Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-02-20


u WA Less Deadly Than - uilly ard
CouIA Bs Pat - Missy Usss.
Probably tho most popular order which
Superintendent Byrnes ever issued was
the ono abolishing the night stick. No
citizen was sver known TO call . niens
stick ANYTHING but club, . term which
is never used BY the police to designate
any weapon they ever carried. CUB was .
hard, harsh name that most citizens were
unable to iisassociate from clubbing and
led many to believe that they might some
day have the misfortune to be unjustly
dubbed. It will surprise such people TO
learn that II they ever should be dubbed
they will faro worse under the weight OF
the short. hard batons now carried than
under the blows OF the old time night
sticks. The explanation Is simple.
The night sticks were made OF the oess
seasoned locust. Well seasoned locust be-
comes comparatively light and 10 springy.
The batons, or billies, which replaced them
are made of the heaviest wood available
rosewood, lignum Vita and the hke-and
are short and absolutely devoid OF plia bill
ity; consequently q blow ON the head,
which, dealt with night stick. would re-
suit only in a scalp wound, II dealt with the
policeman present WedPoa Mi8ns ASuis
in q fracture If the skull.
So true Is this that many OF the older
policemen who have carried night stick
for years will draw a revolver on . refrac-
tory prisoner, hoping to intimidate him Nv
the exhibition of 1t, rather than to risk
drawing the billy, which would have lit
tie or no terrifying effect on the prisoner
and might result in his death IL the officer
was forced to use it.
The night stick had many uses with
which the general public had little chance
to grow familiar. The regulation length
was a2 ;ncheo, but they often exceeded this
by two or four inches. The leather thong
which the user wrapped about his hand to
REINFORCE his grip on the weapon was
nearly as long and was strong enough to
sustain the weight of most men. 1t gave
its possessor reach of at least five feet,
and time and again the night stick has
been used as support until other assist
ance could come for some unfortunate
who had fallen or jumped overheard, and
In cases of great emergency where the
drowning man or woman was losing
strength or growing benumbed with cold
awaiting the arrival of boats or ropes the
night stick and strap have been used to
drag them up to the pier. Again, 1t mas been
found invaluable as a life saver when lit
tiers were too far away and the ambulance
was tardy in responding to call. -Four
men with two night sticks, one OF the
sticks slipped under the knees, the other
under the arms of the patient, could carry
him easily and rapidly to the hospital or
station.
Another and probably the least thought
of use to which the handy night stick has
been put was IN extinguishing fire. Fires
started, no one knows how, in rubbish in
cellars or in bedding or clothing in rooms
and closets are among the most common
that give the fircmen a run. Many such a
fire that would have resulted in a damag-
ing confiagration if left to await the ar
rival of the Gre department has been beat
en- out with night stick. Last, but not
least. the fear of it has quelled many an
incipient riot, while the judicious use of 1t
has kept many dangerous corners free OF
the corner loafers which made them dan
gerous and las done more than the fear
of arrest and imprisonment to break up
the gangs which used to infest many por-
lions of tho city.-New York Sum-.