Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-06

I girl. Judge Smell looked up at the girl In
the dock
4 '.As this is the first case to be tried in
our new building. used hitherto as church.
am going to let you go on your personal
recognixance." he announced.
Soon after the Police Court moved into
the 9Th street building 1t was common
thing to see sitting on the bench OF the
cot. huge cat. Grover. as the quadruped
was named. used to jump onto the bench
about the time court began In the morning.
and he would watch the various witnesses
with keen eyes. which he blinked in his
wise-iooking manner. One morning. how
ever. the judge missed his feline associate,
and 1t was later discovered that Grover had
been accidentally locked In the vault of the
court apd had not survived the night.
An amusing incident which occurred in
the present court building is related con-
corning messenger boy Of The Star, whose
nickname was "Fitz.'' This particular
messenger had the habit of staying around
the court much of the time, and at noon he
would slyly crawl under the front of the
judges bench, where his honor could not
see him, and quietly load into himself sand
witches and other similar ''delicacies" Fitz
was furthermore very fond OF limbergef
cheese sandwiches One day he rolled out
dime across the dairy lunch counter near
by, showed couple of his favorite brand
of sandwiches into. his pocket and started,
for his usual dining parlor. Soon the Judge
began to sniff the air. He stood 1t for a,
few minutes, then he asked the janitor to.
investigate under the bench In the base
ment. to see what was the matter. The I'M
yesti&atton continued for some time. when
the janitor thought of the >Hmberger sand!
wich under the judges bench. He sent
word to Fitz to get out. The messenger
was absent from the court for about a
week. for fear Of being punished for con-
tempt.
At various times noted men have had
business before the Police Court. One lof
the biggest of those cases was that In con-
nection with the star route conspiracy, the.
Post Office Department scandal. AT that
time Gen. Thomas Brady, second assistant
postmaster general; Senator Dorsey of Ar
kansas. George A. Vale of Missouri and,
several others connected with the scandal
were brought into the Police Court. Robert
G. 1ngersol was the attorney for the alleged
conspirators' and defended them before the
police judge. -'-',.-,sA-- : ..,E.-
At another time Cen William w, Belnap
of the War Department was defendant in
the court, in connection with the sale of
post traderships. He was afterward &C
quilted in the higher court
IT was in the Police Court, too, that Coke
and his army were brought and where the
final blow against them was struck After,
the raid on the army the Capitol
grounds many of the leaders were broughI
before the Police Court on charged Of tres
passing on parks and on the Capitol
grounds. Among those remembered in that
connection were Coke, Parson Jones and
Carl Brown the man with the silver dol
lars sewed on his coat as buttons.
Back in the old days of the Police Court,
although the business was less than at
present. longer sessions were the rule.
When a contested case came up, 1t was
frequently before the court for a week. or
witt
heard on both sides. at great length But
that practice has been gradually done away
with. In the hustle of modern life. Among
the lengthy cases remembered by officials
OF the court were those of Father Column
bia, charged with vagrancy, and William
Wallace, spiritualist, also charged with
being vagrant. Another case that at
trscted much attention was that of Jack
the Slasher," who was In the habit of enter
Ing houses that were vacant and sashing
the furniture and decorations with some
sharp instrument.
No history of the Police Court or of the
Police Court building that is now to be
tern down would be complete without a
mention of James. or, as he Is Familiarity
known. Jimmy Hughes, the janttor. He
has survived all changes in judges and in
politics of the District government since he
became the custodian of the keys of the
Police Court building. Soon after Judge
Shell opened the court in the building on c
street, Mr.. Hughes began his service. He
moved the court to Its recent location, in
1878, and he is again moving 1t to tenn
perary quarters on 10th street. And he
hopes to live to see the court established in
its new building on the site of the old one.
He has an able associate in Engineer Pat
terson. who has looked after the heating
apparatus of the court for several years.
Mr.. Howard Prince. now the librarian of
the Interior Department, was the first clerk
in the Police Court building at the corner
Of 9th and D streets. In speaking Of his
administration of fifteen years to a Star
reporter, he said:
II wish I had kept some kind of record
of the many funny and peculiar things
which happened in the court, for l think
now that 1t would make interesting read
ing OF course. the two most noted cases
which we had in the Police Court were the
star route cases and the Gutteau case.
GUiteau was never brought as a prisoner
into the court, but about an hour after his
shot was fired, and while he was detained
at police headquarters, I wrote out the