The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1883-03-15
GUARDING THE QUEEN.

The many political assassinations that
have taken place of late years have
thrown upon the police of all countries
an immense amount of difficult and deli
cate work in guarding Monarchs, Princes
and Minister'S In England we have be-
come familiari ell with the idea that our
leading statesmen must be escorted by
detectives wherever they go; and pop
ular as the Queen is, we know that elab-
crate precautions are taken to protect
her every time she appearsin public.
Few, however, can be aware of how
much anxiety, activity, trouble and con-
sequent expense, are involved in that
word protecting" Looking only at
the pecuniary side of the question, the
tne which mailman or frantic infiicts
upon country when he attempts, even
without success. to take the life of a
ruler, is considerable. The services of
detectives have to be paid for; and to
do their work properly, these officials
must not be stinted of money for tele-
grams, railway and cab fares, and cas-
ual expenses. Sometimes they have to
assume disguises, and to ray heavily for
secret information as to alleged crimi-
nal designs; and though this informa
ton is often worthless, the police can
not afford to disregard any item of in
telligence bearing upon the safety of
the great personages whom they have
to guard. Thus, the contents of every
letter sent, whether anonymously or
not, to Scotland Yard are carefully con-
sidered. The misch;evous simpletons
who concoct untruthful letters for fun,
and the foolish busybodies who write to
disclose suspicious circumstance"
that have come under their notice, may
all rest satisfied that they cause worry
and waste of valuable time, if nothing
worse. As the police have sometimes
received warnings of great importance
through unsigned missives bearing no
guarantee good faith, they make it a
rule to investigate all facts not palpably
absurd which are revealed to them; and
doubtless by so doing they have often
been enabled to prevent crimes. Many
an intending criminal must have been
baked in his schemes by the timely dis
covery that his movements were being
watched.
To guard royal residence that is,
to keep an eye on suspicious charac-
ters who may prowl about it, or seek
admittance requires vigilance, but is
easy work compared with the task of
protecting the SOY ereign when she ap-
pears in public. Every time the {, uecn
leaves one of her residences, even for
an afternoon drive, the event is notified
some hours beforehand to the police by
the equerry on duty, who announces what
itinerary her Ma, esty will probably fol-
low. At certain points all along the
route, policemen have o be stationed
and detectives are placed at all the
points where the royal carriage is likely
to stop. Round Balmoral and Osborne,
the roads can be watched without diff
Guilty; but not so round Windsor
Castle and Buckingham Palace. Wher-
ever crowds can congregate, the Difficult
ties of the police are multiplied. A
special superintendent is deputed on
ordinary occasions to patrol the line of
the royal progress; but when there is a
state pageant this duty is performed
fy the Chief Commissioner in person,
He has to see that not only the police
men in uniform, but the detectives
unsuspected by the crowds among
whom they stand-are all at their posts.
A regular code of private signals exists
by which a detective can make his pres
ence known to the ch efs, and receive
short instructions from them, without
exciting the attention of the bystanders.
The whole dective force of Scotland
Yard, however would be insufficient to
keep proper surveillance over miles of
streets, as. for instance, when the T. ueen
went to open Epping Forest; so. ON such
occasions as these, hundreds of police
men ''of duty are pressed into special
service. and turn oat in plain clothes.
w hsN in
considerat'o on of having good places
from which to view the procession, act
as amateur detectives. Every detective
and policeman has a few personal
friends who will gladly undertake
duty of this kind, and very often wom-
en- are among the number. Their in
structions are invariably to keep their
eyes and ears open; and not to cheer
when the procession passes. In this,
English detectives differ from those of
foreign countries. who are frequent
enjoined to start the cheering among
the crowds; but the authorities of Scot
land Yard have discovered that de-
tective who is bawling with all his might
becomes useless for purposes of espion-
age. 1T is precisely when the cheering
is loudest that danger is most to be APP
pretended, for the no Sc and the sway
ing of mu titude excite the nerves of
the lunatic criminal who is bent on
mischief; there ore the police who are
watching the crowd in its moment of
greatest enthu iasm should emain per-
fectly cool.
They have also to protect the sover-
eign against others besides the evilly
disposed, for there are always people
who want to thr st petition or bouquets
into the ueen's carriage, or Sc to
shake hands with her Maie ty. Happi-
ly, these eccentric individuals generally
betray their purpose by their restless
ne S. The man with petition keeps
feeling his pocket. to assure himself
that the precious thing is safe; and as
the royal carriages approach, he half
draw out the paper; but by this time
detective has observed his movements
and strong hand laid suddenly upon
his arm paralyzes him at the opportane
moment.
" is often lucky for would be petition