above all, he possesses that rare
virtue, tact. He is courteous and affable to all visitors, and makes new
friends constantly because of his sterling qualities. As a public
speaker, he is earnest, forcible and argumentative without being
captious. If his opponent thinks he has a man to deal with who is not
fully posted upon the subject under discussion, he quickly learns his
error. While not an orator, Mayor O'Brien carries conviction to hearers
by the force of his honest utterances and sound reasoning. At the same
time he has risen to the heights of eloquence upon the floor of the
Board of Aldermen when defending the cause of the laboring man. Himself
a workingman all his life, he never allows those who earn their bread by
the sweat of their brow to ask him twice for a favor which it is in his
power to grant. He has been their unsolicited champion when they badly
needed one, and his re