davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1922-07-30
Police Force Of the District Has Record of Bravery and Ski

him home. in many instances paying
the mans fare.
COME day when you want to know
- something about the police and
how today a greater state of har
mopy exist, than has prevailed for
some time. SIS with some of the men
connected Tita the department. or. il
you want to get a modern police
chiefs view on life. sit down and talk
with Sullivan. He will probably say
to you what he said to the writer,
which is s follows:
'It is our aim 10 honestly and
faithfully serve the public. 1t is 10
the publics 'wn good to fully CO.
operate with IS. We are ever glad to
welcome jua. criticism. When any
one can Offer as criticism that is con-
structive We are glad to listen to ii.
have found however, that a great
majority of the people who complain
are those who do the least to help.
THE average policeman wants TO DC
the thing that is right; the average
brave man. You must remember
that he can never tell at what hour
of the day or night he may be Sc
verely injured, if not killed, and yet.
despite that fact. he never falters i'll
doing his duty.
"Of course, there have been police
men. from time to time, who have
broken the laws, and no one has been
more bitter about the transgressions
than their fellow officers. 1t should
be the duty of all of US. every morn
ing. to see if we can do something
during the day that will help our fell
lowmen. What a wonderful place the
world would be il every one would
do this"
Some time when you feel peeveJ at
the police for something they have
done or something that you have
heard they have done. go out and
walk a beat with an officer. Prowl
into the dark alleys and dismal cor
ners of the city. or cast your lot with
one of Inspector Grants detectives
and stay out in the rain all night,
while the fly cop" is watching for
the return of a much wanted man.
When you have don these things
you will realize ths' policeman's
life is not exactly bf~ of roses.
Evening star., 1922-07-30
The Big Trees.

OUR great parks. the Yosemite. Yel-
~ lowstone, Sequois and General
Grant. must be. kept under military
supervision in order 20 preserve their
natural wonders against injury from
trespassers. OF az .hese miracles of
nature, the big trees" are the most
Astonishing. There are two species
the sequioa sempervirens, or ordinary
redwood. aud the sequoia gigantea,
which is. strictly speaking, the big
tree" of California
These stately CREATURES are SO i'm
pressive that it seems quite fitting to
honor them with distinguished titles.
Nearly every state in the Union and
all the distinguished generals of the
civil war have names among them.
The General Grant" and the Gen
eral Sheridan" are in 1ividuals of the
largest size. and, WI the Grizzly
Giant" are probably the biggest of
all trees.
Before one of the national eXposi-
tions the government ordered sec
ton of redwood thirty feet long foi
exhibition. and for this it agreed to
nav $1,000 Before the lumber COM
pany had succeeded in delivering IL
on the cars II had cost nearly that
| amount. for a mountain wagon road
| five miles long had to be built to
get it out, and a trench was dug as
long and as large as the tree itself
| to set il in.
The same company also furnished
another tree for another exhibition.
which was cut in General Grant
Park not a hundred yards from the
| spo. where the General Grant
stands in all its majesty. In the
same grove lies the Fallen Mon
arch" through the burnt-out heart
of which mounted horseman can
| ride with ease.
In the Yosemite is the ''Wawona,"
a tree with hole burnt in its base.
| through which the road runs and
big automobiles are driven without
difficulty; and on the Mark Twain
stump of the General Grant Park
eighteen full-sized cavalry horses
have easily stood. 1t is twenty-siX
| feet in diameter.
1t is supposed, from such evidence
as is afforded by counting their rings,
that some Of these trees are older
than the Christian era. 1t should be
! accounted a sacrilege to destroy
| them.
Evening star., 1922-07-30
Store of Future Wealth.
THERE is reason to hope that tn

THERE is reason to hope that the
world may be greatly enriched
through the results of observations
and experiments to- determine just
how certain plants manage to assimi-
late nitrogen from the atmosphere.
1t Aas been discovered that such
plants as peas, beans and clovers have
their roots invaded by myriads OF
minute organisms which may be
either. bacteria or parasitic fungi.
These organisms in some unknown
way incite the plants to increased ac-
tfvity SO that they are able to assimi-
late free nitrogen from the atmos-
phere and thereby to supply, through
their own subsequent decay, an abun-
dance of nitrates, nitrites. ammonia
and other nitrogenous substances TO
the soil.
Efforts have been made to deter
mine whether some other sti.,vlus
besides that furnished by the organ
isms referred to may not be Supplied
to plants which will enable hem str:
more effectually to assiE'aate nitro
gen from the air for the ultimate en-
richment of the soil.
, The Importance of these investiga-
tions may be judged from the follow
ing statement made by a leading au-
thority on the physiology of plants:
! This question, be it emphaticaiiy
stated, promises to be of more I'M
portance to agriculture in the future
than any legislation as to prices. ETC..
that we can conceive; for IL it turns
out that with the acquisition of free
itrogen by the land. or. what amounts
to the same thing, the plants grow
ing on 1t can bS Ieeonomically pro-
| noted, the farmer and forester may
have the control 6f sources o: wealth
MT y..f dreamed Of"
Evening star., 1922-07-30

