The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-08-31
THE BICYCLE POLICE.
Theodore Roossvelt's Words ,r Pra,sa y.

AHoo"Ao 1soo9sveACs Words o1 Praise Fer |
tho New York Squad.
Hon. Theodore Roosevelt has a |
paper in The Century on 1.-The Roll |
of Honor OF the New York Police"
Mr.. Roosevelt says:
The members of the bicycle squad. |
which was established soon after we
took Office, soon grew to show not
only extraordinary proficiency on
the wheel, but extraordinary dar
ing. They frequently stopped run
aways, wheeling alongside of them.
grasping the horses while going ut
full speed, and, what was even moro
remarkable, they managed not only
to ovcrtake, but to jump into tho
vehicle and capture, OH two or thrco
different occasions, men who were
guilty of reckless driving and who
fought violently in resisting arrest.
They were picked men, being young
and active, and any feat of daring
Which could he accomplished Oh the
wheel they were certain to accom-
plish.
Three of tho best riders Of tho bi-
cyclic squad, whose names and rec
ords happen to occur to me, were
men OF the three ethnic strains most
strongly represented III the Now
York police force, being respectively
OF native American, German and
irish, or, more accurately, in this
particular case Of mixed Scotch and
Irish parentalr
Inc German was Il man of enor-
nous power, and he was able to stop
each of the many 1unaways he tao
kled without losing his wheel.
Choosing his time, he would get
alongside the horse and seize the bit
in his left hand, keeping his right
on the crossbar of the wheel By
degrees he then got the animal un-
der control. He never failed to stop
it and never lost his wheel. He aleo
never failed to overtake any
"scorcher," although many oe those
were professional riders who DELHI
erately violated the law to see If
they could not get away from him,
for the wheelmen soon got to know
the officers whose beats they CROSS.
The Yankee, though tall, power
full man and very good rider,
scarcely came up to the German in
either respect. He possessed excep-
tional ability, however, as we'll as
exceptional nerve and coolneas, and
he won his promotion fret. He
stopped about as many runawaye,
but where the horse was really panic
stricken he usually had to turn his
wheel loose, getting q firm grip on
the horses reins and then kicking
his wheel 30 that it would fall out
Of the way Of injury from the wag-
on. On one occasion he had a fight
with drunken and reckless driver
who was urging to top speed very
spirited horse. He first got hold of
the horse. whereupon tho driver
lashed both him and the beast, and
the animal, already mad with ter
ror, could not be stopped. The Off
Ger had, Of course, kicked away his
wheel at the beginning and after
being dragged along for some dis
tance he let go the beast and made 8
grab at the wagon. The driver hit
him with his whip, but he managed
to get II, and after 9 vigorous tuss!e
overoame his man and disposed of
him by getting him down and sitting
on him. This left his hands free for
the reins. BY degrees he got the
horse under control and drove the
wagon round to the station house,
still sitting on his victim. II Ijounced
up and down on him to keep him
quiet when he turned ugly" he re-
marked to me parenthetically. Hav-
ing disposed Of the wagon, he took
the man round to the court, end on
the way the latter suddenly sprang
on him and tried to throttle him.
Convinced at last that patience had
ceased to be virtue, he quieted his
assailant with a smash on the head
that took all the fight out of MIN
until he was brought before the
judge and fined. Like the other "bi-
cycle cops" this officer made num-
Der Of arrests of criminals. such az
thieves. highwaymen and the like,
in addition to his natural prey
,, scorchers, runaways and that sort.
The third member Of the trio, a
tall, sinewy man with flaming red
hair, which rather added to the ter
ror he inspired in evildoers, wes usu-
ally stationed in rather tough part
OF tho oity, whore there was tend
ency to crimes Of violence and Incl
dentally an occasional desire to har-
ass wheelmen. The officer was az
good off his wheel as on it, and he
speedily established perfect order on
his beat, being always willing to
"take chances" in getting his man.
4 r