The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-02-01

became so cranky that she would careea
Il any speed were put on. She was broken
| I'D for old junk in 1870. and In the year
that Capt. Todd was In charge of the
harbor police the Seneca replaced her
Capt. James Irving. ex-Chiea Of Dstee-
tives, commanded her in lsI4 Between
Capts. Hart and Todd these men were
| in charge Of the harbor force: Capfs
Sieyert, Walsh, schultze, Hooker. Ca.
peuter. and Copeland. The first police
| steamer 20 be named Patrol vas built In
1882 She carried small cannon and con-
tanned cells for prisoners The present
J police Patrol was built In 1855. She Is
| $50 feet over all. fitted with steel twin
screws that give her a speed Of sixteen
knots. She carries two one-pound rifles.
! one fore and one afr. and ranged in her
! cabin are q dozen curved cutiasses. az
well as a store OF small arms
| When Captain Ebert o. Smith, an ex-
naval officer. and an athlete and boxer,
! was appointed to command the harbor
police, he found the precinct bristiins
I, with evils. some OF them relics Of old
times. The pierheads at the foot Of
| Franklin. Leroy, Dover. and Roosevelt
who robbed vessels. plundered ofiicers an
seamen ashore and made the waterfront
ring at night with their fights and their
drunken orgies. The adjacent streets
were alive with dives, fences" and
low grogshops, where the police dared
not venture, save in force The Short
Tails" gang. the Leroy gang. the Smoky
Hollow" gang, all known as wharf rats
were in full sway. and there were num-
erous unattached roughs who made ex-
cursion steamers and barges their es-
pecial preying grounds At that time
on every Sunday and holiday barges
would containing perhaps two thousand
people would be lowed from piers to
points up the Sound. The roughs made
II a practice 10 be on board. Liquor was
sold freely. there being no restrictions
to this barroom business then. When a
safe distance from shore the roughs
would pretend to start a fight among
themselves. They would draw pistols
and slungshots. and then. taking advan-
tage of the TERROR inspired among the
passengers. they would rob them indis-
criminately
Capt. Smith attacked these fellows and
their ways resolutely. He placed num-
Der of his men on each barge or steamer
before it left the pier. The policemen
spotted" members of any of the river
gangs aboard. After the pleasure boat
left the dock the Patrol would run along
side, the toughs would be seized, and
secured on the steamer. And at night
Capt. Smith and his men on the police
boat would meet boats returning from
an excursion. and would take OF trouble
some characters. How Capt. Smith.
tipped OF by Inspector. then Sergeant,
Byrnes, that La Blanche. the Marine. and
Marley, the Englishman. with thousand
sports had sailed away to fight few
rounds somewhere. captured the whole
boatioad and made them prisoners, is
story in itself.
The signal system of the harbor police
is one of the most interesting features OF
the force. By the use Of flags In the day
time and lights at night. police messages
are flashed along the river from Pier \
to the Patrol cruising in the waterways.
from the Patrol to the small boats or
from one small boat to another. II the
steamer wishes to convey q message to
a skiff, the number Of the boat is hoist
ed by fiag. By means OF answering PEN
nants which each patroir1an carries a
response Is made. Any message desired
may then be sent by the flag system
There is a nag for every letter in the al
phabet. At night, II the Patrol has in
structions for a small boat her grea.
electric searchlight il careened towards
the post where the skin is known to be.
Then. by means Of q key system, a screen
is thrown before the electric light and
withdrawn rapidly. SO that dots and
dashes are made as in the Morse alpha
bet In this manner night message can
be flashed and is readable twenty miles
away. The police use secret codes also
in this system of signals. Should the
Patrol. lying at anchor. observe a sus-
picious boat coming down the river the
police boat will be signalled, and when
It answers. the letters. say. DID. viii be
flashed. either by flag or light. That
may mean: Watch boat OF Hoboken."
Small boats answer night messages
from Pier A or from the Patrol by means
of bull's-eye lanterns carried by the pa
trolmen. and instructions are often car
ried from headquarters TO the farthest
patrolling beat, each boat receiving the
message. and passing IL on TO the next.
Thus the depredators Of the night are
often surprised at the sudden appearance
across their bows OF police boat that
has gained news OF their location from
dots and dashes some distance away.
This system OF signals easily doubles the
efficiency of the force In watching and
capturing river thieves. II is in charge
OF John F. Dwyer. who is sailing master
and navigator OF the Patrol. He daily
trains the boats crews in the use OF the
f'ag signals and the night flashes. Each
patrolman carries cipher card. a glance
at which shows him the meaning OF a set
of letters displayed at Pier A by flag !
or. shot through the darkness from the /
searchlight OF the police steamer. The /
code is frequently changed. /
In his latest report OF the harhor po-
lice Capt. Smith asks that he be furnished |
with ten small steam launches to enable |
him to establish ten stations that would /
as he says. Seal every approach 20 the |
harbor OF New York as tight as bot |
tie II is said that Commissioner York /
visited the precinct of the harbor police |
hut once. that Murphy and Partridge 1
were never there, although Devery gave 1
it some Of his attention.
BURIED FOR THREE MONTHS.