Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1889-01-24
POLICE PROTECTION.
Emciency It Has Attained in This
and Other Lands.

Boston's Early Efforts to Protect Life and
Property-Hlstory Of the Subsequent
Growth and Improvement-A
POliceman's Weapons.
ut was necessary to club the pris.
oner almost into state of insensibil.
ity before he could be taken to the sta
ton house, This statement used to
appear frequently in items of police
news, and it we'll showed the "per.
suasive power of a billy in the hands
of a stalwart officer. The introduction
OF the patrol boxes and wagons has
done away with the necessity of Sc
vigorous a use of the policeman
principal arm of defense. but it is still
carried by the off GERS while on duty,
and they frequently have occasion to
rely upon its aid. 1t is an excellent
example of the adaptation of means
to an end. and all malefactors hold il
in wholesome respect. It is made to
hurt, and the man who wields it knows
how to make it do the greatest amount
of execution of which it is capable
The policeman's billy, as we know it
to-day. is the result of a growth which
may be traced in the history of the
watch and police department of Bos-
ton. for the weapons that were given
the watchmen and policemen advanced
in efficacy with the development of the
departments. So by following the
history of the organizations for pro-
tecting life and property in this city,
one may find out something about
the origin of the billy and the stages
it has passed through in reaching its
present form.
The beginning of the Boston Police
Department dates from July 26, 1851,
when six watchmen and an officer were
appointed to patrol the streets all
night Thus the colonists began to
provide for their safety and the pres
ervation Of good order almost from
the time of the settlement OF the town.
There is no record of the arms carried
by the watchmen, but, judging from
the manners and customs of the time,
it is reasonable to suppose that they
were provided with canes or slaves
nearly as tall as themselves.
Undoubtedly. great deal was left
to individual preferences. In 1885 it
was agreed that citizens should take
turns of patrolling the streets at night.
and, according to brakes History. by
a vote at town meeting held the fol-
lowing year upon private warning"
the department was permanently es-
tablished according to this arrange
ment 1t was provided that they must
carry watch hooks with bills, forbear
to use bell. and that they must not
smoke tobacco while going their
rounds From this it would appear
that the watchmen had been in the
habit of ringing bells as they walked,
perhaps to warn evil-doers to get out
OF the way and not give the valiant
protectors of the town trouble.
The hook with bill is the first
weapon intended for policemen or
watchmen of which we have any rec
ord. 1t consisted, at first, of a staff
about four or FIVE feet long, upon
the end OF which was an iron ar
rangement shaped something like a
boat-hOok. There was a fiattened
iron spike about four inches long. and
on the side of this there was a hook
forming half circle of the diameter
of about three inches With the spike
the Waterman could prod a refractory
prisoner along. and with the hook he
could reach after and catch him if he
tried to run away. But the staff was
SO long as to be unwieldy, and it was
gradually shortened until its length
was only about eighteen or twenty
inches. At first it was carried in the
hand and used as q cane. but after it
had grown smaller the officers found
that they could pass the hook through
the arm-hole of the vest. and in that
way get the full use of their hands for
other purposes.
In 17S5. probably to do away with
the habit of sleeping at their posts, it
was declared that the Waterman
should, ''in a moderate tone, cry the
time of night and give an account of
the state Of the weather as they
walked their rounds after eleven
o'clock. and this practice was kept ND
for nearly one hundred years, being
done away with in 1921.
There are between eight and nine
hundred policemen in Boston, includ-
ing the officers, and all the men whose
duty is on the streets are armed and
equipped alike. They are each given
. short billy; which is fourteen inches
long and made of lignum vit@; a long
club. twenty-five inches long. of a lighter
hard wood: . revolver and pair Of