The evening times., 1899-03-30
COMPLAINT AGAINST
TIE NIGH4 WA4CHMBN
Merchants Say They Are Being
Imposed Upon.
Guardians Fail to Remain on Their
Beats.
Business Man Suggests That Police
Sergcants Keep an Eye
ON Them.

Local merchants are up In arms over
the alleged abuses of the night watchman
employed to guard their places of busins IS.
They have been too lenient with these
men and have permitted them too many
liberties, they state, and they will no lon
ger tolerate the abuses OF privileges which
have been going ON for some time.
These watehmen are commissioned as
| additional privates on the police force and
are given all the privileges of policeman
except that they are kept within certain
limits They have beats to cover in
the same manner as the policemen and 1t
| is because they do not remain on these
| beats" that their employees are wroth.
| 1t is probable that the attention OF the
| Major of Police Will be officially called to
| this matter at once and remedy applied
| to correct the conditions complained of by
Washington merchants who believe them
selves wronged.
Il pay a watchman to guard my place
during the night said a prominent mer-
| chant to Times reporter today, but /
have no guarantee that he does So 1t is
true / have had no thieves break in my
| StoiS anu idlSt uduIS, Uul mat Is
| merely an accident, | suppose, and the
watchman cannot be thanked for the i'm
| munity from the depredations of the bur-
| giarizing fraternity. For all / know TO
| the contrary the watchman may come
| around here early in the evening and then
go home and go TO sleep. | rarely see him
| except when he comes in to collect at the
| end OF the week.
The watchman on this beat is restrain
| ed from going anywhere outside of the
| territory mentioned in his commission but
| | learned the other day that our man went
| several blocks out of his way TO watch
| another mans establishment. Now would
be the last man in the world TO kick against
a man obtaining an honest living if il
| were in legitimate enterprise. but | do
not believe it is legitimate for my watch
| man to wander around on F Street when
| he belongs down on Pennsylvania Avenue.
| | and several other merchants pay this
| man 10 watch our places, and We do not
| believe he confines himself to our service.
| We are an exclusive society, and we do
not want people working for TO do any
thing they have not first obtained our
permission to do.
Il know remedy that can be applied
If the chief of police would authorize it
and that is 10 have the sergeants of police
exercise the same supervision over the
wandering watchmen that he does over
the regular policemen of the precinct 1t
| seems to me that as taxpayers we are en-
titled to some consideration, and l do not
think it would be an imposition on the
| sergeants.
II do not want anybody to think that !
believe the police sergeants do not have
enough to do. / knowatheir duties are very
exacting and TO keep TAB on the policemen
on duty is not an easy task, but it seems
10 me that they could cast their eagle eyes
Il ~ ~ a.
| rounds and bring the watchmen within
their range of vision. And | believe these
watchmen, too. are all good fellows.
| want TO be little more exclusive and
refuse to permit my watchman to wander
away from my place | want him TO be
where l can see him occasionally.
There used to be man not far from
here who had very nice beat. He col
| lected large sums of money every Monday
and would straightway get drunk as
lord and remain in that condition unit
the following Saturday night when some
| of his customers would have their place.
| open. Then he would come around anC
| show himself and would be the most eff
ficient watchman YOU ever saw. Thes,
business men were proud of their watch
man. He was always on deck when the!
wanted him. What was the result On,
night two half-grown boys broke into on
OF the stores in this beat in the most bare
faced manned and nearly cleaned out th
place while the watchman was sleepin,
in hotel in the immediate vicinity
know the man on our beat does not d,
such things. but he does go out of hi
bounds and | want to have the thing stop
ped. If Major Sylvester cannot stop IT
We are going to see what our Congression
al influence is worth"
Major Sylvester was asked today if h
could authorize the sergeants to exercis
supervision over the watchmen and h
said that he would look into the matter
He said that the best way out of the diff
iculty. according to his opinion, was 70
the merchants to refuse to pay the watch
men if they did not perform their dutie
| prODerly