The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-21
CHIEF MAGUIRE CENSURED.
Continued from Eighth Page1

ne Went TO the chiefs house and found
MN there. The chief came down stars
ana tod MIN togo back and get his buggy,
which he did. They drove to the city ex-
change and found Schroeder guarding the
door, Schroeder said he could not lock it,
Inc chief sent him to No. engine house
to get board and nails. He got the only
material he could lay hands on at that
tlme He did not try the door and diq
not know whether the door was locked on
not when he nailed it UP. The door was
open when he arrived with the chief.
schroeder said that 1t would not lock ana
held the door while Taylor nailed it,
FOREMAN Campos of No. l, Engine Co.,
testified that Christensen had reported to
nm Tuesday morning, that Policeman
| Schroeder came to him about / o'clock and
told him to telephone the chief that the ex-
change was open, which he did The wit
ness said that the fremen were frequently
called upon to nail up buildings which had
been left open. Two buildings had been
nailed up recently by the fiFemen of No. 3
engine house.
Chief Mcguire submitted the report of
the building inspector upon the city ex-
change, made some time ago, to show that
! loose straw and hay We're scattered in the
! attic of the building He had written two
letters to the clerk of council about the
matter the chief said, but had received no
reply.
d
ment of his reasons for mailing up the
doors, which he read as follows:
THE reports of the fire inspector shows,
as you will notice, that the attic and rec
ord room of the city exchange We're in a
dangerous condition by reason of loose
straw and papers being scattered about
the place. On two different occasions /
wrote the clerk of council calling attention
to the condition of the building, but no re-
ply was ever received.
"On the morning of the 18th inst, be-
tween l and O'Clock, l was summoned by
telephone message and was informed
that there was trouble" in the city eX
change. At that hour of the morning the
only trouble l expected was fire. ! drove
to the exchange as rapidly as possible to
find the doors open and the electric lights
burning brightly in one of the rooms on the
upper floor. l was informed by the po-
liceman in charge, who had called me, that
he had been through the building, but
could get no response TO his repeated
knocks and calls, that ne could not secure
the doors; that he did not intend to remain
and keep watch over the building because
his duties called him elsewhere. Informa-
ton had been given to me that the build
ing was being used as an designation
house; that at late hours of the night men
were seen entering and leaving the place
In company of women. l was told that
the Waterman of the Savannah Grocery
Company and the police had remarked
how frequently this thing occurred, and
1 was told by police officer that the doors
were often open all night
LAS a public official employed for the
protection of the public interests I be-
lieved it to be my duty to properly secure
the premises against the invasion of
thieves, incendiaries and other intruders,
and 1 gave my orders accordingly. I did
not direct the details of the work, and
had no idea that the building was being
damaged, and subsequent examination
of the doors show that the only damage
| done was the result of the use of some
blunt instrument used by the porters, who
would not wait for the arrival of a fire
man, who had been sent from headqua-
rers to remove the batten.
II had no desire or intention of direct
| ing or allowing the building to be de-
faced, I had no wish to annoy any one,
! and 1 respectfully, yet most positively
| deny that had the slightest intention of
| showing any discourtesy for the city gov
! eminent or any of its officials. I thought
| and 1 trust You will agree with me, that
| the property of the city, its records and
| its papers should have been protected by
| any passing citizen, and the more so by
| a public official in the service of a de-
| partment of public safety, after he had
| received official notice that the conditions
| were such as to require such protection.
IF have stepped beyond the bounds of
| my duty in this matter, l can only say
| that I acted in this matter as 1 have done
| in others since my connection with this
| department with the sole and only view
| of protecting the interests of the public"
Chairman Grayson was of the opinion
! that the reported abuse of the city eX-
change for supposed immoral purposes was
not a matter for the fire commission to
investigate Chief Mcguire insisted how
| ever, as using it as a part of his evil
| dence.
Several firemen testified that Policeman
Schroeder had said in their presence that
it was common thing for men and wo-
men to go into the exchange at all hours
of the night.
Foreman Toshach of No testified to
being with the chief at the theater Mon>
day night, and afterward at No. engine
house. The chief was perfectly sober at
the time. but complained of being ill.,
Chief Mcguire explained that he had
taken a dose of calomel which was the
reason that he did not go to the fire at 4
o'clock that morning.
This concluded the evidence and the
commissioners proceeded to deliberate
upon ii in company with Alderman Smith.
The commissioners and Alderman Smith
remained in session ten or fifteen minutes.
Their conclusion was announced in the
following resolution:
BE it resolved That after careful con-
sideration of the statement made by Chief
Mcguire, and the evidence introduced be-
fore us we find that at no time on the
night of Nov. 10, or on the morning of
Nov 16, was John E. Mcguire under the
influence of liquor, nor did he intend the
mailing of a board across the door as an
affront to the city government, but that
he was actuated by the motive to protect
public property:
Therefore be it resolved, That we find
that Chief Mcguire exceeded his authority
and displayed bad judgment. and we eau
ton him in future that where he finds
building, whether public or private, I'M
projected he must notify the police, plac-
ing them in control"
The finding was signed by the three com
missioners. AS will be seen it acquits
Chief Mcguire of any misconduct or inten-
tional wrong doing. but censures his bad
judgment and cautions him as to his fu-
ture conduct under such circumstances.
The finding was concurred in by Alderman
Smith.
The police commission will probably in
vestigate Policeman Schroder's share in
the affair.
Chairman Grayson also wrote letter to
Mayor lMeldrm stating the result of the