The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-12-31
Drunkenness Leads Capital
City Arrests With 661.
4 CRUSADE AGAINST SMOKING
Youths of Topeka Hard Hit by
Anti.TObaccO Movement.
Comparison of Arrests Of 1914
and 1918 Is Made.

During the year 1914. there were Z,zUo
persons arrested by the Topeka police.
facing 81 different charges in police
court. There were Y more arrests this
year than last. In 1913. 2.134 persons
were arrested, facing only 50 charges in
court.
The annual report # the police de-
partment, just completed. shows that
while the number of offenses commit
ted in 1914 were not much greater than
the year before, yet the people arrested
seemed to have a wider knowledge OF
crime hence the 81 charges.
In the arrests for drunkenness, there
was little difference in the two years.
In 1913, 66S persons we're arrested for in
toxication. and 661 were arrested in 1914.
Husbands Now Gentlemanly.
Wife beating seems to be on the de-
cline in Topeka. as only one gent was
arrested Tor this offense this year. Four
men were caught beating their spouses
in 1913.
The year 1914 will go down in police
annals for at least one thing. the cru
Bade against smoking. Eighty-five per-
sons were arrested for smoking. each
ard every one of these persons, of
course, being under age All but eight
of these arrests were made during the
first six months of the year when the
movement to elevate the youth of To-
peka was at its highest. Lately. how
ever. all has been fairly quiet and few
arrests for this charge have been made
since cold weather came.
Playing Cards on Sunday.
One person was "pinched" for playing
cards on Sunday. Another tied his no.
BILE steed to a tree. Still another hitch
ing remarkably thrilling happened dur
ing the year. there was little change in
the force and in most ways 1t might be
termed an uneventful year for the
eIeuths. Minor arrests occupied a large
part of the time of the force, although
several big arrests we're made during
the past twelve months.
One chief police served during
the year. Josiah Ross. present incum-
bent, who has been in office since Oc-
tober 1. 1913. Ross succeeded Col. j.
W. F. Hughes, who came into office in
Apr of last year.
The sergeants and detectives, who
aid the chef in running the depart
ment. served together for the year.
The sergeants are A. L. Sauls and E.
L. Walker and the detectives, Charles
Lyle and y. a.. Golf. Officer A. A.
Woodward served several months as
sergeant while Sauls was taking a va
cation and running for sheriff. The
desk sergeants, Frank Leech and
Frank Parcell-. have been on the job
steadily since the Cofran administra-
ton came in and before.
Police co TT assessments have been
in the hands of Judge George A. Hur-
on for nearly two years.
Need a New City Jail.
This year. perhaps more than ever,
the necessity of a new city Jail has
been strongly urged The present edi-
fee was constructed more than thirty
w
small. and the prisoners few and far
between. The interior of the bastiIe
il only large enough to accommodate
twelve or fifteen prisoners and when
twenty-five. thirty. forty or even fifty
prisoners are boxed up there, it is far
from a pleasant place.
Following is a complete report OF
all arrests for 1914 and a comparison
with the arrests for the previous year: