The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-04-07
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORM ALTON
BUREAU
FREDERIC J. HAsKIN. Director.
Washington, d. C
THEATRICAL POLICEMEN.
Washington. d. q

THEATRICAL POLICEMEN.
New York, Apxil 4.-The visitor
to New York these days is Immediately
/ impressed with the tremendous num-
| Der OF policemen. Let a fire break
out, an accident occur, a theft be per-
petrated, or the president visit the
Metropolitan opera house, and at once
policemen seem to rise on all sides,
as tho by magic. A CHI ain of bluecoats
with fiourishing "billics" is formed
around the scene of excitement in so
short time that the crowd is taken
| by surprise and usually meekly disin-
tegrates or stands at respectful as
lance without satisfying its curiosity.
Yet the supply of policemen patrol
ling the nearby streets has not even
been tapped. Where, asks the gap
ing stranger, do they all come from :!
OF course, the mystery is no mys-
terry at all when you once know about
| it. The New York police department
has simply organized a large number
of respectable and capable citizens
into a police reserve force 1t has
given them the authority to make ar i
rests whenever necessary, and 1T has
backed up this authority with the
privilege of wearing police uniforms
and of carrying might sticks" and
revolvers in their pockets. the only
difference between the regular po-
licemei1 and the police reserves is that
| the former are paid by the city, and
| the latter are not. They get no PEN
sions if they lose thumb or toe in
the performance of their duty; they
even buy their own uniforms. The
only rewards are glory and the los
sible opportunity of getting even with
| an enemy by arresting him for speed
| ing.
The police reserve of New York
came into being last May, as war
emergency. By that time, the city's
| police duties had become SO heavy that
the regular force was working sixteen
to twenty hours a day, uncoveringl
/ bomb plots and tracing enemy aliens,
and everyone shuddered to think what
| would happen If real calamity, like
a German air raid, came along. Po-
| licemen had to be procured some-
where, in spite of the usual lack of
funds, so the Commissioner finally de-
cided to recruit voluntary aid. All
sorts of reserves were springing up in
the army and navy. Why not police
| reserve?
Today, the New York police reserve
| contains citizens from almost all pro-
LESSONS and occupations, with the eX-
ception of the criminal. Any blue coat
| you see is apt to cover the person of
a well-known lawyer, banker, commits
sion merchant, cloak and suit manu-
| facturer, interior decorator, store
/ clerk, vaudeville artist or theater man
aeer. Or, worse yet, a police badge
may Turk beneath the innocent, tall
/ ored coat of any man in the street.
| The other day, a small, dapper man in
| a light gray suit was seen on street
/ corner in the grip of a tall, brass
| buttoned policeman. They were hav
! ing a violent argument. The news
flew about that a well-known come
/ dian was being arrested. As matter
of fact, he was merely having a dis
cuSsion with his manager.
OF all. the police reserves, the the
atrical ones are perhaps the most in,
teresting. They are so enthusiastic
| about their new duties, and they take
them so seriously. The theatrical pro-
| fession has been the irresponsible Bo-
| hemian of the nation SO long that 1t
| is rather exciting to it to be suddenly
admitted to the sober duties of enforce
| ing the law. Such public service also
has further delightful possibilities.
| With such an opportunity for demon
| strating its merit, the theatrical pro-
fession may capture the public's con-
| fidence and send a few members to
congress. At least, this is the vision
of one theatrical policeman.
! The. theatrical contingent is made
up almost entirely of that part of the
profession which remains in New
York-that is, the theater managers,
y,
musical directors, costumers and stage
| hands, rather than the actors. 1t has
an active membership of $50 men, and
over $50 are in uniform. Parentheti-
cally, it may be stated that the uni
| form has been the source of much dis
cussion and activity among the menu
| bers. With their sense of the appro-
pirate in costumes, they finally man
aged to decide upon uniform of dark
blue cloth, with brass buttons, volumi-
nd Il ferl1 h IL =.
| which, reaching above the knee, give a
dashing, military effect. At the pres
ent time they are much dissatisfied
with the regular policeman's overcoat
which costs about $40 or $50. They
are going to have a new one designed
and tailored that will cost about fifty.
Among the contingent are names
that appear in electric lights in sew
eral places on Broadway. Henry w.
savage is lieutenant colonel in the
organization; George NJ. Conan, Mar
Gus Loew and Lee Schubert are mai
ors: Sam H. Harris is a captain, and
Edwin f. Albee of the United Booking
Offices, the controlling power behind
the B. F. Keith and Orpheum vaude-
Vile circuits, holds an exalted rank in
the police reserve. William Fox, B. NJ
Moss and Henry c. Jacobs. well known
magnates in the theatrical profession,
are also officers. Lieut.. Col. Savage
1t is said, was. successful in turning
over some very valuable information
concerning German spies to the police
force, and various minor celebrities in
the profession shared in this work.
One policeman, a tall. red-haired
sergeant, who used to grace the movie
screen, took music lessons for several
weeks from a woman reported to the
Lolice department as a suspicious alien
sympathizer. This particular woman
turned out to be harmless. but the
same could not be said of various
musicians and artists in the profession
who became the special charges of the
new theatrical policemen. The re-
serves are especially proud of their
talents as spy-catchers, but they won't
tell you how they did it.
Now that the spy scare is over. the
police department is still depending
upon the reserve for other special du-