Bisbee daily review., 1910-07-05
DETECTIVE SYSTEM
 ABOLISHED BY GAYNOR

NEW YORK. July 4.--(SpeciaD- -
 Mayor Gaynor has dealt a knock
 out blow to the "time-honored" inst
 luton of the precinct detective sys
 tenn "Time-honored" Is really noi
 a particularly appropriate term ir
 connection. There never was much
 honor to it, but a great deal ol
 disgraceful grating. For many
 years it was the custom of the pre-
 cinct captains to detail a certain
 number of their mtn as plain.
 clothes men" These men were sup
 posed to do detective work, and
 really did do such work sometimes:
 but they were also the go-betweens
 in the graft dealing between the
 precinct captains and certain vio-
 lators of the law. who purchased their immunity by cold cash or an equiv
 ilent in dirty politics. Realizing the
 dangers of the system, Mayor Gay
 nor decided to put an end to it. and
 to bring about the desired result.
 caused the police comm ssioner to
 issue an order sending the plain
 clothes man back to precinct duty
 and assigning them to precincts far
 from their former haunts The or der caused eonsternation in police circles. The plain clothes men. who considered themselves detectives, are indignant over their "degradation tu ordinary patrol duty. and many of the captains are not at all pleased thus being deprived of their handy men, whom they could employ for all most any kind of duty within or without the sphere of regular po- lice duty. Those acquainted with the workings of the former system believe that the abolition of the so- called precinct detective system will eventually break the backbone Of the graft evil which for many years has been the disgrace of New Works police department.
 The policemen of the West f25tth Street. police station seem to have formed among themselves an ant race-suicide club and are evidently doing all they can to win the approv- 1 al of ex-President Roosevelt By a rather peculiar coincidence five Of the men of that platoon were excused from duty on the same day last week because the stork had selected that very same day for a visit to their respective homes The captain granted the leaves Of absence to the men with the warning not to let this happen again
 The founder and president of inc Sunday-iEcthe-Parks club, who is al regular Sunday morning yisio- to the Bronx Geological Garden, had rather unusual experience last Sun day morning. He stood near the wire enclosure of the ostrich com partment. talking to frielGs. when Nimbo. the big ostrich, was attract ed by the glitter of the sunlight on the visitors gold-rimmed spec tacles. The ostrich approached thei fence, then stretched his long neck over the top of .t and with one puck peck snatched the glittering object from the gentlenman's nose Backing away from the fance. the ostrich gneedily swallowed the spec tacles, rims and all Since then the huge bird has not given the least evidence that the speetaclss q g. agreed with his digestion.
 The New York fire department. has always enjoyed a reputation for it's and honesty. but recent developments indicate therc is at least one black sheep in the force After a fire in the Chinese quar- ter a little more than a month aer one of the Chinese merchants com piained to the authorities that dur 300 in cash and S5.00o in bonds When the ruins Of the building were searched the other Gay the .Ioor of the safe was found. clearly Sh.,v- ing that 1t had been battered and broken from it's hinges. In the same place a f-reman's axe was found which showed marks nf sevets usage. The police authorities know to winch fire company the axe belonged. and are making a quiet investigation r. ascertain which one of ths men cfl that company had been using ihc axe to open the safe.