After they were sent to jail for car
rying concealed weapons the out
RACES suddenly ceased.
A well known character Of the early
days. Jansen by name. was arrested
for grave robbing and sent to jail
for eleven months and twenty nine
days
While New York's criminal element
has often boasted about it's gunner,
Washington, in former days, was not
without its quota of killers. Among
the noted gentry who packed smoke
wagons" were Eddy Welsch, Drury
Falkner, skinny" Daugherty and
Charley Goodman; also Billy Will
liams, a notorious thug. who in many
respects resembled the real East Side
tad man.
DILLY WILLIAMS was what was
known as a. "houseman." He
was perhaps one of the first to in
troduce the use of chloroform in the
robbing of a home. Williams used to
make his hiding place at times in the
old st. Patrick burial ground. and
this gave rise, no doubt, to his being
accused Of being the ghost robber
Anyhow, he laughingly took credit
for being this particular nocturnal
prowler. He had as side kick"
Johnny Curran. Another gang was
mostly yeggmen and soup pourers."
the name for safecrackers who use
nitroglycerin.
Wash Meredith, mentioned in a
previous part of this article. was the
leader of. the gang in the northwest
ern section of the city. He was a big,
powerful brute and used to have as
his companion a man named Thad
Hall. 1t is related that upon one oc-
casion,- not being able to enter a
house, Meredith picked up Hall in
his arms and tossed him through an
open window several feet above the
ground. Meredith also one day was
caught carrying a barrel of flour
away on his shoulders. He and Sarah
Curtis worked on the principle, 60
in and take anything" Others who
were regarded as being dangerous
criminals we're Georgia Parker. Lum
Sewell, Pat Wayman, Mutton Brown
and Yellow Walters, the last named.
according to tn. police. acting as a
fence" or receiver OF stolen goods.
Another man well known to the po-
, lice was Columbus Pearson. who at
times worked with the Curran broth
crs and Billy Connell.>
IS + &c.
nURING the time that Coxey's army
was making its march onto
Washington, numerous green goods
men and other crooks had attached
themselves to the group led by the
doughty general from Ohio. Scat
tered in among the members OF
Coxey's army were several of Wash
Iington's best detectives. They had
learned as to who were the danger
Gus or vicious characters. who were
Just "c&mp-kitchen followers" and
as to who really believed in the teach
ings Of Carl Browne. SO when the
army reached the city, limits they
weres able to peinf ont to the waiting
police just who should be gathered in
Evening star., 1922-07-30

famed in their day. at the Congrega-
took in the money at the door and
then vanished. After a hurried in
vestigation, one of the trustees Of
the church stated that he had dis
agreeable fact to announce. namely.
that the agent had absconded with
all. the money and that the Fisk
troupe was in Europe.
Among the most noted burglars of
olden days was a man named Meyers.
who was particularly we'll known in
some Of the southern states. His
throat had been partially cut: whether
by an assailant or by his own hand
was never known to the police. The
wound healed. leaving a tiny hole in
the windpipe. and when Meyers be-
came excited the air, rushing through
the orifice, caused a whistling sound.
DR.. James Hall. who resided for many
years on Pennsylvania avenue. had a
custom of sitting up late at night
studying. One evening the doctor,
nearing a noise. in his cellar, picked
descended the stairs to investigate.
He found man groping about the
cellar. The intruder knocked the doc
tors candle from his hand, the men
came to grips, and during their strug-
giles Meyers -windpipe began to
whistle. The intruder escaped, but
the description given by the doctor
to the police quickly resulted in
Meyers arrest and. conviction.
Two notorious safe workers were
Rory" Simms and "Yank" McLaugh-
lin, who were arrested for having
robbed Frank Hoffa's safe of $4,000
worth of jewelry. Simms was SEN
fenced to ten years in the pen" and
Mclaughlin died while awaiting trial.
TN the early part of October, 1898, a
/ series of depredations was begun
in the District which. for time, badied
all efforts Of the police, frightened men.
women and children. and resulted in
the destruction of a large amount Of
personal property.
Inc uESl icSiOe'SS ~ ~
was that of President Nick Young OF
the National Base Ball League. The
interior of the house showed that the
intruder had entered not alone for
gain, but, for the purpose Of doing
damage. Walls and pictures were
ruined by mud and !! flth: carpets.
chairs, curtains, letc.swere slashed
l
The Publishing of this occurrence
brought to light the fact that similar
derredations had been committed in
Maryland. virginia and Fort Myer.
when the excitement had partially
sutsided the mtscreant entered the
home Of Judge Miller OF the Police
Conrt. Excitementsranh high. I'm some
instances servants and others seeking
revenge were guilty OF similar out
raxes. but were captured and sent to
iail. Anonymous Notes signed Jack
the slasher'. were left in the places
visited. citizens sat upsall ntaht long
win the gas burning. In an effort to
scare on the intruder; Among eer-
tain Of those arrested on suspicion
Wefs. three Young men, and on their
persons we're fouaq two sharp knives.
Evening star., 1922-07-30

