Wichita eagle., 1889-01-05
THE LONDON BOBBY
GOOD UNDER ORDERS, BUT A DUN
MY UNDER RESPONSIBILITY.

| The London Policeman Wonderfully Civil
and Naturally Obliging-Anecdotes Q
the Force-something in Name-Timid
ity and Indecision.
The London policeman is by no means ,
bad sort of fellow On the contrary, he i
wonderfully civil and obliging, and hi
natural desire to please is stimulated by
small slip" Every stranger who visits Lon
| don will carry away with him grateful recol
| lections of the kindness and courtesy of Lon
don policemen in showing him how to fine
his way through the intricate thoroughfare:
of that great human hive
Ths system employed by those who contro
the London police makes Of them machines
Implicit obedience to their superiors is the
ideal of excellence. 1t is their business te
obey, not to think. Give London police
man orders and he will obey them to the
letter. But pu. him In position where be
has to suggest orders for himself, where be
has to act on his own Judgment, and the
weight of responsibility overwhelms him.
He becomes dummy. He shows up worst
Just where the New York policeman would be
at his beet.
WAITING FOR "RoRDERs."
I remember once attending a political
meeting where Leonard Courtney was to
make an address. Mr.. Courtney was a
Liberal who had not gone over with Gladstone
on the Irish question. Consequently he was
not loved by those who had followed Glad
stones lead When Mr.. Courtney rose to
speak three men, who obviously had no other
81, iy, VIC -, TO
speaking, mounted form and at the top of
their lungs shouted 'Turncoatl Turncoatl
Turncoatl' Mr. Courtney could not contend
against their combined capacity for noise
Uproar and confusion ensued But the three
obstructionists continued their shouting
Standing near were couple of policemen.
why don't you put those men outf' ]
asked one of them.
1--WE hain't got no borders to do it. sir" he
replied.
"Why, New York policeman would have
them out in a jiffy."
May be, sir, but this is a free country,
sir, and hat political meeting heverybody
AS right to hexpress is hopinion, SIR"
And he looked at me after fashion which
indicated that in his Judgment he had shown
the superiority of English institutions
The upshot Of the business was that after
awhile the majority of those present came to
the conclusion that patience had ceased to be
a virtue, so they rushed the obstructionists
out of the hall and hustled them down stairs
at the risk of breaking their necks or limbs
And when they were out in the street the
policemen arrested them for disorderly con-
duct
SOMETHING IN A NAME.
: The London policeman is nicknamed by
the street urchins bobby" ''Cheese it, the
copf' e1claim New York ganins when inter
rupted by the approach of some minion Of
the law. Look out, ere comes the bobby,
boys" is the language usually employed by
mischief making London street arabs when
a policeman looms up in their vicinity.
There is a difference in these greetings, and
the difference is in favor of the New York
cop" The ''cop" is much spryer individ-
ual than the "bobby," as the name would
imply.
When the dynamite scare ragged in London
all the policemen were instructed to look out
for dynamite, but they were also directed
how to look out for 1t. 1 shall never forget
the ludicrous spectacle presented at the en-
trance to Westminster abbey one Saturday
afternoon in consequence of these orders.
Saturday is great day for country folk to
visit the abbey, and every man, woman and
child among them who carried bundle that
afternoon was made to submit it's contents to
the scrutiny of policeman before being
allowed to pass into the abbey. The spec
tacle of an officer of the law exhuming greasy
packages of sandwiches, cake and pastry
from the recesses of the capacious basket of
some thrifty farmers wife in order to dis
cover If there was any dynamite there, was
very funny.
"You don't really expect to find any dyna-
mite that way, do your l asked one of them.
''No, sir" was the abashed reply, 81 don't;
but hits borders, sir, and we las to hobey
them
TIMIDITY AND INDIGESTION.
Late one night l was approaching Black
friar's bridge from the Surrey side. A small
knot of people attracted nay attention. A
drunken Irish soldier and woman were en-
gagged i'll an alteration. He accused the
woman of stealing his money, and when she
denied it he kicked her.
Come, now, move on, move on,n said q
policeman In tones of gentle exhortation.
why in thunder don't you arrest the
brutef' | asked the policeman.
"Well, l don't like to do that. He might
have some of his pals about and I might get
hurt" the policeman replied.
After some further exhortation the brute
was induced to move on, protesting, how
ever, that he could lick all creation, and
especially that portion of it that wore police
mems uniforms. He had not gone far when
be fell foul of companion, who was merely
trying to get him home, and kicked him and
belabored him numerically. Still the pc
iceman merely exhorted him mildly to
move ont"
The feelings of coster1nonger at length
got the better of him and he exclaimed,
BLAST my bleeding heyes, hif don't ave q
90 at you myself. Put hup your dukes now"
The ITlshman ran off at a great rate, but it
was the costermonger, and not the police
man, who had put him to rout New York
Herald.
In the Streets of Toxic.
The streets of Toxic ara not narrow like