St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-08-09

Of the arrests were minor offenses and
vagrancy. There were but siXty-three
cases of grand larceny, and 415 OF lar
ceny, showing that thieves are dis
posed to give st. Paul a wide berth.
Where robberies have been committed,
the property has, with but few in
stances. been recovered by the shrewd
detective force which, under the able
direction of John 0'ConnOr, ever keeps
an eye open for evil doors as soon as
they reach the city. As for the men of
the force,
They Are StaIyyart Specimens
of manhood, and their splendid appear
ance at the parade rendered the Ma
tional Editorial association last month
reused the enthusiasm of the visitors.
They expressed themselves as being
highly delighted with the appearance of
the police and fire departments OF st.
Paul, and the newspapers they repre-
sent have since the convention con-
tanned laudatory criticisms on the
guardians of the peace in st. Paul.
Space does not allow of recording here
the many deeds of bravery committed
by the officers on duty, and it would be
unfair to single out few instances.
They do not hesitate on the darkest
search of supposed offenders, and one
must indeed be courageous on bleak
winters night, when the elements are
raging, to enter lonely and dark alleys
and streets with the chances of strug-
gle with desperate character. Many
such instances have occurred in st.
Paul, and the lives of two valued Of
tieers
Have Been Sacrificed
to duty during the past two years. An
important adjunct of the department is
the police patrol telegraph system, pre-
sided over by Supt. f. i. Birge. Scat
tered through the city are eighty-five
police boxes, forty-five of which have
telephones attached. Every hour Of the
day and night throughout the entire
year the officers on duty report 10 their
respective stations by pulling the
box" Iii the event of an arrest the
prisoner is conveyed to the patrol box,
the call is sent in and the patron wagon
is soon on the spot to convey the law
breaker to the bastile. By this means
the officer never leaves his post. In the
central division all.the boxes have tele-
phones, so that when an officer reports
he can receive instructions from his SUI
perior officers. in this way general
alarms are sent out for lost per-
sons, escaped prisoners OF Grim
inals wanted by the police. All
fires are attended by the patrol
wagon of the district and sick and in
jured persons conveyed to the hospitals
or their homes. During last year the
boxes were pulled" 2.772 times for ar
rests or accidents, ,074 special calls from
citizens or medi cal men and S4l times
for fires. The distance Travelled by the
wagons was 6,526 miles.
The men of the department keep up
a police pension fund, and when one of
their number dies the sum Of 81. 600 is
paid to his heirs. In addition the city,
after certain number of years serv-
ice, pensions off the faithful servants of
the public.
1t would be as well if those persons
who are so anxious to attack the in
tegrity of the force would, in the first
instance, take the trouble to find out the
true state of affairs. To make an at
tack upon worthy body of men who
serve the public faithfully, even at the
risk Of life. is cowardly and should be
deeried by every honest person.