days the reader will, no doubt, be in
terested in the early uniforms.
The superintendent was attired in
frock coat with, police buttons and
dark trousers. The sergeants wore
double breasted frock coats and blue
trousers. The patrolmen were attired
in navy blue coats, with rolling col
lars, two buttons fastened on the hip
and two on the skirt; blue waist
coats and trousers, and white cord
down the seams. From the early day
pictures and Illustrations it will be
noticed that policemen of those days
ran largely to whiskers.
DURING the war period there were
numerous concert halls and
places of amusement, all crowded
nightly, Washington abounded with
contraband. bounty junkers, substi-
tute brokers', thieves and others of
like ilk. 1t was. during this period
that Secretary of State William H.
Seward preferred charges against two
patrolmen who were. accused of as
saulting Henry Seymour. third secre-
| tary of the British legation. and
Count Colbert of the French legation.
Congress, of course, was in session
and the city full of visitors. People
| were held up on the streets and money
| and jewelry taken from hotel guests.
Confidence operators had more "busi-
| ness" than they could handle.
Among the names of the noted
| characters of the day were Alfred
Magruder. Charley Adams. Bruce,
Garcia and Meyers. Counterfeiters
reaped harvest. While the city was
not exactly under martial law, iron
clad military rules were the order of
the day.
NThe latter part of March, 1855, the
| police force was given full charge of
affairs. From this period down until
the seventies gambling had assumed
large proportions. and while raids
I were made the punishments were, as
| rule, extremely light. The tramp
! tnuisancefin 1873 was another matter
that gave the police considerable
| work to do.
| inc year slcol Is SILL remembered
by numerous inhabitants of the city,
| for the winter season was a record
breaker as far as cold weather was
concerned. Pennsylvania avenue was
| the scene of a s1eighing carnival, this
| being conducted under the direction
! of the police. Numerous takers made
| Washington their headquarters, work.
| ing the District principally by three
| card monte games. 1t was at this
period that Michael Shehan, alias
| Sheeny Mike, was arrested in connec-
! tion with the Bursette store robbery.
On the 27th of June w. G., Whitney,
son Of the late Myra Clark Gaines.
New Orleans claimant. was killed by
J. Y. Christmas. July 2. 1881. was the
| date when President James A. Garfield
] was shot down in the old railroad station
on 9Th street. just below the Avenue,
J by Charles Guiteau. The assassin was
captured by Private Patrick Kearney.
who was assisted by John R. Scott.
another oficer.
xx*x
TT was not until late years that
Evening star., 1922-07-30

