VII.
 

'HE manifold evils which gambling precipitated upon the
) firemen of the Old Department cannot be enumerated in
) a chapter. I could relate a number of instances where
' promising and intelligent firemen became miserable loafers,
and even worse, through the machinations of owners of these gam¬
bling hells. Strange as it may seem, in almost every case
these men were inveigled to their moral doom by policemen,
who invariably received a commission for their services. We had in
this good city of New York, many years ago, a most charming and
elegant police force. .Alike remarkable for their personal atti'actions
and official courtesy, they shone with equal splendor in the station-
house and on the beat. Judging from the many presentations of
watches, tea-urns, and diamond pins to deserving officers by the
proprietors of these gambling places, the police force, at the time I
speak of must have been handsomely adorned with jewelry and
supplied with family plate. No doubt in time the sale of a deceased
policeman's effects rivaled in attractiveness the celebrated auctions
of some of our renowned defaulters, and one could pick up compli¬
mentary coffee pots, which would recall the golden era of 1855, when
Wood was mayor and the policemen honored. To venture to stem
this popular tide on which the policemen floated so loftily — to sug¬
gest even in the mildest manner that there were occasions on which"
the policeman might better fulfill his duties ; that there were crimes
rampant which he might by vigorous action chain up; that he took the