Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1881-07-18
THE POLICEMAN's LOT
I'm Pittsbnrg as i'm Memphis and
Other places.

Pittsbarg Pcstl
The public is apt to look upon the
police force Of large city as being q
body of men who are fed on political
pay, sleep while on duty and manage
generally to get through life on the
soft side. At minstrel show the
audience is sure to laugh at joke
which carries a sneer at the police, and
newspaper paragraphers wax humor-
GUS over the guardians OF the peace.
There is some foundation for this sort
of thing, perhaps, but it is grossly ex-
agerrated. The classes of public
servants who do the most work, re-
ceive the least pay and are in the most
danger oloSe their lives are the police
and the fremen. No one can appre-
ciate this better than the journalist,
whose duties call him into close con-
nection with both Of these classes.
Standing on Fifth avenue on Thurs
day afternoon aud watching the i'm
mense funeral procession which fol-
lowed the remains of Edward Dryer,
the murdered policeman to their rest
ing place, the writer heard a man in
the crowd say, "Dwyer was a plucky
fellow; but the other fellows on the
force don't amount to much" The
man who made this sweeping remark
either spoke without a knowledge OF
the fact or he merely lied.
Let a street or saloon brawl take
place in which knives and pistols
figure, and watch what the'frst police
officer does who arrives on the ground.
He does not stop to count the number
of the brawlers, but he. turns in and
does what he can to restore order. lie
takes and gives blows, he becomes the
target of the abuse and violence of
both the aggressive parties, while the
bystanders stand coldly around and
either encourage the lawbreakers or
else refuse to aid the officer. If he
uses his mace in desperate fight the
crowd holds up its hands in indignant
holy horror. And yet they would not
be half so sympathetic if the officer
were laid dead at their feet by a
savage knife or a pistol ball. This
may sound like a harsh and broad
assertion butA is founded on a num-
Der of instances which have came under
the writer's personal notice. For ex-
ample. About a year or so ago some
men were engaged in a brutal fight
near the Union Depot, policeman
interfered and the combatauts then
proceeded to beat him. He called on
the crowd to aid him but not a man
stirred and the officer was severely
bruised as he was completely overcome
by superior force. The men who were
fighting escaped and the crowd then
proceeded to jcer the officer, who had
bravely and undauntedly endeavored
to do the duty for which he was
paid and which he had sworn to per-
form. Repeatedly officers have gone
into disreputable. dens and have car
ried their lives in their handsin order
to make an arrest. They have to do
it singly in most cases, for there is
danger Of the escape of the criminal
before help can be summoned. When
an officer makes an arrest or is instru
mental in the conviction of criminal
be incurs the undying hatred of the
offender and his friends, just as did
poor Qwyer with the McClain family.
There is almost always somebody in
the number who is ready to sta b OF
shoot in the dark, backhite, lie or do
anything else for revenge. 1t is not
the proper time to say that the police
force Of Pittsburg is the best in the
world, neither is it admitted that it is
below the average, but the idea that i:
sought to bo conveyed is that if each
Of the social elements Of the city did
its duty as thoroughly as does the
average policeman, the community
would be better and the courts would
have less to do. The police of Pitts,
burg are not individually capable OF
becoming the authors Of a cosmos,
philosophical treatise on the doc
trines contained in the Rig Yeda oil
lofty intellectual flights, but they are
honest, industrious and plHeky, anC
that is more than can be said or
veil, politicians, for instance.