Arizona republican., 1896-05-10
TEE CITY POLICE FORCE Its Main Work Is on the
 Streets. Little to Do in a Criminal
 Line. How the CIty'e Eu=sts Are Lodged in the City Hall Base ment.

to be a deaTtlh of that relic of barba- r:sm known as a tramp" Strikers" no longer infest the man streets, petty crimes are uncommon and, to best tell the tale, the city jail is al most tenanltless. That popular hotel usually has in excess of dozen board CTS and ofttmes the number has risen to thirty, but now only five lorn indi vi'duals are at hand to be utilized by Marshal, Clark for the benefit of the municipal highways and d.tches.
 A visit yesterday to the jail showed marked improvement of late. The ce- ment flooring that has succeeded the dirt is kept immediately clean and there is an almost entire absence of the ''jail smell" this being brought about by the sanitary arrangements and the presence, for use of the i'm prisoned ones, of a bath tub, to which all have free access.
 No very bad cases are ever held, but for the obstreperous or for those who betray any inclination to escape, there are the cells, two steel-barred concerns, that formed the first prison for Mari copa county and from which no one has ever escaped. They are as effect i've now as they were twenty years ago.
 The city marshal's office is popularly supposed ito be on the main floor. with the assessor and tax collector, but it really is in the basement of the city ! hall, where comfortable quarters have been fitted up, adjacent to the jail Here are to be found the marshal and the policemen when not on round, and Jo1 l almost everything they need save a telephone. The telephone is on the I main floor above, something that is clearly not advisable. When call is made for a police officer, even seconds are often precious and the public I should be given direct communication with police headquarters.
 1 Much of the criminal business of the city, however, is done through the sheriff's office and the precinct con- stables, and the marshal and his deputies, earn a large portion of their salaries in attention to the city streets. When there is a. chain gang it is en- ployed in this work, which must be done, even though force of men has ito be employed and paid regular wages. The ditches are the greatest bother They must be kept up, and yet from water rentals the city gets but one tenth of the annual cost of water and it's care. The ditches throughout the city must be cleaned at least twice a year, a regular water tender must be employed, gates put in and kept in repair and bridges must be placed at every l street crossing. A skilled carpenter is practically given employment on this class of work the year round. All this necessitates a heavy stock of tools and these are kept by Warden Hooker in good shape in vault that is conveniently abutting against his office.
 The care of the streets is ever a source of trouble and a cause for labor In dry weather the water carts must
 be kept going day and night, the sprlnkling after dark being found to give by far the best results. In wet weather, when it comes, is the mud oi the unpaved thoroughfares and the necessity of keeping the street cross ings open; there is the question of gar
 bage in the atleyways, of unlawful building operations, of obstruction On the sidewalks, of shade trees and thei1 removal, of the dog tax and the slaugh- ter of unlicensed canines-these and many more all devolve upon the city marshal and his assistants and make
 his job far from what it would seem
 to be. IL it were simply ito handle the
 vicious class of the city, the position would be sinecure, but the work ot
 the streets and ditches is what gives difficulty to the position.