| gangs" as they are Familiarity known.
were committed. These gangs generally
had as their leader some lawless char
| acter. whose criminal record. as rule,
was known to the police.
The first organized gang appeared in
| 1853. Among the gang depredat4ons
was the stealing of barrels of whisky.
The breaking up of one of these groups
was due to the good work of Rounds
man Pierce. The Union Restaurant
which had been a prominent resort
since 1861, was known as a spot where
| a fellow could get his canteen filled or
his head cracked In September Of. 1852
a general row took place in the Union
| Restaurant and it was quelled by OFF,
| Ger Duvall who, single handed. arrested
the entire gang Old timers in the serv-
| ice still mention with pride the fact
that one of their number. alone and un-
aided, arrested an entire gang.
One of the early gang leaders was
William w. Bowie. who was captured
by Officer D. O'Connell, but not without
severe struggle. The arrest of Bowie
did much to break up the gang of which
he was the leader.
Superintendent Richards. at the head
of the police force in 1865. was set upon
by John Burns. an omnibus driver.
| Hackmen and omnibus drivers had per-
sisted in obstructing the tracks of the
Baltimore and Ohio station. Word had
been sent to Superintendent Richards
and he found Burns occupying the
track. When ordered to move he be-
came very insulting, and when the sup
erintendent attempted to arrest him the
officer was struck with the butt OF
heavily loaded whip. Burns was finally
arrested and the gang of hackmen and
omnibus drivers became quite docile
THE inauguratio ceremonies OF
L March 4, 1859, proved to be the
magnet which brought numerous pick
pockets and ''second-story workers to
the capital. AS the result Of excellent
work on the part of the department,
! seventeen well known New York crooks
were rounded up and sent to Jail. -:
| In April. 1869, about one hundred men
| participated in a general free-for-aH
fight in the northeast section of the
| city. In the midst of the battle Lieut..
johnson dashed into the crowd and ar
rested the ringleader, Tony Gray, alias
! Jones. The mob turned upon the police
| officer, beating him severely. Gray, IN
] the meantime, escaped, and although
badly injured, Lieut.. johnson managed
| to go to his precinct station, and, OBJ
! tanning the assistance Of other ofiicers.
| returned to the scene o6 battle, but the
! crowd had fed.
| A serious election riot took place In
June, 1863. at the corner of 18th and
L streets. Charles Stewart. who had
| been attacked by mob, was rescued
Iby Supt. Richards. who insured him
| safe conduct to his home. AS Lieut..
f! TAFT and his fellow officers were tax
ing Stewart down the street. the mob,
| which far outnumbered the police,
commenced to throw stones, several
Of the officers being struck. The At
titude of the msb became such that
lit was necessary for the police 70
fire into the crowd. which speedily
melted away. ;. 6sa.;,-s4s..---
Evening star., 1922-07-30
AFRAID 0N"RUM ROW"

In November. 1870. Officers Dawson
and Lewis were attacked by Wash
Meredith and other well known char
acters. Meredith had openly boasted
at different times that he was real
| bad man and he. did not propose to
let any police officer take him. r.
In July of the following year Of
ficer Ryan and volunteer aid were
attacked by gang of roughs at
Gath and L streets. Forced by su-
perior numbers. they proceeded to re-
treat. when the officers assistant
ran into a house and secured a shot
gun, the contents of which he emp
tied into the mob
In 1872 Charles Johnson. alias
Black Strap and Dick Burnett
were arrested by officers Clawson
and Shepherd. The two were wanted
on the charge of assaulting former
member of their gang, James Sim
mons, who had turned states evil
| dence against. Gassaway and Butler,
the highwaymen.
4 X Il II
A n odd ending marked :he case of
w. H. Gardner, who had been
arrested for the theft Of some clothes.
Upon being taken to his mother IS
house he met his fiance, broke down
and attempted suicide. Through the
girls efforts, he was prevented from
cutting his throat while the officers
called and. in the presence of several
officers, the couple were married.
Almost at the same moment a tele-
gram was received, which read: Re
lease Gardner; retain my clothes"
In 1875 Lieut.. Austin. with the as
sistance of Oficers McGraw, Sullivan
and Fifield, broke up a mob of
strikers. In 1877 Sergt. Slattery, sim
gle-handed, arrested a gang of bur-
glars in the rear of St. Patrick's
Church. On the 18th of January.
1878, two men entered the United
States Capitol through window on
: the Senate side. the third member of
the gang remaining as a lookout"
The men, were taken into custody by
Officers r. P. Boyle and ]. c. Scott.
The thieves had stripped a committee
Rroom of everything they could carry
away and were returning for a Sec
! ond load when captured. The men
! turned out to be well known crim-
inals, Robert Campbell, Sid Henning
! and David, alias "Cockey" Martin
All were sent to the penitentiary.
! On the night before Christmas, 1886.
Private David Sheehan saw q man act
ling in a suspicious manner. He COM
manded him to halt. but the suspect,
instead OF. complying. fired two shots
into the. ofiicer's thigh. Several nights
|.later Private Boyd arrested John Jack
son. who proved to be sheehan's. assail-
| ant. The police learned that he had
been burslarixing numerous houses. and
he was sent to the penitentiary for
twenty years. He was known as the
| .sxhost" ,robber or .'slasher.""
49, 4
Ia SENSATIONAL swindle occurred
I a e on the night OF April %, 1878, when
Tan asdience OF more than one huni
tdreas had paid their. admittsnce feet
I to q heal the. FIsk jubilee singers. fal
Evening star., 1922-07-30

