Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-30
Policeman's Manner Quiet.

He never speaks above an ordinary tone
Of voice; he never shouts; he never threat
ems. His composure Is his strongest point,
and he preserves it under all circumstances.
His calm, Indifferent, impersonal order to
pass along. please" or move on, please"
or 'be quiet. there, please" seldom fails
to overawe an unruly crowd, and when
some drunken or boisterous ruff1an replies
in an impertinent manner, the officer
glances at him coolly, but never says
word
The London police never use their clubs
except in the greatest emergencies and their
patience seems to be inexhaustible.
When an accident occurs they whistle to
their next neighbor. who produces
stretcher of canvas on two poles and the
wounded or fainting person is carried to
the nearest drug store or Doctors ONCE.
There are no emergency ambuiances in
London. Elongated baby carriages are
used instead, with black hoods over them
These are pushed along the street to the
nearest hospital or police station by single
patrolmen in a very quiet manner, with
out any changing bells or excitement.
There are 1886 policemen in London,
Of whom 30 are superintendents OF the d.
visions into which the city IS divided; b89
are inspectors. 2.14S are serseants, and
IA. 129 are patrolmen: 800 are mounted for
duty in the parks and sparsely-settled out
skirts Of the metropolitan police district,
$50 are on the river In tugs and launches.
1t cost ~ ,kOl,U1V 10 support tHo poiicc VI
The city of London, that Is. the original
city, an area OF about one square mile,
which used tc be surrounded by wall and
has its own police force. consisting Of
LOOP men and 4S officers which cost $3.50 900
last year. or the city foroe proper twelve
men were court-martialed In 1905, mostly
for minor offenses One man was dis
missed from the service. The remainder
were required to pay light penalties In the
way of fines and suspensions. There were
II, 1928 arrests in the city proper in 1905
and there was not one case of resisting
officer, so great is the respect OF the people
for the law.
All officials Were Watchmen.
The ancient custom before William the
Conqueror gave a charter to the city Of
London was to require the officials Of the
municipality, the sheriff, the constables
the bailiffs. the aldermen and the members
of the clerical force, including everybody
who drew a salary from the taxpayers, to
serve in rotation as watchmen and guards
at night. Next citizens, houserolders. were
required to perform that duty In rotation,
every adult taxpayer taking his turn with
a lantern and pike for three four
hours during the night several times
year. Next householders who were too
old or too lazy or too timid to perform this
duty were allowed to hire substitutes, and
in that way professional watchmen came
into service. The next step was to Or
ganize these professional watchmen by
wards and then by parishes, and outside
the city proper they were governed and
controlled by the vestrymen OF the
churches. In 1897 Vincent George Dow
ling. editor of Bells Life, perhaps the most
famous OF all sporting papers. devised
plan for the consolidation Of all the parish
police under the secretary Of home affairs.
Sir Robert Peel. during the reign of George
", took up the scheme and secured its
adoption by parliament. Hence, the Lon
don patrolman Is called a Bobby or a
"Peeler'' in his honor. Both names have
chung to them during more than a century.
The force has doubled during the last
twenty years and many innovations have
been adopted, although the methods Of to-