The Wichita daily eagle., 1895-08-27
ghe aarieha uaily Eaec Tuesday gr ue august 27

climate Of the south and today he has
knee that gives him bother and a
frame that is comparatively a wreck
The old board of police commissioners
with a soldier at its head, realizing
this gave him the position of sanitary
officer, thus relieving him from being
twelve hours every day resting on,
his disabled limb, and that is the po-
sitiOn from which ne has been fired
and which his friends say he shall be
restored TO.
DID THEY VIOLATE LAW?
Then, again. when Ben Downing
was fired the commissioners who would
have the people believe that they had
religious respect for the statutes OF
Kansas violated law, the spirit of
which IS more sacred to the people of
Kansas than that of the prohibition
farce. That law is that in choosing
and selecting officers an old soldier is
TO be given preference. Instead of
that an old soldier-an eX-commander
has been fired by those who, as stated
were babes when he was fighting the
battles of his country.
When it became known al the court
house that Ben Downing was turned
out in the cold there was great indig-
nation among his friends. One man
said to a reporter for the Eagle that it
was the most shameful thing connect
ed with this entire racket. Ben Down.
ing" said he, lis a true to his friends
and his party as any man in this town,
and if l did not know that his dis
charge was on account of his church
connections / would think-and I still
half way thinh-that George Douglass,
who is really Dave Smythe, had some
thing TO do with it, because Ben Down.
ing opposed Douglass when he was
running for congressman-at-larg
against Jim Hallowell. 1t has always
ben feared that: since the change in
the board that Douglass would show
his hand against Ben. l am most in
clined 10 think, however, that it was
Ben's religious connections rather than
his political connections that lost him
his job I'll tell you that Ben Down
lng'S discharge is a cold-blooded af-
fair. He has a family of nine persons
TO support and l know that he is poor
man and has a hard time TO make both
ends meet to keep his family. He is not
strong man, as everybody knows.
He Is suffering from the hardshipS of
four years in the war, and l tell you
be as old as Ben Downing is. He is as
good a sanitary officer as we ever had
and he should be retained"
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS HOT.
There was a buz in the county COM
missionerS office when it was known
that Ben Downing was fired for most
OF his business was with the county
commissioners Mr.. Downing's bus
iness IS TO hear the complaints of the
sick and poor, investigate the facts
in their cases and then report to the
county commissioners whether they
are deserving OF aid. 1t is a respon-
sible position. so far rs the county is
concerned The commissioners and
Mr.. Downing have long since learned
to understand each other and his work
was more satisfactory to them than
any man that has ever filled the place.
Thus ii will be seen that the county
commissioners were somewhat inter-
ested in that officer. A protest was
at once made out by Rer. Mr.. Harmon
who not only saw his warm friend
Don s. Colt humiliated and old Com
rade Downing fired out of a job, but
who takes a keen interest in the work
of the sanitary officers position, as
well for justice to the poor as economy