Marshal Hilliard's signal

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:58 pm

Here's an interesting little item that I thought needed an explanation. This passage is from Porter's book, page 7:

"...City Marshal Rufus B. Hilliard received the first intimation that a murder had been committed by telephone message. He was sitting in his office at the Central police station when John Cunningham entered a store half a block from the Borden house and gave notice of the affair. He immediately sent officer George Allen to the scene and then by signal informed each member of his force who was on duty at the time. This was at 11.15 in the forenoon."

Well, his use of a "signal" interested me. I looked in the Preliminary as to what he testified to (page 415):

"Q. When did this first come to your knowledge, Mr. Hilliard?
A. The first that I heard of it was by a telephone message about quarter past eleven on August 4th.
Q. Did you go up yourself immediately?
A. No Sir, I did not.
Q. Who did you send?
A. I sent Officer George W. Allen.
Q. How soon did you go yourself?
A. O, I did not get there to the house until somewhere between two and three in the afternoon.
Q. Do you know what other officers had been sent up meantime?
A. Well, I had sent quite a number that I could get hold of by the signal, and by sending men after them, at their houses. The next officers sent were Doherty, then Mullaly, Medley, Gillan, Wilson, and quite a number of others that I cannot mention now."

What could he mean by a "signal"? Some sort of city-wide alarm calling in all police? No one mentions hearing an alarm. Hmmmmm....

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 5:38 pm

I wonder if there were police call boxes on posts which could be activated from a central location? When the officers checked in at thier beat box, they would see some sort of light, electronic flag or something to call into Central? Signaling devices had been around for some time before 1892 in the big mansions to get servants to respond. This looks like some fun to research.

RayS · Post by **RayS** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 5:46 pm

As I remember reading it, a phone call said there was a cutting by the Borden's house. They thought some street violence. (Yes, even in those days it was possible.)
Only after Lt. Allen arrived did they learn the truth. Allen took a quick look around, impressed a volunteer to stand guard, then ran back to deliver the important news about a leading citizen.

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 5:46 pm

Here's is what I have found so far:
R.W. Stewart1

1Dept. of Electron. & Electr. Eng., Strathclyde Univ., Glasgow, UK
Within a few years of the invention of the telephone, many police forces around the world immediately embraced the new technology in the ever increasing fight against crime. By the turn of the 19th century police telephone boxes were appearing on city streets for the use of officers and the general public."

November 27, 1890 in History
Event:
1st signal box for San Francisco Police Department goes into operation .

And a photo of an early call signal box here:
http://www.foxhall.org/preservation/CallBoxHistory.htm

an excerpt.
"Police call boxes, on the other hand, were sealed boxes that a patrol officer would use a key to enter and flip a switch to notify a central command center that his patrol was proceeding as normal and that no assistance was necessary. Police officers pulled a different box switch on their patrol route every thirty minutes. It also featured a telephone that officers could use to communicate problems to the central command. Their patrol routes were called "Carney Blocks" after an officer that devised the system, with the overall effort coined the "Patrol Signal System" or "PSS."

The Police call box was painted blue, and illumination of the light at night provided an officer the location of the box in case of emergency when they needed to call for backup. Each box had a number affixed, and Policemen quickly identified problem areas in neighborhoods by the unique call box number. All early police boxes were on party lines so the cop would have to pull the box lever to identify which box he was at on the circuit. There was also a pointer in the early boxes for Ambulance, Paddy Wagon, Riot, Fire, etc., so special signals could be sent in. The front door had a citizen's key, which by inserting the key in the door a wagon call could be sent in for accidents, etc. by a passersby."

RayS · Post by **RayS** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 5:55 pm

Decades ago the same system was used for night watchmen. As they made their round they had to key in their position.
No sleeping on the job, and a missed signal was a warning something wrong.

doug65oh · Post by **doug65oh** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 6:08 pm

Well, we know that Phil Harrington got word in the old-fashioned way. In his testimony at New Bedford (page 556 it should be) he stated that the information was brought to him by a young man named Turner.

Re: Officer George W. Allen's location - It could be a misunderstanding on my part, but I've always thought that he was actually in the police station at the time the Marshal got the call from Cunningham. Allen stated on the stand that he was at the guard room door (page 431 of the transcript.)

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 6:44 pm

Wow, Shelley, good stuff! That sounds like it could be what was used. Don't know about the phone part though.

Doherty says at the Preliminary that after he viewed Mrs. Borden's body he telephoned back to the Central Station. He said he went to McDermott's to use their phone. There was a McDermott Brothers (undertakers) on #3 Spring Street. They also had a stable at 138 Second. There must not have been a call box near the Borden house.

What I have to do is look at the testimonies of the various police officers to see how they heard of the murders.

