The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-19
TO BUILD NEW QUARTERS.
THE POLICE COMMITTEE PLANNING
FOR INCREASED ACCOM-
MODATIONs.

IRadequate-The Force May BE In
creased Next Year and More Room
VIII BE Needed for the Men-The
Committee Considering Plans TO
Extend the station House TO Hab-
ersham street, Transfer the Ser
Eeant's Office and Court Room
There and Increase the Number of
CeIIs-A sketch of the Police Bar
racks.
! Among the improvements in prospect by
/ council next year is an addition to the
/ station house at the police headquarters.
( Alderman Screven, chairman Of the police
| committee. has the matter under consiG-
Grafton, and is studying plans and est
/ mates for the proposed improvements.
No plan has been settled upon as yet,
but it is pretty well agreed that the addi-
ton will be made. chiefly because it Is
/ much needed.
The fact that an increase in the police
/ force next year is almost certain makes
! increased accommodations at headquar-
ters almost imperative. Chief McDer-
mott viii probably ask for an increase IN
the police force of thirty men, in order
that the present system of patrolling the
! city by districts may be put in effect
! over the entire city An increase in the
| force of at least ten men, If not more, Is
/ very likely.
| The sleeping quarters of the men at
| the barracks are already taxed to their
| fullest capacity, and an increase in the
/ force Will make increased accommoda-
tons necessary. The prisoners quarters
| have been found to be entirely inadequate
and increased accommodations are neces-
sary In the interests of decency. There
| are only seven cells and on Saturday anc
Sunday nights and at other times when
there is rush of prisoners the crowding
/ is simply indecent There are freouentIV
| from twenty-five to forty prisoners crowd
ca IN these seven cells and the small cor
rlu0r outside, men, women and children
packed IN together. The Morning News re-
porters have frequently seen the cells an
crowded and the corridor crowded with
PRISONERS OF all ages, colors and condi-
tlohs. At present there are no provisions
Tor separating males and females anfs
whites and blacks.
Tnere Is space between the presen.
station house and Habersham street ~
ABOUT thirty feet 1t is proposed to build
TINS up to the hight Of TWO stories,
me same as the present building The
! new building will face on Habersham
street and it is needless to say will be
gwen presentaDle front. The idea is
70 use the nrst floor for police court
room ana sergeants office. The Came
Wen system desk will be transferred there
and prisoners will be received there in
stead Of at the present office on South
Broad street. The prisoners cells being
Immediately in the rear of the sergeant's
ONCE, the latter will be able to supervise
the work better than at present
Upstairs will be rooms for the detec-
yves and sergeants, and detention rooms
LOT females and prisoners of the better
class The old building in the rear will
be cut up entirely into prisoners cells
and room for dodgers. 1t is Intended
10 provide twenty-five cells. The present
police court quarters will be converted
in 10, Sleeping quarters for the. new men.
pIoNemehts VIII be made, though IF
course the matter is still undecided. Al
derman Screven said yesterday that lie
should ask for an appropriation for this
work in next years budget, and it is
very likely that he will get it.
The reddish gray building at the corner
OIL south Broad and Habersham streets
would hardly be taken for police str
ton by the animated The row of sym
etrical oaks which shade the pavement;
the iron-railed flower garden; the vine
| covered walls and the vista which meets
me eye as one looks through the broad
sally-port, with its back ground of trees
and the picturesque lookup in the rear
tend to eliminate all preconceived ideas
the majesty Of the law in its primary
power, is enforced against evil doors
and other unfortunate.
In no other city in this country are
the quarters for the police known by the
military title of Barracks. The more ia
miliar name of police station is usually
applied to such places and in some few
cities the term guard house is still in
vogue.
How the home of the police of savan-
nah came to have SO different a designa-
| ton from that Of other cities is a some
Sbout in n'erS n sccds sIGaY or f name
/ properly speaking, Incidental way The
name gradually changed from guard house
! to barracks by popular use, rather than
/ by legal enactment. For years, possibly
/ from the granting of a charter to the
/ city to the early sos tho care of the city
rara f-fv 1.ts In, Aa.r ,gf.
! shall. 1t was his duty to patrol the streets
/ and arrest evil-doers. Often-times he was
not only the arresting officer. but the
i judge and executoner. If he discovered
/ any one violating the lesser laws of the
4 town, and the Offenders We're not bigger
! than himself he gave him a whipping and
! told him to go and sin no more or words
| to that effect The Alabama singer and
the boy rock thrower of the present day,
party If the old-time city marshal were
still in existence. The marshal
was assisted by corps of
! constables. and 1t was a sight not soon to
! be forgotten to see him and his
assistants on dress parade as it were,
riding through the sandy streets on Sun
| day dressed in their best clothes, repre-
senting the majesty of the law.
9rhe city at night was intrusted to the
| care of the Night Watch, an organization
mostly composed of small shop keepers
! or their clerks. who added to their income
by doing a very small amount of watch
/ ing for a similar amount of pay. Doubtless
the popular idea that policemen sleep
while on duty is due to the peculiar habits
| of the Night Watehmen of the olden time.
| These. Falstaffs were Differed by a cap
tain of the Night Watch" Their uniforms
| consisted principally of a hat very like
| the big helmet still worn by volunteer fire.
| men in small towns minus the shield in
| front In size these hats would fit the
leonine head of a Toombs or a Webster.
| They sat on the head of the
wearers like a sack on a cornstalk Up to
| a time not far anterior to the disappear
ance of these guardians of the peace, they
carried flnt-lock muskets, but the advance
of ponce ethics or the danger of the wea-
pom to the Waterman caused the dis
use of these weapons. one morn
ing a Waterman was found murdered. He
had Deen killed during the night, and
his body sat upright on the bench of a
stoop propped up by his musket.
A story is told of the bad boys of the
town of those days which goes to prove
that some of the ''forefathers of the
hamlet" did not bring up their sons any
better nor as Wen as those of to-day.
The legend is that one night the young
men of the town captured the night watch
man after man, and confined them and
their captain in the guard house, from
7 1rhf role eaA