The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1892-02-11
new POLICE SIGNALS
A Plan Which Will Greatly
Facilitate Bust
ness.
COMMUNICATION A.SuR-D.
Boxes Which May Possibly be
Mistaken For Polling
Booths,


men, under the direction of Superinte H.
deut William Foley, have been engage d
in stringing wires through the FIRST,
Second and Fourth precincts, for the new
police signal or electric patrol system, for
which the Board of Finance made a Sl5,-
600 appropriation in December. The wires,
No. II guage, insulated copper. are now
all in place. They rest, for the most part.
on the top arm of the telegraph and tele-
phone poles over which Che city has a
right of way, and especial care has been
taken to avoid possible contact with
electric light wires. Yesterday work was
begun on the street service of the new
system.
Three large iron boxes. or booths, ar
rived from the Gamewell Company's
works, Pittsburg. a few days ago. and are
being placed in position, one each at the
Pennsylvania, Bay street aud Pavonia
ferries. The booths are about nine feet
high and three in diameter, hexagonal in
form and surmouuted by an ornamental.
conical roof Of glass. They will be paint
ed green.
OBJECT OF THE BOOTHS
The booths are designed simply as
covers, or closets, where the police officers
may use the telephone without Interrupt
ton. There will be only the three men,
tioued. The other branch OF the service
will consist of the Gamewell signal boxes,
the same as will be contained in the
booths, only they will be fastened to the
ordinary telegraph poles throughout the
city at convenient points. The boxes
looK very much like the new style fire
alarm boxes, except that they are larger.
Thirtv-six OF them will be scattered
throughout the city, all but three or four
in the three precincts mentioned.
The interior of the signal boxes, at a
first glance, appears to show a compli-
Gated piece of mechanism, but two min-
,,to,J et,,1,y .uill nnoI,la AVIAN rho fhiaHact
policeman to become familiar with its
operation.
KEYS o PUBLIC UsE.
Two classes of keys will open the boxes
those furnished policemen and the citI-
Zens' key, a number of which will be
given reputable men. The latter, as in
the old fire alarm, remains fast in the lock
until released by a ~patrolman's key, and
as all will be registered, the person re-
sponsible for an alarm will be readily To-
Gated.
The boxes will be placed at the inter-
section of each two police beats" and
will be used alternately in reporting and
in emergencies by the two patrolmen.
Inside the boxes will hang a compact
model telephone. with a single striking
gong Instead of the usual telephone bell,
and a nun bered dial, with n small crank
attachment. BY turning the dial to n
given number and throwing over the
lever, the patrolman or citizen can con-
municate instantly to his respective pre-
cinct station what is needed.
MEN U REPORT.
Under the new rules to be adopted by
the Commissioners. the patrolmen will
be required to sen in the reporting sig
nal" every hour, the two men on adjoin-
ing beats alternating every half hour.
These signals enter the station house,
through a tape registering apparatus con-
nected with an eightday clock. The eport
is automatically registed on the tape
with the exact time, the officers number
and the number of the box or beat. BY
a neat little switch contrivance in the
station houses, sssergeantS can open an
automatic register in the signal boxes on
any given beat, when the attention of the
patrolman is needed. The officer, open
ing the box to report that he is ION DOCK"
turns the reporting switch and is warned
by an Immediate ringing of the gong
that he must call up the precinct station
on the telephone. By means of a push
button the sergeant can also keep the
gong in any or all street boxes ringing
until the attention of the officer on post
Is attracted.
The other dial signals. three in num-
Der. are for ''help wanted" the patrol
wagon and an urgency call. demanding
the utmost speed. By these automatic
devices the patrolmen can tell their
needs to the sergeant at the station
house without using the telephone. OF
course, by means of the latter he can
make any desired statement in the usual
way, or receive from his precinct, or
through the latter from Headqua, ters,
any instructions necessary.
In the three precincts mentioned. bat
teries are now being erected to furnish
electric currenG. The First precinct will
have sixty cells. the Second forty-flve,
and the Fourth forty. In all thres pre-
cincts the service will be distinct and
separate, inter-communication being had
telephone service. Separate circuits are
also used in the Second and First pre-
cincts for the street boxes and the ferry
booths. The telephone service in all the
precincts will use an electric current
passed through condensers, to avoid the
common buzzing noise due to induction
in telephones using battery cells.
AT THE ERIE
Besides the very complete system used
in the street boxes, the ferry booths will
be provided with q distinct signal service
for attracting the attention of the officers
on duty, By a switch arrangement from
Headquarters or the stations, the gong
will ring until response is made. By
day, also, a semaphore arm on top of the
booth will notify the officer at a glance
that he Is wanted" at the telephone.
The night signal is an incandescent flash
light, which will brighten and go out at
intervals of a few seconds until the atten-
ton of the officer is attracted. BY this
means immediate word can be placed at
the three ferries. warning the officers to
be on the lookout for escaping criminals,
or of the thousand and one other orders
that at present have 10 be sent by mes
senger.
The new system will be readily under
stood by the patrolmen, but the sergeants
and captains, as well as the Headquarters
officials will nave u headache for a few
days from studying it's intricacies. In
each of the precinct stations a table, COW
cred with a series of pieces of delicate
mechanism. will stand. Switches and
buttons, automatic tape registers-some-
what similar to stock tickers, eight day
clocks. galvanometers, telephone receiv-
ers ana transmitters and other electrical
appliances, will require patient study
before their uses became familiar. The
galvauometers willindicate. by resistant e
where any fault lies in the wires, and will
locate, approximately, the position of the
cross, break or ground, enabling immedi-
ate repairs to be made. The uses of the
other apparatus have already been out
lined.
A GREAT AID.
The new service, as can be seen at a
glance, will be an immense aid to the
police. This large and rapidly growing
city has a territory larger in area, than
the METROPOLIS, and is ~butsparsely policed
as best.
President Feenev, of the Police Com
m~issioners, has given the subject much