Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1917-01-29
A oliceman' S Life
IsNot a HappyOne
By M. QUAD
Copyright, 1916. by the Mcclure
Newspaper Syndicate.

my son." began the officer as we
walked his beat together "when you
see patrolman sauntering along the
street and swinging his club you think
to yourself how easy he earns his mon
ey. 1t is not SO easy when you come
to understand everything. I may not
make an arrest once in two weeks of
an offender against the law, but 1 am
busy all the time, and you shall hear
about it.
"In the first place it seems to me that
four out Of five families have a row
three or four times week. In winter
l do not hear so much, but in summer,
when the windows are open, l hear
much more than want to- The dwell
ing houses on my beat are mostly three
stories and Of brick. The first story is
occupied, as a rule, by bookkeepers,
statesmen and the like, who can afford
to pay about 500 a month. There are
two families above them which belong
to the laborlng class.
II am sauntering along my beat and
the first floor family are at supper
when l hear the husband call. out:
Maggie, what in the devil do you
get such meat forT
at was all I could get with the
money you left me-
"Then why didn't you run in debt
littleY
Because we owe now more than we
can ever pay
Don't you concern yourself about
what l can pay or cannot. This meat
isn't fit for dog to eat 1t is all bone
and fat and gristle.'
"'Well, you must eat it the best way
you can. am always pinched for
money and always have to buy the
cheapest things. We have got to keep
you well dressed, you know, and the
rest of us must wear our old clothes
"Darned If l don't wish had never
married.
"'And so do l, for that matter
"And then hear the husband shove
back from the table, and in minute
more he is on the street and walking
away. Half block below | hear an
other row.
You may say, my son, that these
family skeletons do not concern the pa
trolman on the beat, but they do Just
the same. About three out of five Of
them end In row in which furniture
is smashed and blows are given and
taken. Then 1t is his duty to make his
appearance and take a hand IN. We
try to be peacemakers, but it often hap
pens that we have to take the whole
family to the station. Wives drink as
well as husbands, and when 1t happens
that both have been drinking they are
very hard to handle. When they ap-
pear in court next morning one or the
other has black eye to be ashamed Of,
and they are so repentant that his hon.
or generally lets them go on suspended
sentence. There is another thing, my
son, that may surprise you. Take them
as they run on any patrolman's beat In
this city and not one out Of five chill
dren up to six years old has learned
the number and street Of his home.
As sure as they get three or four blocks
away they are lost. They can tell the
first name Of the father or mother, but
that is the best they can do. 1t would
take father or mother about fifteen
minutes to teach a child the street and
number, but they don't do It, 1t would
take about ten minutes to write the
address down on a card and sew this
card to their clothing, but they never
take this precaution. When child Is
lost the first step Of the mother Is to
find me. She seems to think I ought
to know every child on my beat.
81 can't leave my beat to go hunting
up lost children, and so I send her to
the station. Nine times out Of ten !
have got to so looking around after
my regular hours of duty. Sometimes
| find the child not more than two
blocks away, and sometimes have to
hunt for two hours, with my feet ach-
ing as If somebody had dubbed them
I tell you as fact that not one moth
er in ten can 80 describe lost child
as to make easy work Of finding him or
her. We will suppose that woman
comes running up to me to say that her
little girl, five years old, Is lost, | must
first calm her, for she Is greatly exclt-
ed, and then the conversation runs
about as follows:
"'When did you miss your girl?
"About two hours ago
"'What was the color of her hairT
Brown, sir
"'And were her eyes blue or blackT |
"I can't be sure which, but think
they were black.
"'What sort Of dress did she have
on?
"'A brown calico
"'Did she have shoes on?'
az think not, SIR
"'Did she wear any sort Of hatT
"'No, sir,
"Ts she a good sized girl for her
ageT
"Mary people have taken her for
ron yaars old sir