The New York herald., 1921-01-16

Types of the Rockies.
THE two extremes in the types of
men who come into the training school
are the very bright fellow who never
has 10 be told TO be neat and the very
thick fellow whom II Is almost impossi-
BILE to do anything with-the fellow to
whom you have TO say. Go home and
change your shirt and don't come here
again until you've done it, l must say.
though. that the majority of them who
aren't quite up TO the mark when they
start learn quickly and are eager to do
the right thing as soon as they learn
what II Is.
During the war; what with men
going into the national service and leav-
ing the department to take better paid
jobs outside. we We're so short handed
that the age limit had TO be lifted tenn
porarily so that men up to 35 years
could come in. Since then police salaries
have been raised and as the big wages
outside are falling off better men are
joining the department l shouldn't say
that they average any better than those
who came in before the war, but they
are just as good. and 1t is a pleasure
to work with them"
Before AN applicant can even take the
examination of the Civil Service Com
mission he must meet physical and
medical tests and submit four sworn
vouchers of good character. The COM
mission investigates his life from the
day Of his birth. and every day Of every
year must be accounted for When the
Police Commissioner has to appoint
certain number OF men to the force the
names are taken from the commissions
list OF eligibles, beginning at the top.
Then there is another physical exami-
nation. even stricter than the former
one. The candidate is passed from one
to another of four departmental sur
geons. and if he gets by the last one
he is as sound as men are made.
Last Monday morning when these
youths went to the gymnasium at head
quarters they were sworn in as pro-
bationers by Chief Clerk Roger Walsh
Prexy Schofleld had a schedule already
for them. About $50 were Immediately
assigned to the day and about 400 to
the night classes. The day students are
kept busy from S A. VI. to P. NJ. with
an hour off for luncheon: the night stu
dents from to midnight. The hour of
suspension between and o'clock in
the afternoon permits the day men to
depart and the night men to arrive
without confusion. BY continuous use
of the gymnasium. except for the one
hour mentioned, and the conversion Of
the trial room into classroom to take
the overflow from the two regular
classrooms, Prof. Schof!eld and his as
sistants are enabled to handle the whole
754 without difficulty.
The Lineup of Crooks.
Right away the pupils were put to
the expense of buying khaki shirts and
trousers and gymnasium shirts. The
rookie uniform Is essential to the mill
tary discipline imposed on every man
from the moment he takes the oath, and
also permits him to save his civilian
clothes from rough usage.
Every morning from 0 to 10 a class OF
recruits witnesses In the gymnasium
the lineup of persons arrested on charges
OF felony in the preceding twenty-four
hours. Detectives from all the precincts
of Manhattan and The Bronx, except
those who have to 60 to court. are re-
quired to attend this ceremony and
familiarize themselves with the faces OF
the crooks. This Is good practice for
the recruits. too. In the classroom later
their powers OF observation and memor ry
are likely to be tested by SOM oh
suddenly sprung question as Describe
the fourth man from the right in the
lineup this morning."
In the regular curriculum the students
take up one subject at time. and, sub
jected to examinations every two
weeks, are supposed to master It be-
fore passing on to the next Let the
average college student returning
to the campus to pick his snaps
for the next semester, glance over this
list OF twenty-five subjects in which
the man who would be n patrolman
must qualify in the next two months:
Department. PATROL observation. classi-
fication Of crime. arrests, traffic, ami
mails, fire and accidents, general ordi-
nances, disorderly conduct. felonies and
misdemeanors, assault and dangerous
weapons, homicide. larceny and rob-
berry, burglary. public morals. court
procedure. laws affecting children. re-
port making. election laws, malicious
mischief. Sunday law.
In addition the men receive instruc-
ton in the use OF firearms. including,
for some Of them, the new small ma
chine gun recently ordered and intended
especially for possible use in street
riots and the capture OF automobile
thieves. Each man spends two hours
a day in the gymnasium doing calls
themes, learning how to box, wrestle
and practice jiu-jitsu In the morning.
drilling and handling weapons In the
afternoon,
Use Rifle I'm Drill.
The rifle is carried In the drill. not
so much because a policeman is ever
likely to have to shoot one, but, as
Captain Schofield explains, for It's disci-
plinary value He finds that learning
the manual of arms helps to teach quick
thinking. A good many OF the recruits
at the start are unable to coordinate
the action of their minds and muscles.
Tell them to lift their left foot. for ex-
ample. and they are seconds slow in
doing Il. Give them n certain number
OF movements that they must make in
a given time and all the men at the
same time, and presently team play
between mind and body Is obtained.
And. speaking of feet. Captain Scho-
field dlsagrees with the army authori-
ties, who at West Point hold that a
man should stand with heels together
and toes apart at an angle OF forty
five degrees. He says experience has
taught him that the weight of the body
Is best distributed whom the toes are
only fifteen degrees apart. That. he
says. is the best position for the preser-
walton Of the feet. And nothing Is
more important than that a policeman
should stand and walk PROPERLY" he
adds. for II patrolman's feet break
a.. L. a