The Savannah morning news., 1903-10-07
wAsHINGroN's WICKED DAYS.
National Capital Now a Model City
Compared to what IL Used to Be.

National Capital Now q Model City
Compared to What IL Used to Be.
THE good old days will never come
again." said one of the oldest men on
the Washington police force last night
to reporter for the Post. What he
meant. by the good old days" was
really the bad old days" for in years
gone by Washington was bad. Bad it
was from the standpoint of residents
who were compelled to suffer from the
depredations of thieves of all classes,
without adequate protection bad for
the visitor and sightseer, who were at
the mercy of pickpockets while on the
streets, and of sneak thieves in their
hotels. The "old policeman" tells of
time when conditions were so bad In
the city that each morning would see
a long line of people waiting to regis
ter their complaints and report their
losses at police headquarters.
The old conditions were bad for the
banks, who were often victimized by
bank sneaks,' and while all this was
going on there were more defalcations,
because clerks and trusted employees of
all classes were led to take a flyer"
in the always open poolrooms or policy
shops.
In the good old days the police de-
partment scarcely deserved the name,
according to this old timer, who has
been through the mill in all its phases.
Il have seen the time" he said, when
there were as many as a dozen to nj
teen policemen sitting around in
back room some where, some of them
sleeping and all waiting until 1t was
time to go to the station for morning
roll call, and end their nights siren
uous duties.'' Under such conditions
ii was no wonder crime 1ourished.
"Second-story men" could scale
porch and not only be sure of finding
no policeman waiting for them when
they reached the ground, but also sure
of having their case squared" should
they by any chance be arrested. In
those days, too, the police played poll
icy along with all other denizens of the
division" =
'All-night saloons were the rule, not
the exception, the only change after
midnight being that the front doors
were closed and the side doors opened,
and the crowds surged in and out with
the greatest of freedom. Ok r. g.
1T was often the case that gang
of expert pickpockets would reach the
city by the Baltimore and Ohio Rail-
road and Immediately go to work lin
the station. By the time the warning
would get to headquarters and the de-
tectives reach the Baltimore and Ohio,
the pickpockets would have gone to
the Pennsylvania Station and made
their hauls there, and before the po-
lice could reach the new scene of ac-
ton the whole gang would be on a
train speeding to some other city"
Now all is changed, and it may be
said safely that Washington has the
finest and most efficient police depart
ment in the country, a department
which is the envy of every other
city in the land. The change dates
back to about twelve years ago, but
improvements are still constantly be-
ing made. The better lighting of the
city has, of course, been a help, and
holdups are now so few and far be-
tween that they scarcely deserve men
ton. Probably the greatest changes
of all have come, though since Maj.
Richard Sylvester took charge as SUI
perintendent of police.
When the first took hold new rule
was declared. THE time has passed
when it is necessary to pay a pre-
MUM for one criminal to turn states
evidence so as to watch others of the
gang" This Sounded the death knell
of the adage that you must have a
thief to catch a thief" Police author
titles in other cities laughed at the in
novation and predicted it's early coll
lapse, and to-day they are still using
stool pigeons" and paying informers
the toll which tradition claims as the
price of success in catching criminals.
There is rarely a criminal in any of
the branches of the calling" In other
cities who does not have powerful
friends lat the 'front.'" and one case
will suffice to illustrate the extent to
which these friends can operate. when
an influential crook has "a fall" A
noted second-storY man was recently
arrested in Atlanta. Friends came to
his rescue and the case was squared.
In the meantime came a warrant ask
ing that he be held and sent to Rich
mond. His friends went in advance
and the case was again squared"
And so he was taken to not only one,
but to seven different cities, winding
up in st. Louis. Mo-, and neither of
the charges against this burglar, who
was real bad man." ever came into
court.
Crooks stay away from Washington
nowadays because they know sooner