The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-12-05
A FAMOUS LONDON POLICE COURT
The PaternaI British Method of Deal
ing with Minor Offenders.


William A. Drysdale in New York Times.
Like most famous things Bow street po-
lice court is a little bigger in name than
in fact. 1t is not a third as large as our
old Toombs police court; and to COM
pare it with the present Center street
court would be like comparing a coun-
try church with Westminster Abbey.
But, though small it is neat and clean,
and well arranged. At the rear there are
seats for fifteen or twenty spectators,
with an open space between them and the
small prisoners pen. This pen Is really
The dock, as only two or three prisoners
are put in it at a time, and there they
stand until their fates are settled.
Between the dock and the bench is an
other open space i'm which the court clerk
has a table; so the prisoner has no OPP
portunity for q low-toned conversation
with the judge. On one side are two
pews for the barristers, raised about a
foot above the floor; and nearer the pris-
oners are seats for the attorneys. The
witness stand has a canopy over 1t, which
gives it something Of a regal appearance
and it is close enough to the judge for
him to hear every word.
The room was almost empty when We
went in, but spectators and witnesses
struggled in. We were taken into the
barristers seats, where we might have
rubbed sNOuIdeIS
gentlemen in wigs if any had been present;
but unfortunately neither a barrister nor
an attorney appeared. There was one
reporter in the attorneys seats called tho
official" reporter of the court, though
employed evidently by some of the news
agencies. Our New York reporters would
have set him down at once for a fresh
recruit from the province, for he made
voluminous notes of petty cases that no
METROPOLITAN newspaper would give a line
OF space 10.
Sir John Bridge, the judge for the day,
and the reputed head of the board OF Lon
don police Justices maintained the reputa-
ton of the fraternity by arriving ABOUT
three-duarters Of an hour late. When ne
did come there was no frantic shouting OF
Hats Off" in our New York style. A
door on the prison side opened, and Sit
John walked in, his hat on and his hands
held behind his back; and following MN
were various court officers and the hrst
batch of prisoners. Sir JOIN walked up to
his seat with great deliberaton, and one
of the members of my party, who Is a
good judge of such matters, Immediately
announced that he was the handsomest
man she had seen in England-not hand
some in the .ady-klling sense, but intel
lectual dignifed fatherly looking. The
only fault l could find with his appear
ance was that the open plain on top OF
his head had not been made more produc-
tive of hair.
A London police court is conducted on
somewhat different lines from a New
York police court The judge is more pa
ternal in his manner, though at the same
time rather more dignihed, without Sc
verify. He seems anxious to do whatever
will be for the best interests of both pris-
oner and public. And the police have
much more to say than they have in our
police courts. The assistant keeper Of the
court prison acts as sort of public in
qusitor 1t is his business to be ac-
Quanted to some extent with the prisoner.
with his family relations, his employment
and income, his manner of life, and his
criminal record. This looks like a great
undertaking in a city like London; but the
majority Of prisoners here are the same
old FOUNDERS" just as they are in New
York, so 1t is comparatively easy to know
them.
Another important person is the court
missionary. His work is to reconcile quar-
reling husbands and wives to find suitable
homes for boys and girls, and to straight
en- out as many police tangles as he can.
The assistant jailer tells the court in each
case what he knows about the prisoner,
ana his opinion naturally carries consider
able weight for he tells not only facts
that he has ascertained, but probabilities