The Washington herald., 1912-08-18

/ briefly drawn by Mayor Gaynor. 4
hardly sufficient. however.
"A refined and sensitive man." stand
i ing by itself. gives a wrong mental por
K trait of a character at once robust. de
i termined and commanding. Sensitive b,
may be-. but he is a giant in stature. ant
he weighs 40 pounds. When he talk
fa Celtic note creeps into his voice ant
only the bare bones Of his thoughts arr
put into words. Clothed in q uniform
and given club. he would, be as typi
cal a policeman. physically. at least. a:
i States. And his language, blunt and
cultural. would tally with his buttons
! and his face.
Fourteen years ago. having just come
Of age. he Joined the Union Club. 81
have all the money I need" he remarked
to banker while discussing his owr
case. Il want to he useful. but have
no inclination toward business. 1 can
sit in the club, read the newspapers and
| look out of the window. but no young
American Of the right sort could tole-
rate such an existence. The public serv-
ice, II seems to me. offers an opportu-
nifty to detached youngsters like my
self"
The Spanish war was then being
fought. Waldo enlisted in the National
Guard. learned the rudiments Of soldier
second lieutenant in the regular army
by President Mckinley. He served four
years in the Philippines under Leonard
Wood and Hell Roaring Jake Smith,
going upward in the service until he
was a captain Of a company Of scouts.
He cleaned up, which means that he
shot up. several savage and hostile re-
gSons. Once he took to river In a
small boat with ten privates. The ma
tives from the Jungle and the mud banks
opened fire with repeating rifles. Four
Americans were killed and two were
wounded waldo and his three remain
ing men lay in the bottom of the boat.
returned the fire. and. slowly and dan
gerously drifting down stream, made
their escape.
Ceases to Be a Soldier.
At the age of twenty-three he was
sent to Calisiao, in North Luzon, with
IFS scouts, under instructions to kill or
drive away a large number of bandits
and to pacify the other 1000 inhabf-
tants. which work he carried out to
the satisfaction of his commanding Of
fcers. establishing meanwhile the first
civil government in 90 the Philippine
Islands of the American sort.
But the war was over, he told me
when 1 interviewed him. and there was
little chance for promotion or action,
and he resigned his commission and
returned to New York. Walking in
the street on a winter morning, he
saw the funeral of the first deputy po-
lice commissioner. Before the man
was buried, Waldo had begun to plan
for the vacant job. He got 1t. That
was six years and a half ago. Later
he was FIRE commissioner of this city,
and likewise an unsuccessful candidate
for Congress. He established a school
TO teach officers how to fight fires and
to prevent them as well. All knowl-
edge as to the best methods Of fire.
fighting, up to that time. died with the
man who possessed II. There was no
nor were there records on
the subject. Waldo searched the world
for new methods and ideas and turned
all that he learned over to the fire de-
partment. The school for officers. he
hopes. will be perpetual. and thus the
skill of one generation will be passed
along and bettered in the generation
that follows.
The Gaynorian phrase, refined and
sensitive" does not, therefore. ade-
quately portray r. Waldo, as he signs
himself to letters and documents. War
rior and hustler give a fuller and a
more accurate notion OF his character.
He is evidently lacking. however, in
and had TO learn that dis
honest man will devise ways to graft,
even though closely watched. Gam
bling came into the conversation I
had with him. Rosenthal had not been
murdered then. with policemen stand
ing about. I cannot set down Mr.. Wal
dos language because he exacted a
promise from me that quotation marks.
so far as they related to him. should
not be used in this article.
Gambling Can he Stopped.
It can be said, nevertheless. that he be-
lieves gambling can be stopped anywhere
In the United States-in San Francisco
as well as in New York. A sentence to
Jail for a year or six months would drive
every gambler out of the business at
once. Fines OF $50 or more are not Of any
account They are easily paid and the
cards are shuffied and the wheels go
around the same as before. Policy was
played until AL Adams. the king of the |
game. a wealthy man with healthy pull, |
was locked in a cell. After that policy
ceased to attract. As a matter Of fact, all ,
kinds of vice can be minimized and, per-
naps, eradicated, II the police and the |
courts will live by the oaths they took |
with their offices.
The philosophy of crime prevention, ex-
,ept assaults and murders committed in \
sudden outbursts of passion, lies In the |
aw, If II is sufficient, and in its enforce \
nent. The doctrine may be hackneyed 1
md officeholders may say II is imprac-
icable, but to a man of Mr.. Waldo's |
mental processes and training II Is both |
'ound and possible. For instance, IL auto |
mobile drivers in New Jersey were sent |
o the penitentiary for exceeding the speed |
INIT, there would be no speeding and only 1
me officer on a motorcycle, constantly /
cared and expected. would be required /
o patrol the State, from Cape May to /
he Delaware River. But IL the punish 4
nent were merely a fine of a dollar, ten j
thousand cops on motorcycles could not |
,ut a stop to fast riding.
You have declared" said. that you
'eiieve In the strict enforcement of liber-
i laws and not In the liberal enforce
nent of strict laws?'
That's so.i Mr.. Waldo replied MY
nswer is contained In your question"
Thus quoting nothing new and thereby
.eeping to my promise, / use his old
words and his brusque reply to illustrate
lis directness and paucity of expression. |
gain I asked: What are the leading
auses of crime?
THAT inquiry should be made Of a
enologist I am not one"
Gaynor's Scheme Not Successful.
In former times the police officers Of
precinct visited and regulated or sup
ressed the gambling places, disorderly
ouses. and other crime centers within
that was known as their own turisdic-
lon. The arrangement was excellent
,r lawbreakers and depraved policemen.
Negotiations, unfettered. went on be-