The Portland daily press., 1885-11-10
Ex-PoLIcEMAN STERLING.
A Statement from that officer to
the Public.

To the Public:
Having been member of the police force
over thirteen years, and never having had a
charge of any kind brought against me,
prior to my removal, which was accomplish
ed without the least intimation or notice
given me, deem 1t my duty to say a word in
regard to the allegations brought against me
by the Mayor and Marshal of this city
First, I appeal to the good people of this
city, with whom have passed life time, to
point out one instance where | have drank
liquor Of any kind, uttered an oath, or had
an intimation that was suspected of taking
a bride or expressing any sympathy with
liquor dealers.
Second, In regard to Welch's seizure.
That seizure took place on Sunday forenoon,
October 18th. About o'clock four men
came out of his shop drunk. | did intend to
arrest one but concluded that they were cap
able of reaching home. andsas they were
not disorderly, did not make any arrest.
l then said to Officer Slower these men are
getting LIQUOR somewhere about here and we
will go into Welch's and see what we can
find" Before we got to the door the signal
was given by the man on watch, the door
was Slammed to and fastened with a large
iron bar on the inside and Officer Slower and
myself kicked the door several times. /
told Slower it was useless to try to effect an
entrance this way. | looked under the win
dow curtain, which was raised about six
inches above the sill and heard persons spill
ing liquor The store was dark and | could
not discern anything save the form OF a man
that [ did not know in the darkness, and,
fearing that might receive blow in the
face lodged back, took my billy and with
Slower doing the same, we stove the window
into the store through the window, sprang to
the sink, grabbed the tumblers and
filled them with beer and froth.
There was no. one there at this time
says, 'sWhat is all this about; who broke
that Window" Ny reply was that and
my partner did it. We went out and | car
ried the two tumblers containing the beer
into the cellar under the shop. There Mr..
Slower and myself found a barrel of beer on
tap. went and got team and carried it to
the station, and returned back on the beat.
The reason did not notify James WEIGH to
appear was because | could not swear that
he was the man. He was going away with
When he returned was away on my vaca-
ton. On my return Daniel WEIGH was sick
and confined to the house. The Deputy
Marshals told me to order them both before
the court, which did, with one Hanrahan in
addition. 1 was put upon the stand and
asked who had seen about the shop, 1 said
had seen James WEIGH on the street by the
corner of the building; never had seen him
in the shop | had seen Daniel there with
gang of men there was no counter there,
only sink. If we went into the shop, all
hands went out, leaving it deserted. 1t was
impossible to tell who had charge. Mr.
Meaher, the attorney for the defence, asked
me if would be able to swear that James
or Daniel Welch was running that shop, or
if ever saw either of them selling liquor.
/ answered, 'sNo, STRIP This is true state
ment. While l thought these men might
have been the proprietors of this place, 1
could not swear to it.. This is my offence;
nothing more or less. For this l have been
dismissed in disgrace without chance to
open my lips in defence of my character as
an officer. / ask the lovers of fair
play in free land if this is just?
Would any who read this statement feel that
they would like such treatment? | have
heard it has been reported that | visited this
shop and saw men drinking, and laughed
with them. This is utterly false. No man
can face me and swear to such statement
without committing perjury. deny that |
have ever lounged away any Of my time in
rumshop.
The reason for all this is that my removal
was demanded as political necessity, the
Misunderstanding to Officer Bell that he had got
to sacrifice him in order to get rid of two
Republicans, or words to that effect.
LUTHER A. STERLING.