Los Angeles herald., 1910-05-16
POLICEMAN SAVES
ONE LIFE A YEAR
In Seventeen Years Service Will
liam MatuskiWiz Has Made
a Remarkable Record
HE STILL WALKS A BEAT
Believes in Prison Reform and
Declares for Humane Treat
ment of Criminals

Los Angeles has "a handsomest man"
on Its police force who in his seventeen
years of service bears the enviabe
record of having saved a human life
for every year of service. He is Will
liam Matuskiwiz. who holds down
night beat on Spring and Main streets
between Sixth and Seventh streets
Matuskiwiz is a blunt plain spoken
man and poor politician. He wears
no sergeants' stripes on his sleeve and
despite the years of faithful service
in the interest of the city he is still
just plain patrolman with no ak to
grind i'm the politics of the police de-
partment.
This policeman, unlike many of his
fellows, is in full sympathy with the
prison reform movement He believes
that kind treatment of prisoners and
n recognition Of their rights bring the
best results. Ten years ago he thought
differently and was a firm believer in
the iron hand for the man in the
shadow of the law. The incident that
changed his opinion is best told in his
own words.
"I was taking Juan Silvos, young
Mexican charged with n heinous crime,
to San Quentin. Silvos had ten years
at hard labor staring him in the face
] kept him handcuffed to me on the
train. At San Francisco we missed
our boat by a margin of several min
utes. 1t would be an hour before the
next one would leave. My prisoner
complained of being hungry, and some
what in the same frame of mind my
self, we started across Market street
in the direction of a little restaurant.
Silvos was handcuffed and ! held him
by small chain.
SAVES CHILD FROM DEATH
"When we reached the center of the
street | heard a woman's piercing
scream and looking back saw little
child some four or five years old
toddling from it's mother into the path
of a runaway team. The horses were
within several feet of the child. l for
got all about the prisoner in the child's S
danger, and springing forward almost
before realized what I was doing had
snatched the little girl from under the
horses feet In the meantime the
mother had tainted and in the excite
ment of the gathering crowd I ran to
her side with her daughter and lifted
the mother to her feet. The woman
recovered and wanted to know who
was Her question brought to my mind
the fact that ten-year prisoner was
I'm my charge. Silvos in the meantime
had had plenty of time to escape, but
turning around I found him at my
side quietly looking on. I asked him
why he had not attempted to escape.
He told me that had thought of him
when he was hungry.
"Instead of taking him to San Quen-
tin on the next boat 1 Immediately
took the handouts from his wrists
and showed HIM the town We took
in everything that was doing, had
several good dinners and caught the
night boat to the prison. l told the
warden of how he had acted and the
chief promised to take his good be-
havior into consideration.
"Silvos was released less than year
and a half after he had been confined.
I meet him on the streets occasionally
and he is profuse in his thanks. That
little experience changed my wnole
idea of criminology. From that time
on 1 became a firm believer in giving
the prisoners a show and treating them
like human beings"