1890-1900), it was found that the registered voters had
increased one hundred per cent. From one house sixty-two voters were
registered, of sundry occupations as follows: "Professors, bricklayers,
gentlemen, moulders, cashiers, barbers, ministers, bakers, doctors,
drivers, bartenders, plumbers, clerks, cooks, merchants, stevedores,
bookkeepers, waiters, florists, boilermakers, salesmen, soldiers,
electricians, printers, book agents, and restaurant keepers." One
hundred and twenty-two voters, according to the register, lived at
another house, including nine agents, nine machinists, nine gentlemen,
nine waiters, nine salesmen, four barbers, four bakers, fourteen clerks,
three laborers, two bartenders, a milkman, an optician, a piano-mover, a
window-cleaner, a nurse, and so on.

On the day before the election the Municipal League sent registered
letters to all the registered voters of certain precincts. Sixty-three
per cent were returned, marked by the postman, "not at," "deceased,"
"removed," "not known." Of forty-four letters addressed to names
registered from one four-story house, eighteen were returned. From
another house, supposed to be sheltering forty-eight voters, forty-one
were returned; from another, to which sixty-two were sent, sixty-one
came back. The league reported that "two hundred and fifty-two votes
were returned in a division that had less than one hundred legal voters
within its boundaries." Repeating and ballot-box stuffing were common.
Election officers would place fifty or more ballots in the box
before the polls opened or would hand out a handful of ballots to the
recognized repeaters. The high-water mark of boss rule was reached under
Mayor Ashbridge, "Stars-and-Stripes Sam," who had been elected in 1899.
The moderation of Martin, who had succeeded McManes as boss, was cast
aside; the mayor was himself a member of the Ring. When Ashbridge
retired, the Municipal League reported: "The four years of the Ashbridge
administration have passed into history leaving behind them a scar on
the fame and reputation of our city which will be a long time healing.
Never before, and let us hope never again, will there be such brazen
defiance of public opinion, such flagrant disregard of public interest,
such abuse of power and responsibility for private ends."

Since that time the fortunes of the Philadelphia Ring have fluctuated.
Its hold upon the city, however, is not broken, but is still strong
enough to justif