The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1917-12-24
WHO is THIS SMITH, THEY
ASK; WE'LL, READ AND SEE

piolulneHl lOuSe men III ldCoud u
few nights ago one of the high Of
ficers OF Camp Lewis-a man who
has been at the head of a branch
of the military police fthe L. S.
OF the military police of the u. s,
ment that set his hearers to think
ing.
~ want to say" said the
officer, that your chief of
police here In Tacoma, Harry
M. Smith, is the best chief of
police il has ever been my
pleasure tn know"
He said many other things about
Chief Smith and the Tacoma po-
lice department. And the story
has been quietly circulating
around the city.
Who is this man Smith," has
been a familiar question.
Have We been overlooking
something down at the city ,hall?
Is it possible that. outsiders have
to come here and tell us how good
our own city officials are?"
just Plain Harry
And there hasn't been much an
swer. For Chief Smith is just
plain Harry Smith to his friends.
And altho he has been IT years
in Tacoma, and eight years with
the police department, his mod
esty has kept him in the back
ground while he was dreaming big
dreams and working out big plans
Of his own invention.
Unless Police Chief Harry M.
Smith were pointed out, you might
pass him on the street 20 times a
day and not even notice him. He
is a small man, very plain of ap-
pearance. and retiring to a fault.
He never wore uniform in his
life-and says he never will. He's
a oivilian-chief who has worked
hard for livelihood all his life
He understands the public's inter
ests just as well as he understands
police work. He knows human
nature.
And that's probably why he has
proved the most successful chief
of police Tacoma has ever had.
Goes to Work Mt 12
Born in Orange, n. j.. some 40
odd years ago. Harry Smith was
forced to cut short his education
at an early age because of his faith
er's death, and work for the sup
port of his family. His first em-
ployment was at the age of IL
when he delivered newspapers to
the millionaires of Ilewellyn Park.
Later he worked in Thomas A.
Edison's monograph factory.
Later he Joined the ranks of
workers in an immense hat factory,
spending four years to learn the
trade of journeyman halter. The
day after he received his union
card, Smith started west, never
s Stopping until he landed in Spo-
kane.
That was 20 years ago. From
the time he reached Spokane I'M
til 1910, when he Joined the Ia
coma police department, Smith
was in search of his proper niche.
He had a Wholesale hat store in
Spokane; became manager of the
hat department of big Spokane
store: handled hats for the Nc
Dougal-Southwick Co. in Seattle;
had stores in Portland and Taco
ma.
He entered politics in Butte for
a while, holding an office in the
county court house, developed
pneumonia and was brought back
to the coast on a stretcher, his life
despaiared of.
Comes to Tacoma
Losing all his savings by a long
siege of illness, Smith took over
the hat department of the Dege-
Miner store in Tacoma, and was
later with the Summerfields.
In the spring of 1910 Chief Of
Police Maloney sent for Smith to
be his chief clerk and secretary.
And at last he had found the work
that suited him best. Two years
later, after strenuous study, Smith
convinced himself and the city
council that he was fitted to in
augurate a criminal Identification
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