The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-15
POLICE STATION FOR 9TH AVE-.
LATEST MOVE IN THE BLUECOdT
Culture CRUSADE.
Capt. CottrclI. n We'll o Leader en-
the Movement. Endorses the scheme
No suicides Except Race suicide
Patrol wagon an Electric. Carriage.

the NONentcnts hndOrses the scnerne
No suicides Except Race suicide
Patrol wagon an Electric Carriage,
The Leonard street police station, which
was mentioned in the newspaper when
Nan Patterson was arrested and brought
there and has never been in print since, is
famous among all the precincts as the
dwelling place of Higher Thought. You
see, it is not very busy in Leonard street
and the bluecoats there have "A great deal
Of time to cultivate themselves on their
intellectual and aesthetic sides. There ia
even one man there who has read the ~Medi-
tations of Marcus Aurelius." II will not do
TO say just who he is, for this is no time to
make invidious distinctions. 1t is enough
to say that all the Leonard street men are
cultured. ,
Every once in a while Capt. John w.
Cottreil is in the habit Of holding a feast Of
reason and a flow of ideas. On such occa-
sions the captain will gather the reserves
about him and PROFOUND a brand new,
striking and original idea. He then puts
il up TO some one of those present to ex-
pand the idea and show its possibilities by q
purely deductive process Of reasoning.
Tn latest debatew was held only the night
before last and it was the most entertaining
and instructive thing you can imagine.
After the minutes Of the last session had
been read Capt. Cottrell lighted a big black
p~erfecto ant crossed his knees.
Il take d that you nave all read about
| the different movements on foot aiming to
improve the force throughout the city, I"
he began with a judicial air. "and how it il
planned to disseminate culture by having
each precinct specialize in some particular
branch Of the fine and domestic arts. Now
in all the discussion hat has ragged there
is. thing l b nave had in mind that hasn' Z
been touched upon. l think the precincts
are arranged admirably with one exception
1t has always seemed to me there ought TO
be a police station on Fifth avenue.
"Of course the people of Fifth avenue are
generally speaking so fixed that they don't
need to have anything done for them, but
il is commonly admitted that their outlook
upon life il limited. Their horizon isn't
broad enough.
"I've Just finished reading lhsen and
some of Jacob A. Riis and / was much i'm
pressed by the latter's book How the Other
Half Lives" That book, / understand
was written especially for the benefit OF
Fifth avenue, but it doesn't seem to have
done much good. Fifth avenue appar-
emily isn't any better of than before, for |
noted a first page article in THE SUN OF July
2 with the heading To Evangelize Fifth
Avenue That certainly looks bad.
Nov, / don't suppose there's any one
thing more broadening than sociable con-
tact with the police, Any contact with
them is broadening. but we will let that
pass. have a deep conviction that a police
station would do Fifth avenue a world Of
good"
Il agree with you. captain" said Lieut..
James Sennett, but I'm afraid there would
be Unforeseen complications. Instead Of
the cops improving Fifth avenue Fifth
avenue might undertake to improve the
cops. Our ordinary uniforms might not
prove to be good enough and Heaven knows
| for one don want TO be rugged up 80 I'd
he mistaken for a butler or lackey. The
station would he very expensive, too, for
il would have to he adorned inside with
mural decorations and outside with classi-
cal figures sculptured in marble at least
Then we might be expected to serve after
noon tea, pink preferred, at 5 O'Clock. I
suppose the patrol wagon o be trans
formed into a closed electric carriage and
some cop would have to learn to be a chauf-
feur."
-Oh. I don't think We would need to fear
any complications like those" remarked
Lieut.. Ernest L. B. Won Diezelski slowly.
"It strikes me most Of the difference bet ween
the Fifth avenue station and the other
precincts would be due to a changed en-
vironment or a rarer atmosphere, as Il were.
Before l came here, you know, l was over
in Eldridge street. and ] can best illustrate
what | mean by comparing the Fifth avenue
station with any precinct on the lower East
Side.
in Fifth avenue the only suicides would
he race suicides. Instead Of lost children,
with the whole family clamoring 70 US to
find them. we'd be implored TO spare no
expense in searching for poodles that had
strayed from home or runaway teddy
bears.
There wouldn't be any pushcart cases.
but ! imagine we'd have to arrest maids
and nurses occasionally for violating the
~perambulator sw.
1T would keep us busy night and day Just
making out the bail bonds" said Lieut..
Sonnet refectively.
at certainly would" Lieut.. Won Diezel-
ski answered cheerfully. And, by the way,
has IL occurred toyou we wouldn't need any
cells attached to the station house? Every
body would be out on bail the moment he
was arrested