Bridgeton pioneer. (Bridgeton, N.J.) 1884-1919, 1895-12-19
OFFICER BROKEN.
City Council Decides That Officer Paryin
Did Not Do His Duty on Thanks
giving Night with the Crowd
at the Opera and He is

| Turned Down,
Officer Parvin is broken and stripped
of his official badge and club, and is no
longer a member of the Bridgeton police
force.
Wednesday he was served with the
following notice by City Recorder Frank
l.. Hewitt:
CITY OF BRIDGEToN,
| OFFICE OF CITY RECORDER,
BRIDGEToN, N. j., Dec. IS, 1895.
Mr.. George N. Parvin, City:
| DEAR SIR:-At meeting of the City
Council, of the City of Bridgeton, held
Tuesday evening, Dec. II, 1895, was in
structed to notify you that charges of
misconduct preferred by William J.:
moore against you were sustained, and
that you are dismissed from the police
force of the City of Bridgeton.
Respectfully yours,
| FRANK l.. HEWITT,
| City Recorder.
The notice was the result of the meet
ing of Council to hear explained the
charges made by Manager Moore, of the
Opera House.
| The charge was made on the 10Th of
|
legged that Parvin failed to do his duty in
dispensing mob in front of the theatre,
on Thanksgiving night.
| The trouble resulted from the fact that
| the crowd had been disappointed in the
| performance at the Opera House, and
gathered in and about the building, ere
| ating great disturbance. Parvin was
| nd fho oIoe
Parvin did not do anything to protect
Mr.. Moore.
| Tuesday every member of Council
was in his place, or as near as he could get
to it, for the room was densely packed,
people standing on chairs and surround
ing the table, crowding the stairway, and
making up the largest crowd ever within
| the room.
Parvin sat at the end of the big table
with his counsel, George Hampton and
j. III. Fithian, while nearby sat City So
licitor Trenchard.
After the roll call, President Robbins
| announced the business of the meeting,
and had City Recorder Hewitt read the
| charges and asked Officer Parvin to plead.
and the policeman replied, mot guilty."
| City Solicitor Trenchard made an open
ing address to Council, calling attention
to the charges and the law in the case,
and proceeded with the testimony.
81 will call Mr.. Rex Donnelly," said
Mr.. Trenchard, and the young man who
| is clerk in the Solicitors office, was the
witness sworn. He was called to swear
that he served copy of the charges upon
| Officer Parvin on the 10th of November,
| about 10 o'clock. The charges were then
| filed.
| Mayor Appelgate succeeded this wit
ness, and was sworn by President Rob-
| bins, under the charter; he said he was
| Chief of Police. On the 2Sth of Nov,
| Officers Parvin and Campbell were on
duty. He said orders had been given to
keep the sidewalks clear; to the know
! ledge of the Mayor Officer Parvin did not
make any arrest.
| On cross examination the Mayor said
during his term of office there had been
no arrests for blocking the sidewalks.
The Mayor said there had been unifor-
NAL complaints made to him of ofdisorderly
conduct during the evening of Nov. 2sth.
The complainant, Manager Moore, of
the Opera House was called. He recalled
that there was a disturbance in and his
store on the 2Sth of Nov. Officer Parvin
was on duty, During the disturbance
there were nearly one hundred people
about his store. There was large crowd
outside. The people conducted them-
selves most disorderly.
| Mr.. Moore then went on to say that
Alonzo Mulford, as sort of leader of the
| crowd, rushed into the store and said
| they wanted their money. Mr.. Moore
| then went to get in the store. The crowd
was using force to get into the box offices
OF the establishment. Moore then or
dered the crowd from the store, and Null
F, ford took hold of Janitor Saxton and also
laid his hands upon Moore. The crowd
refused to move. Mulford said he would
hit Moore with goose egg. Finally
Mulford was got to the door and Nh.
Moore asked Parvin to arrest him. This
he refused to do. All the while the crowd
outside was beating tin cans with sticks
of wood. All this was carried on right
under the nose of Parvin, and the man
ager asked the officer to disperse the
crowd; but Parvin refused to move the
crowd and said, "I've got it in for you.
You are full of condensed milk, and 1
ought to go before the grand jury and
have you indicted" This seemed to
please the crowd, and he was cheered.
Parvin also refused to listen to William
Connor, a clerk in the cigar store. At
no time did Parvin attempt to clear away
the mob. A sign was broken by the
crowd and key taken from the store, so
that the door could not be locked.
Finally Parvin went away and left the
crowd, and when Moore came out the
crowd followed, hooting and throwing
missiles. Mr.. Moore met Parvin at Nc
Gear Bros corner and appealed to him