Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-10-01
FORTY YEARS OF DUTY
POLICEMAN HARDWOOD PLACED
ON RETIRED LIST.
Service Dates Back to the Civil War
Never Out Of City but
Once.

man, covering peTlOu Oh forty years. fTi-
vate Thomas hardwood answered his last
roll cali as a member of the force at
o clock yesterday evening at the ninth pre-
cinct station house. His brother officers,
unwilling to part with their veteran COM
rade without presenting some token of their
remembrance. had prepared a genuine sur
prise for him. All policemen who were off
duty, as well as those going on at that
hour, were in the lineup before the railing
when Lieut.. John c. Daley sounded his
whistle for the assembly.
Policeman hardwood was given the right
of the line, and he was genuinely sur
prised when Lieutenant Daley began his
presentation address. He said among other
things:
''Comrade hardwood. it is with pleasure
and regret that / respond to the duty
have been called upon to perform-pleasure
that your brother officers have shown their
appreciation Of your worth as an officer.
comrade and gentleman; regret that We are
to lose your services after forty years of
faithful. meritorious, active duty.
During your early service on the force,
in the war of the rebellion and the troubu-
lous election periods of that time. it re-
CURED man to be every inch man to
be policeman. Your record is a good
one. l have the pleasure to present to you,
on behalf of your comrades Of the ninth
police precinct. this beautiful token of their
regard for you"
Desk Sergeant ]. T. Rolls then stepped
forward and presented to Mr.. hardwood a
handsome and costly gold-headed ebony
cane On the upper surface of the head
was this inscription:
Presented to Private Thomas hardwood
precinct as mark of esteem and for his
long and faithful service of forty years
In the department. 1902"
Lieutenant Daley also stated that another
presentation would be made to Mr.. Mark
wood In a few days-to be purchased with
the residue of the money subscribed for the
purchase of the cane. Three hearty cheers
and tiger" were then given Private
Markwood.'
Policeman Markwood's Career.
Thomas hardwood, who has been placed
on the retired list after forty years of SER
vice, was born in this city, November 10,
1927. His birthplace was quaint old build
ing on NJ street near the location of the
Louise Home. At that time the locality
was a woodland, interspersed here and
there with the clearings for farms, but far
beyond the limit of city settlement He
first became a member of the police force
In the latter part of 1862, and was assigned
to duty at the police station known as
Diapers Mill" 18th and B streets north
west, in the heart of Murder Bay
In those days." said the aged policeman
last night, when we would leave the sta
ton house to go on duty our ears would be
greeted with a chorus of shrill police whis-
ties from every direction. and we would
hear shouts Of Come here first. please mis-
ter policeman Hurry officer; they are
killing me! .Murder!' Help! and other
similar EXPLANATIONS. Those were strenu-
ways crowded with prisoners, many of
them desperadoes.
Mr.. hardwood exhibited a series of scars
on his right hand and arm which were in
n w h1ad Qd cTlrjn 1irx 1r 70
In the hands of one of three hfghwaymen,
arrested by Officers Ciarvoe and McDevitt,
who We're trying to escape from the sta
tion house. He was the only officer in the
building, and the prisoners succeeded in
forcing the cell door. He Subdued the des-
,perate trio with his baton and prevented
their escape.
Administered. Water Cure.
Yes we used to administer the water
cure, too, in those days We used set of
fire hose, and the man we were going to
cure was placed in a small iron cage and
the heavy stream turned on him. We usu-
ally applied this to deserterS, bounty jump
ers and others of that ilk to make them di-
vulge their company and regiment. 1t was
also used freely on the scoundrels who in
suited ladies on the streets, under the pre-
text that such men needed a good washing
down.. "
A Memorable Event.
during the stormy days OF the war Po-
!iceman hardwood was known among his
fellow officers and to the tough characters
who infested Murder Bay as Mole Skin"
One of his best exploits was during a riot
in the Bay between mounted soldiers and
members of the old Franklin Fire Engine
Company. hardwood dragged a soldier
fl ON his horse and mounting the animal
himself used his club effectively that he
succeeded in knocking the other mounted
soldiers from their horses. which resulted
in their capture by the policemen on foot.
Mr.. hardwood bears the marks of many
wounds on his person. Some of them were
made by bayonets and swords in the hands
of soldiers during the civil war. He says
he had lignum vitae club with which he
could take a bayonet off a soldiers gun
as quick as a flash. His long experience as
a policeman is full of exciting and perilous
incidents.
During his continuous residence In Wash
ingtOn since his birth in 1927 Mr.. Mark
wood has but once been away from the
city, and on that occasion he went on a
steamboat excursion to one of the resorts
down the Potomac. In his forty years OF
service on the police force he has constant
ly done street duty, declining to accept any
of the indoor assignments.
Although nearly seyenty-five years Of
age, Policeman hardwood is still an ex-
pert horseman, ard he claims that as a
boxer he can vanquish many men younger
than himself. Only a few weeks ago he
arrested a bury young colored thief on H
street northeast and when the fellow be-
came obstreperous, hardwood threw him
to the sidewalk and sat upon him until
the patrol wagon arrived. He will live
hereafter IN his suburban home, near Ben
ming.