and who should be given the right
about face"
There was at one time a gang in the
Northeast called the "Hay Scalers,' but
they were not in any sense criminals,
being merely an aggregation of young
men who fixed to fight for the sake of
fight itself. Another crowd was
called THE Press" and held the same
view of life as did the Hay Scalers.
The Press members made their hang
out down on the Island. as a certain
section of the city was known at that
time.
Two men, named Tolson and Will
liams, respectively held UP a Texan
near the iron fence that ran around
the Treasury. The attack came so
suddenly that the man from Texas did
not have a chance to draw his gun.
Both Tolson and Williams received
penitentiary sentences for the; offense.
Among the o1d-time police officers
were John F. Kelly, a lieutenant
(there were no captains at that tme)
Lieut. Swindeli, now dead: Lieut.. Guy.
Fighting Dan Sullivan" now Mai.
Sullivan and superintendent of police
Lieut.. Teppie. Ed Horn and Ed Boyd.
Dick" Sylvester. Willim G. Moore
(both of the last two named attained
the highest office possible in police
circles), Ned Weldon. Capt. Flathere,
Maj Gessford and numerous other
brave men.
Evening star., 1922-07-30

A7HILE it is true that the police Of
earlier days did not have as
brainy crooks to deal with as those
of the present era, neither did they
have the advantages possessed by the
present-day police. Even after the
telegraph came into being it was slow
and its scope was limited. Today the
modern pol.aa officer has an Interstate
method of communication that is ex-
tremely valuable. and has the photo
graphs Of criminals, their fnger-prints
and their chief characteristics so ar
ranged that a wanted man can be
picked up much more easily. On the
other hand, the criminal class has not
been negligent in keeping apace with
est criminals are really men of scien-
tific attainments, whose energy, II
directed in proper channels. would
make them valued members Of So
ciety.
In, the DAYS when Fighting Dan
/, Sullivan" was pounding bricks. this
being the police term for patroling a
beat, he very seldom used club or
any artificial means OF defense, rely
ing largely on his prowess as a two
handed fightinE man." and when some
1 day you sit in his ONCE, look into his
keen eyes. hear his carefully chosen
words ana size himsup generally. you
/ will realise that here Is a man OF
strength and an oficer that knows
| not the meaning of the word fear
and yet in many respects is as gentle
as lamb and daily practices the
golden rule" Fellow officers have
recounted how in. the early days when
some good fellow would take q dror
| or two too much and would be slight
~ bcfuddicd, hut quiet. Sullivan
would pack him into a hack and SEND
Evening star., 1922-07-30

TT was not until late Years that
deprsdations by organized bodies. or.
Evening star., 1922-07-30

A. SENSATIONAL swindles occurred
J = :. on the night OF April %, 1878, when
in audience. Of more than one hunr
[reS.. had paid their admittance fees
q y ssinear L + the. FIsA jubilee singers. fsr
The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1922-09-22
MANCHESTER

The Young Peoples Society of
Trinity Reformed Church held fes-
tival on the lawn OF the church. The
grounds were attractively decorated
with Japanese lanterns. The Alesia
Band rendered a number Of selections.
The large crowd present enjoyed the
social time, music and the good things
TO eat. The society had as their gross
receipts SAP.
Miss Sarah Shaffer, who was in
iured in an automobile accident a
week ago, is still suffering from par
tail loss OF memory. Her general con-
dition is as we'll as could be expected
from the seriousness of the accident.
Mrs. Ludwig and grandchildren are
visiting at the home of her daughter,
in Virginia.
Miss F. q. Ross has returned home
from 4 ten DAYS visit to Huntington,
Carlisle and Baltimore.
Mr.. Walter ROnomus. OF Charleston,
S. c., spent the week here. at the nome
of Mrs. R0nomus' mother. Mrs. Susan
Bixler. Mrs Ronamus and sons, Car
los and Bixler, have been at Mrs. Blk
ler's home the past two months. They
returned to their home in Charleston,
SATURDAY..
The Willing Workers Aid Society of
the Reformed Church met in regular
session at the home of Mrs. Chester
Stick. Their collection amounted to
5000. They formulated plans to cele-
brate the 18th anniversary of the So
ciety, Monday evening, October 16. in
the lecture room of the church.
John Black. has excavated for the
cellar of his new home North OF town.
The carpenters have the form in place
for the concrete cellar foundation.