The Forrest City times., 1889-11-02
IRISH coNsrABuLARY.
A Police Organization of over i2.-
 900 Weil-Armed Men.

900 Weil-Armed Men. The royal Irish constabulary is com
 posed of the inspector-general. the
 deputy inspector-general, three assist
 ant inspector generals, thirty-six
 county inspectors, doctor and barrack
 master, ninety firstelass district in
 spcctors, ninety second-class district inspectors, forty-ive thirl-class dis
 trict inspectors, 260 head constables,
 some ?, 100 sergeauts and acting ser
 geants, and some 9.6o0 coustablcs.
 or the non-commissioned officers and
 constablcs 236 arc mounted. The recruits are chiefly taken from
 the farmer class. though. of course,
 the cities and towns provide their pro- l portion. Very great care is exercised
 in their selection. The candidate
 must be over Is years of age. not less than feet $ inches in height and 36
 inches round the chest
 The lrishman has natural instinct for drill and the recruits at the depot | pick itup very rapidly and we'll. The | recruit on joining his country station has. like the young officer, to put into | practice all he has learned In theory | at the depot. This is by no means as easy as 1t might seem, and it is a year ! or two with him also before he is worth much us a policeman. His | average patrolling work is some six | hours in the twenty-four. This may | seem little in comparison to the eight hours beat duty usually performed by | the metropolitan policeman, but then l the royal Irish constable Is never out | of uniform when of duty. He is liable | to be called on at any moment. He | can not go far or remain long away | from his station, and sometimes on de- tchment duty. in disturbed places. ho l Is working for twelve or fifteen hours ] daily for weeks together.
 A patrol never consists of less than
 two men. In the daytime the senior of these is armed with revolver, tho l jurior carrying baton only. In dis turbed districts by day. and every-
 where it night the patrol is fully armed, the senior with revolver. the 1 others with carbines Tho duration of
 a patrol varies from three to six hours, l Of which portion is always spent lr | ambush. And on cold. wild winters night an ambush in n wet ditch is no l pleasant task.
 l X recruit under six months Servics l Is paid t30 per annum. A constable of over six months and under four
 years service. f5i isS; over twenty
 years, f7o IS.
 The allowances. etc. of the non I commissioned officers and eonstabIes
 are us follows; Boot allowance, as 2d monthly per man; arms and straw al- lowance. for keeping the arms in re- | pair and filling the palliasses with l straw. ad per man monthly; lodging al- 1 lowance for married mon uyor ten l years service, Is i'd DOT month. On | fhe other hand, there Is a deduction | from the single men Of k Id per man ! monthly for harrac< accommodation. 1 For every night that head constable | Is absent from his station on duty he | gets Is hd extra pay. and sergeant or constable similarly absent gets ss fd. 1 A head constable Is allowed 1 : Cd when
 absent from his station for tsn consecu-
 tive hours, except on the ordinary du-
 ties Of his district and Is Sd for eight i hours absence. X sergeant or con
 stable is similarly allowed Is 6I and Is I respectively X head constable re- | oeises Is Sd marching money for every eight miles marched on the same day ! when the place marched to is outside 1 his own suhuIistrict. and sergeant or ! constable Is under like circumstances. Each man receives an allowance for making up clothing sufficient to cover 1 the expense of having his uniform
 made by the tailor. There is also q
 fuel and light allowance granted to ech station. which covers the oxpens- ! es incurred in this respect.
 Officers aud men ia tho force become | entitled to pensions on scale laid down by act, of parliament after a ! certain number ofyears' service. Under ! tho lasest acts dealing with this subject ! the pensions arc not 50 good. pf'opor- ! uonatelg to tho pay. thoy used to be. | Ot late years the tendency has been to I increase the pay and allowances and
 lesscn the pcasion of members of the l force. but on tue whole no complaint | can he made.
 ! Speaking generally, the uniform oi 1 both officers aud men resemble that of ! rife regiment except that tho 1 officers patrol jacket hss five tags on I Il instead oi braid.