The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-08-01
DEGRADED AND
FIRED BODILY
PatrOiman Stephen S. Walsh of
New York Force Adjudged
Guilty of CoWardice.
HUMILIATION IN PUBLIC
ORDEAL OF DREYFUS CALLED
TO MIND.

New York, July 31.-A remarkable
scene, closely paralleling that memoir
able one in Paris when Captain Alfred
Dreyfus was publicly degraded before
the French army, was enacted in the
trial room at police headquarters to-
day. For the first time in more than
thirty years a patrolman had been adj
judged guilty of cOwardice. He is Ste
phen S. Walsh, who. according TO the
charge made against him, last week
fled from an armed man who had shot
and killed a woman. The keen inter
est with which the unusual case was
followed rose to a point Of dramatic in
tensity when Police Commissioner
Bingham, who had presided personally
at the trial. announced in a voice
choked with emotion that the charge
against the unfortunate man had been
proved.
Stripped of Shield and Buttons.
Then the commissioner turned to In
srector Richard Walsh, I'm whose dis
trict Stephen Walsh was a patrolman
but who is no relative of the dismissed
man. and directed the inspector to strip
Walsh of his shield and uniform but
tons. so that he might not even leave
/ the trial room with the emblems of
! his former position as a policeman in
good standing on his person. The
/ crowd looked on in wonder and excite
ment as the inspector advanced to per-
form his unpleasant task The dis
missed man stood still and offered no
resistance as the shield was unpinned
from his breast, but when the inspector
started to detach the buttons of the
uniform Stephen Walsh stepped back
and appealed to his attorney against
any further humiliation being put upon
him in the presence of his former COM
rades-
Elected From Building.
Commissioner Bingham, who was Ia
/ boring under great excitement, then
1 interpOSed and directed the inspector
to conduct his former subordinate to
the steps of the police building and
eject him. Stephen Walsh offered no
resistance, and went with the in
spector to the outer doorway, where
he was formally directed to leave the
building. Throughout the unusual
proceeding Stephen Walsh maintained
his cOmpoSure.
Charge Was Proven.
AS Stephen Walsh was being escort
ed from the room Commissioner Bing-
ham. with a wave of his hand. indi-
Gated that he desired the other men
H.
in front, ali you men in uniform" said
the commissioner, in a voice husky
with feeling, while his eyes brimmed
with tears. Il have a word to say to
you all, but 1 can scarcely say it, My
cheeks have burned with shame here
even TO think of a charge of cOwardice
being preferred against a man in this
department. 1t has been our pride to
say that, whatever other faults there
may have been. there was no coward
ice in this department. / gave the ac-
cuSed in this case every chance to de-
fend himself, but it has been clearly
proven that he failed just at the mo-
ment when he should not have failed.
This thing must never happen again
while you and / are together. You
must forget this but you must remem-
Der the proud record of thirty years
before when not one man in the many
thousands failed to do his duty in the
face of danger"
PatroIman Roosa Acquitted.
Stephen Walsh was one of the two
men against whom a On re of cow
ardiCe was made last eek when
Frank Warner was permitted to escape
after killing Esther Norling. Before
Warner was captured he shot and NOR
tally wounded John c. Wilson and ter
rorized hundreds of persons. Patrol
man Rosa, the officer whose name was
coupled with that of Walsh in the cow
ardice charge, was exonerated after a
full hearing before the commissioner.
Warner, who once was a prosperous