St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-08-02
KNIGHTS OF THE STAR.
Sorrows and Joys That Hover Over the
Life of the Guardians of the
Public Peace.
The Police Of st. Paul and the Hours
When They are Supposed to be
ct Their Posts.
Dark Alleys ana Tangled Pathways
Through Which They Thread
Their Way.
incidents Related rs the officer Winds
the Labyrinth IN Ills Nightly
EoG3Is.

Mules are said to be the most abused ami
nlals in the world. The statement Is made
by 4 man who has devoted his energies ~ 4
Diagnosis % their complaints and. although
the animal himself has never given ont any
tiiag more Suggestive than kick on the
subject, may be considered n pretty nearly
correct. Ia the higher resla Of intellect
the champion marks OF abuse are said 10 Dc
policemen. The claim is made Oy every
knight of the star, and acced,-d to by
almost every person who knows anything
about the subject. There probably never
was a policeman hut what there WAS
Whole rcam Of persons 30 abuse and say all
kinds of cusS words about him. But the
outside remarks are usually taken for
what they are worth, and consequently
have never had very killing cf-
feet. the reason for this * somewhat
obscure. 1t would seem. however. that
the cause was either due 10 an inbred desire
ia kick, or. what is a much more charitable
view, Il miscouception Of an officers duties
There are many people who believe that ali
the policeman does Is stand around some
corner. smile pleasantly on some pretty
girl, direct lady 10 any special car she
may requre-a sort OF ornamental
talking iiggrehead. as it were. At
the same time they believe,
or say they do that ii Is one of the secrets
vi a good officer 10 yet a. Far n possible out
of the road when any trouble is afoot. The
charges are erroneous, the opinion unjust.
Some officers may be chargeable with such
u1fenSes. but the majority of the policemen
are not. In general the position is re-
SponSible one and the most valuable part of
a poiceman's work is done when he is
looking after the property and lives of the
laf1t1ast ln contamination
ST. PAUL'S POLICE.
The arrangement of the St Paul police
divides the force IN three reliefs of an equal
number. The first goes on duly at a. M,
the other two at q p. IN. and 9 p. IN, re-
spectively. The 6 o'clock relief does duty
until o'clock a. IN. {; the 9 o'clock until
a. IN. With this arrangement the best part
and the hardest part of the work is done at
night. There are certain matters to be at
tended to by every officer which make his
position one of responsibility, and one which
is by no means sinecure if his work is
thoroughly carried out.
Among the unpleasant tasks an officer Is
compelled to perform is to visit the interior
of all the blocks on his beat This. of
course, is only in the business portion of
the city. In the residence portions such
work is unnecessary. as no special object
can be gained. In the business portion,
however. the trips are made once or twice
every night. There are several objects in
these visits. One is as precaution against
burglary, which is almost invariably
effected by some back way. An
other Is TO pick up any
tramp who may have sought dormitory in
one corner of a packing box or some other
convenient receptacle. Another and very
important object is to detect fire. Many a
fire has been killed i'm its infancy by an
officer making his rounds. and many hun
dred dollars worth of property saved by the
early discovery of some promising blaze.
The trips around these buildings are invari-
ably accompanied with danger. The places
are dark, full of cellar entrances, packing
boxes and every conceivable snare to trip
up the midnight rambler, and it is
| a wonder that serious accidents are not OF
more frequent occurrence than they are.
The bulPs-eye lantern. however. is found a
never-failing companion and one that save:
many broken limb.
A MIDNIGHT ROUND.
A few nights ago reporter accompanied
an officer while making trip of the rear Of
the blocks about the corner of Seventh anC
Jackson streets. The night was dark one
I piolltlouo ioi tllc mp as Tue pioSpScl "
incidents frightened with the dulIness oi
night. The old lantern was pulled out
nicely turned up, and. with the rays cast a
an angle of about II degrees, the policeman
made his way into q convenient corner
The old clock on the market building strucl
II o'clock.
The officer before entering the domain o.
packing boxes and beer kegs gave the Fable
driver few friendly tips but these proveC
of little avail, as before the reporter haC
gone ten feet. clothes line caught him un
der the chin and a collapse followed
Righted up once more. the trip to the req
of the first building was made through
narrow walk lined with boxes.
Now here is where l begin ever
night and go all around the blocl