Los Angeles herald., 1907-11-18
SERGEANT OF
POLICE BUSY
THAT DESK IN STATION is A
HusTLINe SPOT
HIS DUTIES ARE MANIFOLD, HIS
TROUBLES MuLTIFoRM
Extremes In Human Nature Play on
His Nerves-Has Opportunity to
See Mankind at worst
and Best

(which is the busiest spot in the police
station?' asked the inquisltive man.
"Right where you stand" said the desk
sergeant, and he was probably right.
For all paths seem to center at the
| little window opening into the desk SER
| geants office from the hallway, and the
| busiest man is the desk sergeant himself.
| Railways from the entrance to the sta-
| ton. from the property clerks office, the
| 1ail, the chiefs office, captains ONCE,
| chief of detectives and detective head
! quarters, the receiving hospital and the
telephone exchange lead to 1T. Near py
| are the great doors through which prls-
oners are brought and at the little WIN
| cow they are searched booked, deposit
| bail or are taken up the half dozen well
worn steps and placed behind the huge
| iron grating to await investigation or
! trial.
Behind the shelf-like sill of the little
window the furnishings are plain-a roll
| top desk few chairs, small closet Ill
which property of prisoners is kept, and "a
| high sloping table on which rests the
| Book of Sighs," in which are recorded
| the names of men and women, high and
| low, the small and great, rich and poor.
The two telephones standing on the
| desk call for a great deal of attention,
| and over the wires he receives complaints
| of all kinds, for, as he says, when
you re not sure, call UP the sergeant
| Studies In Human Nature
| But it is at the little window that hu.
| man nature reveals itself. Here are
| brought daily men without nickel,
| charged with vagrancy or drunkenness,
! while others, able to violate speed ordi-
nances with high class automobiles, come
with pockets overfowing and their names
are wedged in between those of men
/ charged with petty larceny or murder
| To a person who loves the study OF hui
man nature in all it's varied phases, this
| spot Is a source of never ending interest
| Outside of the routine duties of his Of
| flee the sergeant is called upon to answer
| many questions by telephone or In per-
son at the window. His whereabouts are
made more prominent to the wandering
| eye of the inquirer by huge yellow sign.
! the words Desk Sergeant printed in
deep black almost forcing attention upon
the seeker for Information, valuable or
| otherwise.
| To him they come to ask the location OF
4 the captains office, passing the door OF
that official, designated In plain black
letters, on their way.
Wanted to See Jail
do you care il / go into the jail?' hes
itatingly asked a young but curious girl.
Two steady, unblinking, owlish eyes
looked at the maiden through judicial
looking Spectacles
Il what have you done?" queries the SER
geant, and as the girl fees, with pictures
of ow-browed turnkeys evidently fitting
through her mind, the gray mustached
mouth parts in an almost imperceptible
smile.
1--WE lost my cat" excitedly gasped a
woman, and as the sergeant directed hel
to the lost cat officer, another woman re-
ports, in calm tones and without trace
of agitation, the loss of a purse contain
ing $500.
Extremes Rack His Nerves
sit is these extremes that get on my
q nerves." saiG the sergeant. "One person
comes in with bounce and l immedi-
4 ately brace myself to hear the recital Of
a bloody crime, but when she becomes
composed enough to tell her troubles 1
discover some one has turned the water
!, off IN her house because she failed to pay
the water tax.
Another woman calmly walks to the
window, and after deciding in my own
Il mind that she is in search of a city direc-
tory, she starles me with the statement
that her husband has been murdered.
Nov, If every one would act alike
well, suppose it would become monoton-
J, GUS"
II These different characteristics are not
confined to the gentler sex, although the
men who seek information or redress are
either boisterous in their anger or courte-
| Gus; others labor under great excitement
and are almost hysterical.
| One man has lost his dog; another COM
plains that be had but few hours be-
: fore reported the disappearance of a
blooded horse and had found patrolman
on the outskirts of the city who knew
! nothing of his loss; a third is calmed
wnen he threatens to do terrible things
because hair Drained relative has been
fined for violating the speed ordinance
In a high-power automobile, and another,
with tears brimming from his eyes, is
kindly directed to the detectives head
quarters to report the disappearance of a
daughter.
The sergeant--he is known by every one
in the station more intimately than any
other one man. He is not so high that
J he can with dignity resent familiar slap
on the back, nor is he so low that his
position does not demand respect.