The state capital., 1891-12-26
SEARCHING AT NIGHT.
POLICEMAN HAVE TO LOOK FOR
BURGLARS IN CITY HOUSES.


PatroImen-A Job Not Relished.
Judging from their own expressions, po-
licemen are seldom called upon to perform |
a more trying duty than to enter houses In |
the wee sma' hours Of the night to hunt |
for burglars, real or imaginary, whom the
timid householder firmly believes to be |
rummaging around in his castle.
There is really nothing in the whole cata- |
logue of a bluecoat's- duties which he dis |
likes more 1t is not that he is coward, |
for. as a matter of fact, there are very few |
towards On the New York police force, but |
the ordeal of making target OF ones SELF
in dark and strange dwelling for well |
intrenched burglar to shoot at is one not |
eagerly courted by the bravest.
1t was my good fortune to be a spectator
of an episode of this kind one rainy night.
I was on my way home at about o'clock
in the morning. The streets were deserted
On Murray hill the silence was unbroken
save By the steady drip of the rain and the
sputtering of the electric lights from their
lofty poles along Bark avenue.
TERRIBLE INTERRUPTION.
Suddenly there broke on the deathlike
stiffness a shrill cry of Murder! HelpP'
uttered with the full frenzy of a female
voice. This was decidedly unpleasant, al
though it is interesting to read about. The
cries were repeated with frequency that
was blood curdliDg Windows were raised
all through the street and heads poked out
into the cheerless night. The sound OF
quick running and the alarm rap f neer
and distant policemen's clubs increased the
excitement, and soon the street was popu
lous with excited men in many varieties of
n
rushed by me at this moment, and | fol
. lowed, closing my umbrella as I ran.
! In a side street some twenty doors from
! the avenue little crowd of men were
gathered in front of an unpretentious
looking English basement house, which
: afterward learned belonged to S. Van
Rensselaer, Cruger, the we'll known poll
tician and society man. Two women were
hanging half out of the top story window
! shrieking at one and the same time All
that could be made of their incohe~ent
cries was tumble of the words "burgl S"
and murder"
! At sight of the policemen, who now came
running up from several directions, the
! women-who were in their night robes
managed to regain few Of their seattle ed
; wits. Between frightened sobs they said
! that there were burglars in the house, and
that they dared not go down and open the
front door.
POLICE TO THE RESCUE.
One of the policemen shouted up that
the door would have to be broken in. This
seemed to calm the girls, for one Of them
presently left the window. In the frac-
tion of a minute she reappeared and threw
out a bunch of keys. An excited neighbor
procured lantern and four big policemen
entered the house with drawn revolvers.
1t was an exciting moment Nobody In
the crowd spoke word. The two white
robed figures still remained at the window
far above There was no anxiety on the
part of any onlooker to enter the house,
the hall lamp of which had been lighted
by the policemen in their progress.
Expectation was raised high when one
of the bluecoats was seen to mount the
stairs leading from the first floor and dis
! appear in the darkness above. He was in
! the room occupied by the women mo-
ment later The crowd was interested to
see that he was talking earnestly to them
Then, horrible to relate, laugh rang out
from the window. The men in the street
were getting very nervous and drew away
from the vicinity Of the house, as if the
burglar might be expected to dive out of it
! in a hurry.
After what seemed an age to the specta-
tors the four policemen emerged from the
house together, closing the door after
them. The blinds were drawn i'll the
fourth story window. and the policemen
prepared to 90 about their business as If
nothing had happened.
The men were besicged with questions as
to what had been the result of their inves-
LEGATIONS.
"It wasn't nawt him. said the biggest,
fattes and most good natured looking OF
the sicops" "'Nuther case O. scare, that's
ALL"
CALLED VERY OFTEN.
The fat policeman's genial manner at
| tracted me- | followed him when he
sauntered off toward his beat and found
him very willing to talk. His conversation
.. proved to be very interesting. He ex
. , plained to me that the two women were
Mr.. Crueoer's household servants who had
. been left in charge of the house while the
family was absent i'll the country. Because
| they had heard the sound of a heavy fall
! at that hour of the night they naturally
, : imagined that the honse had been entered
, / "But there was nobody there" continued
, the policeman. 1--WE went all through the
, house and proved beyond doubt that nc
, attempt had been made to enter it. 1t was
, a funny thing, though. One of the heavy
, paintings in the parlor had fallen to the
, floor, smashing its glass and frame. sup
, pose the wire rope had given out"
Are you often obliged to enter houses
: !; in that way at nlght?
, "More often than you'd think" said he
1.-The general public don't hear much ol
, such cases, because, for the most part
, they're false alarms. AS rule, you see
. /: it's the cat or rats and mice that make al
! the trouble. At the same time the boys
, don't like the job, no matter how 1t turns
| out"
{ "Rather all ugly business to go hunting
! for burglars in strange house at dead o
. night?"
, "Well, should say so. You see, people
! seem to think a policeman is made to b'
= shot at. l never went into a house yet tt
! hunt up burglars where the men of th'
, household were willing to give me an.
: help They've no objection to my being
] shot, though.
{ "Why, the other night was called int
house under just such circumstances a
these tonight. The servants heard nois
: and of course Immediately ascribed it t.
1 burglars When l got into the house tn
= whole family, men included, locked them
= selves in their rooms and left me to go i
!. alone. After I had searched in every plac
q but the cellar the master of the hous
grew bold and ventured out of his room
q He insisted that I should go down into tn
:, cellar. and in his excitement forgot to tel
J. me that he kept his big mastff there.
r "Well, started down, and when go
y at the foot of the stairs this big brut
Q made a dive at me- fortunately the BRAY
e man of the house spoke to him in time t.
save me- But what do you think of that
ehp A big watchdog in the cellar, and ye
d he wanted me to go down and look fo
burelarsp'-New York Herald.
" What Makes a Man q Coward?