The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-10-14

T a reH0refnA ! station or means of communication, with police headquarters. The number | of boxes and the distribution of them 1 in the territory to be protected is farrell cal.
 It Is easier and quicker for an oficer I who desires tc- communicate with headquarters to walk there than to | hunt up a police alarm box, and no
 certainty of finding 1t in working or
 der.
 .sThe building situated on the south- | west corner of Perry Street and Mad I ison Avenue is usedDs police headquar- ters and city prisons where all persons
 arrested by the police and held await ing trial, and also those who have fines working out sentences on the I street (chain gang) are confined This | building is old, unsanftary and unsafe as q prison. The roof leaks, floors
 worn through, and Is almost untenant- able In rainy weather. A large num- Der of prisoners are confined at times. and the keeping of convicts in the | (many of whom are innocen0, is very unsatisfactory for many reasons. in- cluding those of morality, cleanliness. economy and more than all.s humanity. Increase of Crime.
 There has been an increase in crime, many depredations have been committed upon the property of citi- gems by thieves, large majority of which may be attributed to careless
 ness of our people in falling to prop erly secure their premises, and the leaving of money and other valuables exposed to the cupidity of servants, and partly to the numerical, insufhcien- cy of the present police to properly afford the protection that the tax pay CTS expect. In many portions of the. city police officer is never seen unless going or coming from his meals, or
 sent to attend to some special call ssl
 "An honest effort has been made to
 suppress the retailing of spirituous liquors, the open saloon on Sunday. a
 ly violated by almost every retailer
 fwith but few exceptions), of liquors
 in Montgomery.
 Tt is an impossibility under the
 present law to prevent these sales. The charter of the city of Montgomery con- fers ample authority upon the City Council to regulate the sale of liquor. An ordinance can be passed eliminat- ing the restaurant and all other busi- ness from the saloon, similar to the law no wused in Atlanta, Memphis. Birmingham and other cities, which is the only way that the sale of liquor can be prevented on Sunday, or at least | imum and largely tend to relieve the police force from criticism unjustly be- slowed upon them. Gambling In the Clubs. "That crap shooting and poker play ing is indulged in, in our midst. cam not be denied, and under the semblance of q charter. poker playing is indulged in. in some of the club houses in this city, but no full fiedged gambling house with the paraphernafia of rou- lette, faro, keno, hazard, rouge ct noir. or what is known as banking games.
 exist. Crap shooting. stud poker and
 jack pot, when played. is generally
 caiities. where 1t is almost impossible
 to secure evidence to convict. The sporting fraternity is composed almost | entirely of local talent, with an occa-
 sional drop in from neighboring cities. Several resorts have been raided and the inmates or players convicted and fined. Indictments we been found against the keepers tor exhibiting gaming tables. which. under the law of Alabama, is a felony. Tn some in- stances the parties have been allowed l to enter a plea of guilty to gaming. which Is a misdemeanor, and pay a | fine. In all of these cases bound over
 the proof was positive and ample to secure conviction.
 NO conviction fors offenses of this
 kind has ever been procured from a Montgomery County jury, in the City
 Court of Montgomery. with but one ex- iception, and that many years ago, up- l on a plea of guilty. Comment upon the | above is unnecessary.
 Expenses of Police. 1 The expenses of this department in round numbers, for the fiscal year end ing September 30, 1905, is s50,701. .58. | against $44.379.6t for the year preced- a,.s ml.f Al d | This increase is due to the installing I of the steam heating system, purchase | ing patrol wagon, purchasing sad
 dies and plumbing. An Injustice has been done this de- partment by not allowing d credit for | work done on the streets by prisoners. The expense of feed. clothing. shoes
 and medicines. Is charged as one of the
 expenses of the police department. the credit for work done is credited to the street department; another item l charged as an expense is the fines
 Thich clts have been collected and Paid nto
 remitted by the Mayor and returned | by warrant drawn upon the City |
 Treasurer. and charged as one of the | running expenses of this department
 Among the items of expense charged are. maintenance of prisoners. $3.e76.39; salary of City Electrician and helper, half being charged to the fire depart ment This is useless expense on a worthless system. Rent of lot for city pound. $150. The Street Department has taken almost entire possession of this lot for storing brick and other building material. This department has furnished to the Street Department 24.224 days labor at 50 cents per day, 1 would be $1z,112; fed, clothed and paid all expenses of keeping. l have con tinuously asked, since have been Chief of Police, that the Police Department l be allowed credit for the labor fur ntshed the Street Department but in vain.
 The Detective Force.
 This important branch of the Police Department has been looked after by Mir. w. F. Payne, assisted by Mir. E. W. Graham. The growth of the city and the increase in crimes of a peculiar nature, requiring the services of off, cers of this class, has been so great that these two men have been unable to give that attention to many com plaints that would have otherwise proven satisfactorily successful. The amount of stolen property recovered and returned to the owners by these two men amounted to s3s91.75.
 "A daily session of the Recorders Court Is held (with the exception of Sunday. The ordinances of the city require the Chief of Police to prosecute all cases before the Recorder. This or dinance dates from the first incorpora- tiOn nf ha CIfy nf Mont o+nYnarv. tn 1