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 8:33 pm

Yes. I believe Allen was at the station also- I think he says so in the witness statement. Oh, I agree Harry, the telephone part came later- 1900 or thereabouts. I may pop in at the FR Police station this week and see if they might have a photo of an old call box. After all they still have that old police camera from the photo in the mirror of the guest room!

doug65oh · Post by **doug65oh** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 8:51 pm

You're right Shelley, Officer Allen did mention where he was in the witness statements. What struck me was the fact that he was a bit more more explicit in his trial testimony - relating where he was when the call came, where the Marshal was...etc.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 12:39 am

I think Allen (not a Lt.) was the officer who awaits the delivery of a prisoner when he got the news to go to Second Street.

Was there anything at the call box link that describes receiving a signal from headquarters?

The question reminds me of the old "Calling All Cars!".....

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 7:44 am

A little more on the subject

"The first police telephone was installed in Albany, New York in 1877, one year after Alexander Graham Bell invented the device. Call boxes for use by both police and members of the public were first installed in Washington, D.C. in 1883; Chicago and Detroit installed police call boxes in 1884, and in 1885 Boston followed suit These were direct line telephones placed on a post which could often be accessed by a key or breaking a glass. In Chicago, the telephones were restricted to police use, but the boxes also contained a dial mechanism which members of the public could use to signal different types of alarms: there were eleven signals, including "Police Wagon Required", "Thieves", "Forgers", "Murder", "Accident", "Fire" and "Drunkard".

An 1894 advertisement for the "Glasgow Style Police Signal Box System", sold by the National Telephone Company.The first public police telephones in Britain were introduced in Glasgow in 1891 These tall, hexagonal cast-iron boxes were painted red and had large gas lanterns fixed to the roof, and a mechanism which enabled the central police station to light the lantern as a signal to policemen in the vicinity to call the station for instructions.

I am thinking that the signal sent by Hilliard was a visible indicator of some kind telling the officers viewing it to call Central or to head back into Central to get instructions if there was no telephone link. I wonder if they used the code described above for "murder"!

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 8:49 am

More good info, Shelley, thanks!

How curious they had a signal for "forgery". That hardly sounds like an emergency kind of situation.

I looked at a lot of the testimonies in the Preliminary and Trial of the police officers. None of them mention responding because of a signal. But that is relatively meaningless as most of the officers who would have responded did not testify. The ones that would have would tend to be the lower ranking policemen on street patrol.

I can imagine when the phones did come in it made quite a difference.

Allen · Post by **Allen** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 10:38 am

I have a topic called Call Boxes which also has some information on this subject which was started on December 1, 2006 or there abouts think. So it might be a bit down the list. I found some nice little bits on the Keeley Library site about the system of call boxes which was in place at the time in Fall River.

viewtopic.php?t=2467

Allen · Post by **Allen** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 10:44 am

P.S. If you check around on the Keeley site a bit more, it's possible there could be more information about these signals.

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 10:53 am

Yes, I remembered your excellent post, Missy, and didn't mean to slight it. Just couldn't remember where it was.

It's a very interesting subject that needed to be explored further. Maybe Shelly can pry some further information out of the Fall River PD.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 11:00 am

Harry that is so funny about a signal for Forgery!

Yes Shelley thank you- you answered my question by giving the further info on Headquarters being able to send a signal.

And Missy, yes I did read all of the info you had posted previously on those call boxes! Thanks for that!
And thanks for the link referral.

augusta · Post by **augusta** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 7:14 pm

Shelley - The camera at the FRPD is not the one Walsh used in photographing the Borden bodies. The FRPD insists it is, but it won't be authenticated because it is not.

I think their camera is the one used by the first official police photographer in FR. I think that they did not have an official police photographer on August 4, 1892.

I think I heard there are actual physical descriptive differences between the camera at the FRPD and the one Walsh used that day.

I had planned to photograph the camera in the FRPD's possession. It is taken apart in pieces in a case or box. I think they used to display it high up on a shelf at an earlier location. I seem to remember seeing a photo of it up on a shelf.

Anyway, I had it on good authority that it's not the 'Borden murder camera', and of course I lost interest in it when learning that. I think most people think it is the camera, especially since the FRPD - the last I heard - still said it was.

Rays - Marshal Hilliard got a phone call saying there was trouble at the Borden house, and he sent Officer Allen to check it out. At that time, there was no mention of "cutting".

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 7:51 pm

Major Bummer, dude.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 6:45 am

That's the way Augusta felt when she investigated that question!

Thanks for explaining that again here, Sherry.
I was told, on another query, that since the police headquarters had moved so often they lost a lot of ancient stuff along the way.

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 7:55 am

Florence Brigham, the Chief of Police and Len Rebello have always maintained that it is the same camera- of course it is not a crucial issue, and not much to obsess about when all is said and done. But I just wonder who says so adamantly it is not- and why, if you can tell me.

