The evening world. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1887-1931, 1893-11-29
SIGNAL SYSTEM
is DEMANDED.

'n.Ir prisoners through the streets. ac-
taaIy drag them through muddy thor
oIghtar's. along the sidewalks. some.
times several blocks, amid the j""rs OF
IT,, uulppkcrs?
These scenes have been Witnessed ~
nearly everybody. They can be seen al.
most any dIy IN tn WreH-an iuvpstIgA-
t!Jr II the records U: the Police Depart
,n"nt win show II. or tn" record Of the
Police Courts. la fact. they have bcc1m"
- common that newspapers have ceased
- publish anything Of .uCh occurrences
j. iWhiG iutii"nts.
That al" effect of such scores upon the
youth OF Ia" city H. drha- ~ IN i.c oN-
from" must at ono" be APPARENT, bat
there are other features - the present
uhhp%ivu. system thdt demand is re!e-
ba'iyH t. IA. rear.
Scores of Innocent mon, Il is well
known. have been arrested even during
the present year They have been taken
iron! their Offices or from their own
doors, On h JTs' cars, or ON tho sidewalks
and marched by a policeman through
INC streets to the statiOu-hOusc or to
the court. Many have been forced to
Tarad" thus in their own ncighbOrhOoq,
among their acquaintance, who natur-
any conclude that a stain OF some sort
rests upon their characters. 1t is i'm
material that they nave been honor
under arrest. and while that Intelligence
hl"s like fire among flax. few take the
trouble To inquire about the disposition
OF the case.
what Il simple remedy for all these
OWLS 10 proper patrol wagon
service. Then on making an arrest an
othcrr could ut once telephone his pre-
cinct station and In minute or so the
wagon would arrive and convey the pris-
oncr to station or court house.
Under the laws Of the state every cit
lien Is a policeman, and in fact IL guilty
Of msdem"anpr II he does not act "a"
such in cases of emergency. IT Is safe
to say that not even the hardest Crimi-
nal IL willing 10 stand ,ldly by and see
"nt condition, however, II he is fearful
Of HIS own life. he can do nothing.
II thcr" was signal station on every
corner, az there ought to be, a telephone,
or something which every one could Use
not "A telephone Of which policeman
alone holds the key, to tell his Supporters
something which every citizen could
handle, how easy it would all be.
1t might be argued that false alarms
would be turned in. That argument has
Mail boxes are now on nearly every
block, and on top Of each box mail mat
ter Is piled high every day. How often
is any OF It stolen
There are lots Of fire boxes in the city
at present by which any one can send
IN AN alarm. Yet the number Of false
the good which Is accomplished.
Two days ago an incident occurred
when, however trivial In Itself, dem
onstratel the absolute necessity Of a
signal system as well as the patrol
wagons. The foreman Of the New York
Central Railroads grain elevator, SIX
teth street and North River. was at
tackled by some discharged employees.
He drew n pistol and fired at the men,
and later some arrests wer" made
There was every indication there of
a rIO.. TWenty-one men had been dis
charged. and all were inclined to be
ugly. The excitement lasted over an hour,
or long enough for the elevator to have
been fired snd many lives lost
The nearest police station was at Sixty
eighth street and Tenth avenue so that
a good half-hour would be lost in send
Ing a messenger there and coming back
with the reserves on foot. Fortunately
there was "A telephone in the elevator
building. and word was sent to Police
Headquarters. Captain Doherty was
police forces and sun@ress the riot"
Word was also sent to the station house
and Capt. Smith with half a dozen men
hurried to the scene.
order had been restored however, by
that time. and Il policeman, stationed
nearly two blocks away, had made the
however. had the men reallY broken out
In riot. and without a signal system or
II patrol wagon, at hand. 1t Is disagree
able even to conjecture.
manner in dealing with this pressing
need. There Is demand for an i'm
mediate change on all sides. The public
wants ii. and what the public wants 1t will
have. Humanity demands i. The safe
ty Of the city requires II. The Board of
Estimate and Apportipnment must act
and act promptly This old. obsolete
| system must go.
The Police Board has now in its pos
session 100000. The Commissioners have
| had it for nearly six years. Why do
they not do something? 1t is not Il
! question OF systems nor of politics. The
! pubic wants something which every
! man or woman can use In the way uf
| signalling the police. II wants patrol
/ wagons which viii prevent the present
| debasing spectacle OF seeing men and
/ women dragged through tn" streets.
Comptroller Myers IL In favor of n
/ system. lie told an Evening Worl''
Z reporter that he was in favor Of any
/ thing that would benefit the Police De
partm"nt and the city
| "But what are We going to do" he
said. six years ago the Board of rs
innate and AppOrtionmont voted the l'O-
| lice commissioners 100000, and promised
| them more If they would decide upon
tn" best system, and let us see what
| they proposed to do. ] understand they
| have been uuarrelling among themselves
ever since. They cam" her" again this
| year asking $jNO.0O0, although they had
/ not expended the El0l0OO we gave them.
| Lot them do something.
- agree with 'Th" Evening World
that "" ought ia have the best system