The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-13
SMITH TRIES D%ELINQUENTS.
HUs1L rs txs FOL TOE GASES THROUGH
IN ONE DAT.

Obstacles In the way Ie Got ria OF Fourteen
Complaints In Eighteen inutea-Bother
ny One Case and Puzzled by Another.
"one hundred and nfty.seven Of the boys have
rot their papers and have got to 60 on the carpet
at tho horseshoe desk before the soldier to-day"
said the be- policeman at the main entrance to
Police Headquarters yesterday morning. In
the language OF the police force. to get notice OF o
complaint is TO get your papers," 10 go before
the trial Commissioner is to go on the carpet"
and the horseshoe desk" Ii the bench. The
cayoet U . dction in these days, although legend
says there was one there once, in the space in
closed by the horseshoe. II has been worn into
nothinEness by the feet Of thousands OF police
men called up to answer for their peccadilloes
or their crimes.
Tho whole force regarded yesterdays trials
with interest, for the new Commissioner, Col.
George Moore Smith. was the trial Judge for the
fret time. The policemen had heard a great
deal about Col. Smiths notions OF discipline,
and they were more than a bit timorous. They
have already nicknamed Commissioner Smith
"The Soldier" not In its slang sense that he Is
n shirker. but that all that they have heard OF
him has a military tingc.
Col Smith stepped briskly up to the horseshoe
desk at 10 O'Clock precisely. He stepped down
at 5:45 o'clock. a very tired man. He had tried
y IL lnob tAkiO Wv - 49, 1890 ~
luncheon. Fifteen Of the cases on tho calendar
wero adjourned. One Of those tried took half
an hour; another over two hours. This
means that Col. Smith got through with lao
cases in four hours and fifteen minutes. or an
average of one in less than two minutes. At
ono time when he was timed in the morning he
disposed OF fourteen cases in eighteen minutes.
1t ia safe to say that Commissioner Smith i'm
pressed the men brought before him. He showed
an inclination to got at the truth as quickly as
possible. brushed aside the ordinary laundering
excuses, and called the next case. He INDUCED
in no comments and suffered none. President
Moss sat beside him most OF the day. but ex-
cept in old and complicated cases, the new Com
missioner did not appear to neod tutelage.
The great majority of the complaints were for
trthing offences, such as being off post for n few
minutes or indulging in conversation. Tho
Commissioners was very quick to detect q gen.
iow.spoken Then you admit the charge u gen.
orally brought the erring cop to quick retreat.
OF Policeman James S. Allen Of the Leonard
street squad. II Allen were a sailor he would
after being dismissed from the Brooklyn force
for intoxication. He always managed to squirm
Church street one afternoon that charges OF in
soIieation were ere, made mad agoinsst st., him; Allen
froT STSy t 3 to the A station i. house Il s 1as tf fos
hi, ,hts,,t that he was ,ti 5Fie saDS yesterday "tsr Sym The he
admitted cheerfully yesterday that he had
and the rest Of the time he took 10 hunt up a
out OF the station house long enough. He asked
for adjournment Of the case because his lawyer
""Where is he j. asked Col. Smith.
Out OF town. said the policeman;
Il understand he has gone to Europe" re-
The / will be my own lawyer" said Allen
bravel,, and he called his witnesses and ques-
rfanAd than, 9TH III tha la~o1 ~, ~ . praa
titioner at the Essex Market bar. Their testi-
mony was TO prove that he had been i'll two days.
with a long white beard. After his testimony
was finished and he had left the witness chair
Allen, struck with a bright thought, called him
There's one moro question I want to ask
you"
mont. are you not T. he asked.
au ahS yoo Pr ssGde s0s Moss ss leaned Ias s10S Back sh'f fa his
chair and laughed outright. Commissioner
Smith got red in the face. and said in stern ac-
None Of that. sir. That has nothing to do
With IT. the ns case e.. Can yEur next Witness tn;
that Of Policeman George ". McDermott Of
the Elizabeth street squad. Emil Morosco. q
with having broken open the doors Of three rooms
above the saloon. without warrant, on the after
for excise violation and discharged in the Pc.
lice Court. After he had made charges against
McDermott at Pollce Headquarters he was ar
rested on q charge of extortion. preferred by
that policeman. who said that Morosco had Of
fered not to press the complaint il McDermott
gave him $50. McDermott says he marked the
money was found in Morosco's pocket.
Morocco told his story to Col. Smith yester-
day. He first disclaimed all knowledge OF Eng
lish. and an interpreter was used. but after
ward. when he got excited, ratified away yolubly
in tolerably good English. He said that McDer-
mott met him in the street. engaged him in
conversation. asked him not to press the
charges. and while they were talking put his
hand in Morosco's pocket iocularly. saying:
Morosco. McDermott seized both his arms,
called another policeman, and tho marked
money was found in the pocket into
which McDermott had put his. hand
looking for q cigar. McDermott denied that
story, and said that he had found Morosco sell.
saloon. which he entered without breaking any
doors Both sides had lawyers, and they wran.
gled until Col. Smiths frown deepened an inch,
but he didn't lose his patience.
As the new Commissioner came downstairs he
remarked YEARLY:
That's the hardest days work I over did In
my life"