The Washington times., 1917-03-24
FORMER TENDERLOIN
GEAR SLOWLY DYING
A. S. Williams, Famous in New
York Police Circles, Has Had
Rare Career.

HOllCe inspector AleAduocE -. WI
nams, for eleven years the Car of
the Tenderloin, to which he gave the
name which will always stick to 1t,
and who with Big Bill Devery and
the possible inclusion of Inspector
Tom Byrnes probably got more space
In the newspapers half a generation
ago, were more talked about, were
more snvagely abused and more
warmly praised than any other po-
licemen in this country, is dying in
his home in this city.
1t was said there today that he
might live until morning, that he
might live five hours or five days,
but that his death plainlyIis in sight.
Uremic poisoning is wasting away
the huge frame which, armed with
a nightstick, so often crashed a de-
structive way through ranks of vio-
lent striking longshoremen or laid
low the toughest citizens of the city's
toughest section in barroom raid or
street brawl. Cap'n Aleck, as he was
popularly called when his name was
familiar to all, is a mere shadow of
his former self.
ly until a few months ago make II
impossible for him, say the doctors,
to live any longer. He is now seventy
seven years old.
Always .Rough and Ready
Thousands of stories of his police
life have been told, and most of them
are true, especially those which con-
Germ him as rough and ready" They
began to tell stories about him as a
pointment.
He had been a ship carpenter. and
on August 3, 1866, he decided he want
ed to be a policeman. So he went to
headquarters, entered office of the
Commissioner John w. Bergen and
stated his mission. This was before
civil service rules were in effect
81 don't know you from a crow"
said Bergan. "For all I can tell you
may be a convict, fresh from Sing
Sing"
This angered Williams so that he
forgot about the job he was after.
He shook his fist under Bergen's nose
and in the bull voice that went with
his build, and whose power had been
increased by his experience at sea.
audaciOusly told Bergan he could keep
the job.
Then he stamped from the room.
Bergen sent a policeman to bring him
back. and appointed him Immediately
to the force.
Williams was sent to Broadway and
Houston street, then in the heart of
the district controlled by murderers.
thieves and thugs of every descrip-
tion. More than one policeman as
signed to this post had been carried
home in an ambulance. Two days
after Williams got the route he picked
out two of the most vicious of the
tough characters. of the district,
picked fights with them. lifted them
above his head and hurled them
through a plate glass window.
Got Rapid Promotion.
He was on that post for three years
and a half, and it is said that he aver
aged a scrap a day. 1t was there that
he earned the nickname of "Clubber
through life. Then one day the police
commissioners met and promoted him
to be a roundsman, and ten minutes
later to be a sergeant. a rank which
was the same as lieutenant is today.
He was detained to the mounted
squad.
1t was in October, 1876. that he was
transferred to the West Thirtieth
street station, then the heart OF the
gay but vicious night life of the city,
where the gambling houses were, in
point of power and elegance and i'm
portance, far far above what New
York has to offer in that line today.
where Canfield's, Mdrrissey's. Reid's,
and other places of equal class were
attracting some men OF great import
ance in the city. to gamble, away
thousands upon thousands OF dollars
in a night; where the disorderly
houses were able to give fortunes to
high city officials for police protec-
tion so that If they wiIled they could
break" a police captain overnight.
Going to Eat .sTenderIoIn.-
Williams was walking up Broadway
one day when a friend asked him how
he liked his new assignment, the
most impuortant precinct in the city,
and the one which offered the most
graft to a policeman who would &C
cept graft.
We'll" said Williams. Il like it
fine. I've had chuck steak for a long
time, and I'm glad now to eat tender
loin for a while"
He stayed there for eleven turbu-
lent years, feared by those beneath
and by those above. He made a rec
ord for having charges preferred
against him: eighteen times he was
brought up on the carpet, but his luck
always held good. He held the post
until 1887. and then he was made IN
spector. As inspector he had charge
Of the lower East Side, where vice
pRraded itself shamelessly. He fire.
quently raided dens, but usually these
places reopened soon after his raid.
Then, in 1894, came the LexOw in
vestigation OF the police, in charge of
q legislative committee headed by
Senator Charles s. Lexow
Testimony ~frOm others was that
Williams had foisted a whisky in
which he was said to be Interested
on all the saloonkeepers OF the Ten
derloin, and there was a mass of simi-
lar evidence for him to explain away
Williams admitted that he owned a
home at Cos Cob, the dock on which
had cost $4,000: that he owned a
house in the city. a yacht. had sew
sral bank accounts, and other prop
srty.
"Where did you get the money TO
pay for them?" he was asked.