The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-03-20
BIRMINGHAM AGE-HERALD, TUESDAY, MARCH 2o 1923
COMMISSION SUSTAINSI FIRE CHIEF AKIN IN SUSPENSION OF WEST
Warren Moran ReverseS Position in Phillips
 Case

l
 Action of Fire Chief J. l.. Akin
 in suspending Fireman w. B. West 10 days following his participation in an | alleged drinking party on February | II was sustained by the civil service | commission Monday night when the board found him guilty of having been disorderly and Of conduct un- l becoming a fireman. Further punis ! ment was not inflicted, it being held
 that 10 days suspension was sui l ficient.
 Resolutions regretting the death of l Henry Page Burruss, member of the ! board, were read and adopted. Quail
 ties of intelligence, energy and en-
 thusiasm of MT. Burruss were eulo- 1 gized by the board and heartfelt
 sympathy was extended to members
 of his family.
 Resolutions were passed limiting
 special police authority extended ! this year, and any other year, to the l first of the next wear only Refer i ring to the four assistant chiefs of
 the fire department. a resolution was passed that their working hours
 be confined to the provision of the
 civil service law that states that
 nc member of the department shall | work more than 16S hours in two | weeks. Another resolution was passed 1 to the effect that no man should be disqualified from the service on ac- ! count of injuries received in the mili- 1 tary or naval service of the country. No man. the resolution stipulated, 1 shall be denied promotion on account | of injuries received while in the serv- 1 ice of the police and fire departments.
 Examinations of S1 firemen and 26 1 policemen, members of their respec- i tive departments for less than a year, | ,.,st rs- ,-1 J N1&,, @9 | the board at No. 1 fire station On 1 the night of March 23, it was an- ] nounccd.
 1 A letter from Mrs. Elizabeth Bar 1 ter, policewoman. requesting that ac | tion of the city commiss in allow ing her seniority on account of hav- 1 ing been laid off from March l tC 1 October l, 1922. be sustained by the 1 board was read and filed.
 Applications of a number of men 1 for commissions as special officers were approved.
 After transacting other business, l two letters; both containing strangely l divergent views on the case of J. E. | Phillips, police officer, who was sus- | pended 10 days ago on a charge l of brutality at the last meeting of the board, was read. One of them, dated March 3, addressed to D. E. McLendon, president of the city com mission. expressed the strongest dis 1 approval of Officer Phillips, and his companion, Officer Burkett, if the 1 charges made against them were true. and stated that if the two pa | trolmen had "brutally abused a de- fenseless nego, let's not for mo- ment be content with merely kick l ing them out of our police depart ment, but let's put them behind the bars where they belong-both of | them-for one is just as guilty as | the other" The letter concluded with the hope that an example would be made of the two men. and was signed "Omer Brasher."
 The other letter was from Warren Moran, who preferred the charges of brutality on which Phillips was tried The letter was addressed to
 NJ E. Morris, county court house, and asked that Morris see Cadden or Lacey and John Altman and ask that the charges against Phillips be dismissed. Moran reversed his first opinion that Phillips should be tried. and stated that he had been intro duced to Phillips, that Phillips was dandy fellow" and that "the only trouble was that he picked out the
 wrong place to clean the coon.' !" l Moran stated that he could not attend the trial of Phillips as he would be | out of town.
 l The letter of Brasher was ordered | filed, and that of Moran was ordered l filed with the unqualified condemna- 1 tion" of the board.