The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1931-10-01

quite crime laden. The big job in the
/ present day, it appears, is to get men
! on law enforcement bodies who will
themselves be law-abiding. Your
capital city seems frequently adept in
getting policemen who are just the
opposite.
Since last January policemen have
been suspected of murder, of robbery,
of bootlegging, of transporting IL
quor, of gambling, and other offenses
and some have been discharged for
engaging in activities which they are
sworn to suppress. Recently five
members of the police department
were indicted by grand jury of beat
ing prisoners in order to make them
to confess (guilty or not guilty. to
crimes for which they had been ar
rested.
First complaint was made by one
man who had been a prisoner. His
evidence was considered by a police
board and the policemen accused
were given a fine coat of whitewash.
Then other men came forward and
soon there were score who were
ready to testify that they had been
subjected to third degree" attacks.
Then President Hoover took cogniz-
ance and also the attorney general,
and the Department of Justice got
busy and had grand jury go into
the matter. The result-up to the
time of this writing-fve indict-
ments. There are many who believe
that the number of indictments
should run up to twenty.
How can ordinary citizens be ex-
pected to respect the law when en-
forcement officers prove to be such
seemingly rank violators themselves?
Get ready to celebrate the one hun
dred fiftieth anniversary of the Bat
tie of Yorktown, when the British
met final defeat in the Revolutionary
Law. President Hoover asks you to
remember the event. The anniver-
sary is on Monday, October 10, but
observance is asked for Sunday, the
eighteenth in the way of prayers of
Thanksgiving. In the meantime you
, might read up a bit on the Yorktown
! matter.
!
! Are you among the many who talk
about the weather and who conse-
quently pay heed to what the weather
| prognosticators tell you is coming?
If so, you may be interested to know
that the United States Weather Bur-
eau is the direct outgrowth of acti-
vities performed by military surgeons
during the War of 1912, when these
surgeons, under direction of the Sur
geon General of the Army, conducted
the first observations and made the
first official weather records in the
United States. Strange as it may
seem, the work of the Weather Bur-
eau was at one time under the man.
agement Of the Smithsonian Institu-
ton. The work was handed from one
government organization to another
until finally the Weather Bureau was
given being and now the tasks are
well systematized. One of the latest
bits of work performed by the bureau
is the task Of preparing weather re-
ports for mail and commercial flyers.
In aviation, much depends on the in
formation which is sent out by the
weather organization here in Wash
ington.
In the grounds Of the White House
grows a tree which is from mother
tree in Russia. There is in the White
House a desk made from timber of a
former British arctic exploring ship.
1t is interesting to note, in connec-
ton with Labor Day, recently OBJ
served, that the pen used by Presi-
dent Grover Cleveland in making
Labor Day a national holiday, is care
fully preserved in the archives of the
American Federation of Labor. Mr..
Cleveland signed the bill July 2, 1894.
In one Of the Offices of the Civil
Service Commission here is a desk
which was used by Theodore Roose-
welt when he was Cicil Service Com
missioner. You had forgotten that
he was also police commissioner of
New York City and an assistant Sec
rotary of the Navy, besides being
governor of New York and vice pre-
sident of the United States.
It is interesting to note that two
other Roosevelts followed him into
the office of assistant secretary Of
the Navy. One was Franklin Roose-
welt when he was Civil Service Com
and the other Theodore Roosevelt
Junior. present governor of Porto