The morning call., 1893-02-22
THIEVES AT HOME.
The New City Hall Offers
Every Facility.
ONE LONELY WATCHMAN.
He Has to Traverse Three Floors
Covering Fifteen Acres. Each.
Supervisor Ryan Talks.
ONE LONELY WATCHMAN

ANY iulnR new III tue iiuO VI CiAS A"ii
burglares?" asked a CALL reporter Of
Supervisor Ryan yesterday.
Not to-day. Certain things have mys-
teriously disappeared lately, that is all.
The insecurity Of property at the new City
Hall has been agtated ever since took my
seat. have always recognized and insisted
on the necessity Of having better watch on
the building than there is now / have sent
communications to the board recommending
a Waterman for each floor, but they have
refused to entertain the proposition. They
claim that the hall has got along for fifteen
years with only one Waterman. Retrench-
ment is the cry nowadays. but the security
of property is another thing. The risk IN
Cured is greater than the wages of half
dozen watchmen would amount to.
I'm fact. the liability is SO great that l
have always felt the necessity of having a
watchman on every floor. and six are none
too many. There is only one Waterman to
the whole building. You might just as well
have none at all.
''rhis building abounds in dark places. If
you could inveigle man into the basement
and kill him, he might lie for three days
before any one found the body. 1t is
more lonesome place than Lone Mountain.
There are gas jets throughout the cor
rdorS, but not in the basement, which is
VIDE open night anu uay. 1ueEb are llduy
rooms down there which are merely used
for storing rubbish and other stuff away.
ANY one can get into the new City Hall at
night and run about all over it. The only
protection is the Yale locks on the
doors OF the c0urtr0oms, chambers, etc.
You might fire salute IN the corridors, and
YOU would not arouse the Waterman. The
place is too big for him TO hear.
THE watchman Is not so much TO blame.
Think of the extent Of the place. There is
no noise that you could make in one part OF
the building that he could hear In another.
The burglaries so far committed have been
in all parts Of the hall Then, too, there
have been many petty thefts. II you place
ally small article IN any part OF the build
ing it disappears by the time you come back.
There are so many exits aud entrances mat
IL is easy for sneaklhlef to make Oft with
anything he takes fancy to. The Mayor
of the city might see you making out with
an article belonging 10 the nall, and would
not know but what you were entitled u do
so.
"All of the Larkin-street side is vacant,
waiting for the Chief OF Police, to be turned
into the city prison. AS a matter of fact it
is quite dark in the basement quarters. and
there is nothing TO prevent anyone coming
upstairs. The only person on duty at night
is the Waterman, Shine.
IL have already instructed him to close
| as MANY of the doors as possible, but there
1
of them were never made TO be closed. They
| have no locks.
MANY documents containing evidence
| are kept in the building. The value of some
of these documents is beyond computation,
! yet there would not be the slightest diff
| Guilty in stealing or destroying them.
"As soon as | took my seat began to pay
| attention to the condition of this building
l set to work to have it cleaned up and put
! into some sort Of shape. The first morning
| | came along | saw where a window nad
been taken out OF the main corridor; II had
! been pried right out with a crOwbar and
| transferred To some other place. / said TO
myself, Is IL possible this sort of thing ca
! 60 on without finding a remedy? iris was
the cause of my putting In claim for
Waterman for each floor
1T is not the value of the things carried
| away. 1t is the fact that ii can be done
with impunity. The Chief of Police is well
| aware of the matter and has spoken plainly
/ about it. Safes have been broken open in
| different apartments at night but no one
| ever heard word about It. There are fully
a score of entrances to the building in the
| basement, all open at night, and a man can
| go all through and over the hall There is
| nothing 10 prevent tramps or lOafers Of any
kind from going in body wherever they
| pleased"
An Inspection Of the basement fully con-
| frmed Supervisor Ryan's statement, and
! one OF the workmen Oh the northeast wing
who accompanied the reporter stated that
! last Sunday, when about 500 worth OF car
! penter tools were stolen. there were between
| 800 and 400 toughs having the full run of
/ the building. They seemed TO act just as
/ they pleased.
The thing is simply dsgraceful." he said.
! Here is this one watchman at night at the
mercy Of any two or three thieves who
! choose 10 come in with gum boots on. They
can come on him noiselessly in moment
and then everything in the building is at
| their disposal
"Why. just think OF it. Even IL the doors
were locked. One-haf Of the windows in The
| basement are so warped or strained that
they cannot be fastened. All that would
be necessary to make big haul would be 10
have an express wagon in readiness. one
man to keep an eye on the Waterman, an-
other to carry tile stuff out and a third to
keep watch on the outside. Even if man
were seen carrying the property out, the
idea would be that he was only doing what
he had right TO do.
You couldn't call it burglary. There Is
no need OF breaking into the new City Hall.
II is all open, night and day. for any one TO
into and take what he nlpaspsp