Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-07
4 POLICEMAN INTERVIEWING
>. A FARMER

the time and are gradually opening up the
great northwest"
The Police of Hudson's Bay.
Are all your police mounted. Col Winter
1 asked.
NO. There are many regions which are
| not accessible on horseback. This Is so
about Hudson's bay, on the Mackenzie
river, and In other parts of the far north
We have station Hudsons bay to
| which we have shipped houses In pieces.
and put them together again when thew
reached their destination. As /. is now we
| go round by ship to Hudson's bay onco n
| year to visit that station. Our policemen
there report on the conditions prevailing
about the bay. to the whaling and f,r
industries and as to how the natives are
treated They have little steamers to ma
| troll the bay and they go up the rivers in
| dogs" anu
| The Police of the Yukon.
what are you doing in the Yukon?r
we nave a comparatively large force
thcre engaged in keeping order and to n
large extent in governing the country. We
are doing what we can to put down gam
oilng. robbery and all sorts Of crime. and
d. me same time are making some ex-
plorations. At Dawson we have adopted
the fnger-prnt system for the Identification
universal over the world. 1t is now used
in England and the United States. and there
Will some day be a classification bu-eau
or this kind In Canada so that COPIES OF
the hnger prints of all criminals will be on
| record for the various police departments
| of the country. This system was luaueu-
rated by Scotland Yard in 1875 ana that
| department now has in its classification
bureau the hnGer prints Of more than
Il -fg
which, they say. they can inea!!iby identity
any criminal there recorded in one minute
| and a half"
How the Force is Paid
Tell me something about the pay and
! qualifications fer the police service
''The members of the mounted police re-
| eeive fairly good wages, replied Col.
| White. You must remember they are
supplied with free ratons and 1hat they
live to large extent in barracks The
constables receive upon starting In 60 cents
per day. At the end of the frs; year their
wages are raised 10 10 cents and they go
upward at the rate of cents per day per
year until the ninth year. when they get
81 per day. Four Of The staff serge2nts arc
paid 81 per day, and lower s;an serseants
get from $40 TO SIZE per day while other
non-c0mmisSiOned officers have from $1.i0
to $l.25. Among the qualifications are:
The men must lie unmarried; they must be
between twenty-five and forty years of
age they must he able TO read and write
either French or English; must understand
horses and be able to ride we'll The mini
mum height is five feet and eight inches,
the minimum chest measurement thirty-ye
| inches and the maximum weight lf5 pounds
The term OF engagement Is for five years
The Horse That Chewed the Rope
! During my travels in Canada / have
heard some good stories of the detective
ability of these mounted policemen. One
al,
TO a Canadian rancher which run
| across the border into the United States.
The horse was fine gray which could
gaIIop a mile in less than two minutes
The mounted policeman Of the district IN
which ii was owned started after the
thief the day after it was stolen and
tracked him down to Fort Assiniboine
where Col. Otis, afterward Gen. Otis, Tie
governor Of the Philippines, was in
charge He there found the horse in the
hands of stockman. who esa.med that
| he had owned it for five years and that 1t
/ had never been out of his hands.
| The mounted policeman called. upon
Col. Otis, told him that he knew the man
was lying and asked him il lie would ar
bitrate the case if it were brought before
him Col. Otis replied that this was out
side his duties, but that he would pass
Judgment IL the parties Wee brought be-
fore him. Thereupon the Canadian of1cer
caused the mans arrest by the local po-
| lice, and man and horse came before Col
/
saving that he had kept the horse for
years
In the meantime the Indian guide who
had assisted the mounted police man whls-
pered that the horse had Il curious trick
of chewing up any piece of rope with
which he tied, and that lac could free
himself from any rope in ten minutes.
The policeman communicated this fact to
Col Otis and asked that the horse be put
TO the test, saying that II he did not chew
himself loose he would give up his claim.
To this Col Otis consented
The animal was theTeuIon tied with
rope to q post close by and all the party
walked off to short distance. They had
hardly stepped back before the horse began
to chew at the rope. Col. Otis took out his
watch and timed him as he bit at his halter
again and again with his strong white teeth.
II was Just seven minutes and half before
he was loose. Thereupon the policeman was
tod that he could take the horse back 10
Canada which he did.
FRANK C. CARPENTER.