St. Paul daily globe., 1893-06-22
"A SET OF THiEvES.' y
Members Of the Minneapolis
Fire Department Ex-
cOr;a. 81.
Hot Shot Thrown at tie Men
Paid to Protect Citil ems
Property.
Specific Allegations Made
Against Officials as Well
as Members.
General Wedding Out Coun-
seled by the Grant Jury
in It's Report.

Inc granQ jury indle lU5 report
Judge Russell yesterday afternoon. Th'
jury complimented the management y
the workhouse and county Jail, but IL
the latter it most earnestly recon-
made at once for quarters so that boy!
held as prisoners could be kept in sep
arate apartments from the ones occu-
pied by older and more hardened suS-
poets. 1t was recommended in the III
terests of morality, for the reason that
older criminals have an opportunity to
-" - "euce the younger ones.
A lengthy re- re%Art WAS also handed ii
on the fire department. AS "a "a the rQle
with the grand jury, witnesses on ope
side of tile case only were examined,
and the scathing denunciation was made
a paper of record upon the evidence
thus secured. The report reads:
Among the many matters referred to
this grand jury for consideration has
been the question of crimes committed
in the fire department Of the city Of
Minneapolis.
A thorough investigation of the af-
fairs of the said department had been
previously made by special con nit
tee Of the city council, and the disclos-
ureS made to that committee by unwill-
ing witnesses revealed a state Of affairs
in this important branch of the city
government that fully warranted thu
10 lNt,s sniI 70 Ef
city council. in which report the fact
that promiseuouS stealing at fire:
was INDUCED by firemen en-
trusted with the protection O
jeopardiZed buildings and their con-
tents, was set forth at length, and the
immediate discharge Of the men impli-
Gated was recommended. That this
recommendation was ignored by the
council seems ineXplicable to us. and
does not, in our opinion, place the coun-
ell in very enYabie light before the
public, as to the council the officials of
the iire department.. as we'll as the fire.
men themselves, are directly response
bic.
Instead of acting at once on the re-
port, and purging the department of the
thieves, and of the officials who openly
connived at the thievery, the city coun-
Gil preferred shifting responsibility to
the grand jury; so, as before stated, a
resolution was passed that the grand
jury should be requested to take the
matter up, and copy Of the report OF
the investigating committee was trans
mitted to the county attorney by the
city clerk.
At the outset of the investigation the
grand jury became convinced that it
would be almost impossible to get wit
nesseS who are still in the emplOye of
the fire department TO criIninate their
comrades or their superior officers, but
enough was soon learned, even from the
testimony of the most reluctant wit
nesses. to convince us of the existence
of state of affairs in the department
that is almost past belief.
A mass of evidence was obtained
going 10 slow that not only were whole-
sale theftS at fires an understood thing
among the men stationed at the engine
houses located in the central portion of
the city, but that some of the officials
themselves participated in the thefts,
or reaped the benefit of the stealings of
their subordinates. When a fireman
would steal more than he had personal
use for, he would give away or offer the
surplus for sale at mock-auction sales
held III headquarters; and the evidence
further showed that there was abso-
iutely no attempt made to conceal these
thefts and these sales from any mem
Der of the fire department, official or
Sub0rdina
Sufficient evidence was presented to
convince us that the chief of the fire
A. II. Runge, was aware of
the state of affairs; that he in some cases
the stealing; that he twitted
the men who happened to be off duty on
the night of the fire in the business
district as having lost good thing. We
are fully convinced that he was at least
cognlZant of the crimes in his depart
ment. While under ordinary circum-
stances our DUTY might lead us to recon-
mend summary action on the part OF
the city council looking to the discharge
of the head of the fire department., the
fact that the said council has appointed
4 committee to prefer charges looking tC
his impeachment leads us to leave this
matter in the hands of such committee
and the council.
MnIle Mr.. Ruuge, as the OStensible
head of the department, must be held
responsible for the condition of affairs
therein, we are convinced that there is
another city official who is primarily
and directly responsible for the presen,
demorallZed and degraded state into
which the department has fallen. This
official is Aid. William B. Woodward
This man has used his position as chair
man Of the council committee on fire
department not only as club over tht
chief, but, as we are convinced from the
testimony before us, as a source Of
pecuniary profit to himself. Purchases
made under his direction show the most
prOfgate waste of public funds. Host
wagons, which have been manufacturer
in the city shops at comparatively
small cost, were purchased under the
direction of this man Woodward at tht
enormous price of S700 each; and the
wagons themselves. even at this higl
figure, have proven to be badly
made and an absolute detriment TO thu
efficiency Of the department. An EN-
CINE OF inferior make was also pur
chased under the.direction of this Off
cial, contrary to the Judgment of Chic
Runge. From the testimony of two
firemen it was shown that Woodward
offered both money and promotion il
the department to these men if they
would assault newspaper man whi
had been crtcising Woodward s action:
as chairman of the fire committee. From
the evidence presented, we feel that M
language can be too strong to express
our opinion of this man. who has, we
believe, done more to demOralize the
fire department of the city than all the
others combined. and it is our earnes
request that the city council will al
once have his official acts Investigated
Again recurring 10 the difficulty OF
obtaining direct testimony of firemen a:
to specific acts of theft. the evidence
showed that Woodward, Runge. Capt
Sandy Hamilton and other officials haC
warned the tiremen that they must moi
tell too much to the investigators, anG
men OIL the stand had TO be promised
the protection Of the grand jury before
they could be made to reveal anything
The man Sandy Hamilton, referred te
above, is captain in the department, anC
from the testimony given is mere
bully. lie has one method of preserv-
ing discipline that is convincing anC
effective. This method is a physical
one, and, although he has been reported
more thall once for fighting i'll his owr
headquarters, there is no evidence OF
his having been punished for so doing
either by his adversary OF his chief.
This is the man who aniloIIllc ri tn his