St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-05-02

hd'h 10 make Il running stab at me.
when. quick H. lightning. and with all
the strength | could put int" it. swung
round my right arm and caught him
with the staff full in the face. Telling
him like II bullock. He Was quite sense
less. and hI the time the others got
round | had him quietly handrutfed
W hen we got him Ia the station We sent
tul Il doctor to dress his wound. but he
wouldn't have il touched. and insisted
upon being taken int" court next morn
Ing with his face all maj krd : but
though he certainly locked horrible,
enough. he didu't take ANY thing 10y his
move. lie was well known. and be
sides. though | struck with a will.
struck ill >elf-dctunc'. and for life He
had penal >crvitudc. and he didn't live
to d" his time ont.
That l. the Sort ut customer a police
man has sometimes Ia tackle. and he
never knows the day or hour he MAY
have to tackle. Men as are wanted
will generally come quiet enough. when
they find they are fairly dropped upon:
but still one can never hr quite certain
of them: if the drink or thc evil il in
them at the time. they may take it into
thcir heads /" show fight. and when
they do thcy'r" not particular to tI'itlc>
the first thing that comes handy
they II Use. But. ,l> said before. its
when they =" in for being rcvemged on
ynu that they are most dangerous 1t
isn't ease ot fighting then: they don't
give you the chance to fight they
creep upon You in the dark for choice
and are up To all sorts of cruel. COW
ardly ways of laming u man. Many Il
fine man has been made Il cripple for
life. III doing oI for having done his
duty a. Il policeman. and some have
been killed outright.
Then seq how Il policeman has To 20
into il row. and take his chance of what
may happen from interfering with wild
or drunken men with their blood up:
again sec how he has Ia 90 into IL house
where ''MurdoI =" i> being shouted. and
where perhaps the first thing that
meets his sight is IL man more than half
mad. and Sla>hing right and left with Il
poker. Then there i> being at fires.
and being out in all sorts of weather.
:" that what with one thing and what
with another. II poicrmaI> l. both II
narl job AMI - risky one. If there's
any one that thinks IL it amt risky.
just let cm ask any p"lircman'> wife a.
cares tor her husband how often She has
lain awake. fearing something might
happen t" him. when he's been on might
duty im Il bad quarter
What class of criminals are the most
dangerous for a policeman To have to
deal with Well | hardly know: the
regulars. the -'hahitual criminals" H.
they are called. are much of IL much
ness. y >noIkimg thict may turn Turk
upon You. while Il hur.la oI garottcT.
~ N"u might think likely to show tight.
will often let himself hc took a> quietly
IT. Il lamb. The chance c;tsc> are often
rough ones. \ mad-dIunk >;lilnl amt
Il nice customer /" handle. and Il mad
drunk soldier especially when he
takes L" the belt j. Il decidedly NASTY
one: and sometimes Ncur winding
clerk. "r ah>c"nding bankrupt. will
show his teeth pull ont Il pistol or
pick up lecantcr or Il chair. and talk
of Knocking your brains ont if ynu lay
Il hand on him: though of coul>, we do
lay hands on 'cm fol all that If YOU
dash in boldly III them they generally
knock under
C"inrrs used /" be about the worst .
hut there's not many about now. There
l. one customer. however. aS l. more
likely than not tu make Il liz ght of il he
fore he'll hc taken. and that l. the rs-
rapcd convict. IL generally Il dc>pcr
air hand that does manage to escape.
and ones that drradtullv fond of hi>
liberty. aud that knows thai if he j.
took again he may hid Il long gnod-hN
to il. \ gentleman of that stamp gave
me the >titfrst tu>>lc ! even had and
the one I'm pr"mdc>t of. fnr | fought
him fair and took lm single handed
When hr made hi> ESCAPE he got clean
away. and hc had ~,.Ir~,. enough not tu
hark back t" his old London haunt
while ia, >carcl, WAS hot: hut about Il
}rar attcrward he did venture back
an,i accidentally got wind of it.
kmrw that there WAS five pounds iol
any one y he took hIu. and had u
pretty good idea HAT the governor of
the prison lee had broke ont of would
stand >"ui"rhim" more: hut more than
all that. | Well. | may H. well SAY
il had NOT been long ia the Force al
the time. and ! wanted /" show that |
had something IN me: aud 50. though
! could have asked for help. made up
my mind Ia Try to lake him 10y myself.
| W:> twenty seven al the time. stood
five foot eleven. weighed twelve stone
good hghtim" weight and. though |
~lN il that shouldn't. the convict. cs-
capped "r un">raprd. didn't breathe that
| feared tu tackle single handed
1t was not ,f the man himself. that !
MAS afraid. though | knew he WAS =
rartar: what made the job 81 risky WAS
the danger of being set upon 10y the
hole of the gang To which he belonged
and who always went about together
and would. | knew. think nothing Of
numbering Il policeman. waited few
weeks tn see what chance might turn
zap. and at l,ugth one attcrnuon heard
thai the gang had picked mp some sail
urs. and were >plrcing with them in u
public house. some little distance from
THEN regular lulk and thinking IL,
myself that might wait long enough
without finding ANY much better oppnr-
trnitN. | determined to Try my luck
there and then. and down to this public
house went.
There WAS no one then particular in
the bar. and 50 passed through to the
back. and there III Il Shut-in skittlc
alley | caught sight of the gang. eight
in number. and with three sailors in
tow. felt qmalmi>h. but | knew that
it wouldn't Il" t" give way to that feel
Ing. and So seeing my gentleman there
IN the midst H. large H. life. put Oh
my boldcSt face. bounced into the alley.
and shutting the door. placed my back
against it. Though the gang were taken
10y surprise. they acted clcverly enough ::
they didn't know " whirh of them might
be wanted. and not one of them said .:
word or moved an inch. but noticed