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 11:15 am

Well, okay, thinking this through and making a call or two, the police station has moved twice in the past 110 years, from central to Bedford, from Bedford to the present location. The truly telling thing, I think , is that Mr. Walsh was a PRIVATE photographer-not a police photographer, and in that light- WHY would a private, non-affiliated photographer give his camera to the police department? It may well be that the camera in the possession now is similar to the one used by Walsh, or a near- vintage of that camera type. Does this make sense? Naturally, word of mouth, things get passed on from person to person over the years as truth.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 12:16 pm

What about the Granite Street police station?
That's the one I always think of. Which was Headquarters?

augusta · Post by **augusta** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 1:25 pm

Shelley - I did tell you why it probably isn't the Borden murder camera in my post. "I've told you all I know."

Absolutely - I think you're right regarding Walsh being a private photographer at the time of the murders and the camera being a later model.

I don't know if Walsh later became the first official police photographer. That would be interesting to know.

There is always a chance I'm wrong, or my source is wrong, but I believe it.

I usually don't reveal my sources. Maybe it'd be okay in this instance; maybe it wouldn't. I would never purposely break a confidence. That may be good news to you if you ever tell me something private.

I don't think the camera had anything to do with the station moving. As far as I know, they have what they think is the camera at the current police station. Even tho they have been told it isn't the camera, they still insist that it is. I don't understand that. That camera at the FRPD has become something of a legend. It's always been said that it is THE camera. It's probably hard for them to believe it after all these years of believing it to be. It's been written about and everything.

Sorry to sound 'mysterious'. I don't mean to sound like I'm a big scholar on things. I just respect what people say privately to me, and I was trying to post on this subject without revealing my source.

I also wanted to give you a 'heads up' on the camera, so you wouldn't be mis-informed.

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 2:01 pm

Yes, no doubt misinformation gets repeated over generations, which is why it is important to get it clarified and set to rest once and for all. I have also heard that portions of the camera do not match with what was around in 1892- so either it is not the camera at all, or parts may be original but other parts updated.

I find that institutions everywhere so much enjoy the legend surrounding an artifact so much, that they would rather NOT know the truth-true historians though, want it clear. So there may be a conflict along the way.

RayS · Post by **RayS** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 4:00 pm

The "same camera"? Could be, even if they had to replace the bellows a couple of times, and upgraded the lens at least once.

You've heard that story about a hammer?
"This is the same hammer owned by my grandfather. But I replaced the handle once and the head twice."

RayS · Post by **RayS** » Wed Mar 14, 2007 4:02 pm

You are being too high-tech. I am old enough to remember when they used to sound a siren for a call for firemen. Or other reasons.

Correction:they blew a whistle a number of times to signal the alarm call box. A card listed the address of each call box.
Example, 3 toots, then 3 toots, then 1 toot could be Second and Main.

In a rural community they used a large triangle or bell to call for firemen.

It could be the bell (?) in city hall was struck a number of times to recall policemen to the station. Better than a horn.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 11:30 am

Kat @ Wed Mar 14, 2007 12:16 pm wrote:What about the Granite Street police station?
That's the one I always think of. Which was Headquarters?

I have to answer my own question. Where are all our Fall Riverites?

According to Phillips History, the Granite Street station entrance was the portal to the "police court" which was on the "west side of the second floor." pg 93, Fasc. III.

Here is a link to the history of the location of the police station, from their own site. The text is right out of Phillips, I notice:

http://www.frpd.org/
Click on "Our History"

The current location is :
"In 1996, the construction of a new police facility began. The building was completed in March of 1997, and the doors to the old Headquarters at Bedford and High Streets were closed. The Police Department now operates out of its new facility at 685 Pleasant Street; the site of the old Fall River Stadium, McDonald Junk Yard, and most recently, Britland Park."

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 12:24 pm

The headquarters police station in 1892 was known as the Central Station. It was in Court Square which is off of Granite Street.

According to the 1892 City Directory there were three other station houses.

#2 North Main, corner of Brownell St.
#3 Pleasant, corner of Rocliffe
#4 Freedom St.

The Central Station and the 3 others were still in existence in 1896. However the headquarters was moved to 84 North Main. This move was probably only for administrative personnel.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Thu Mar 15, 2007 3:37 pm

Yes my understanding is that the "Granite Street" site was simply one portal into the Central Station.
That part just happened to be called after the street the court room opened onto.

augusta · Post by **augusta** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 7:04 pm

Good post, Shelley. I'm sure a lot of people don't want to get rid of their urban legends.

RayS: I liked your hammer line.

Harry & Kat: Those are not fire stations you're talking about, are they? I can see a city having several of those in those days - but police stations?
Why would there be a need for them?

If they are indeed police stations, I wonder how many fire stations FR had then? The Little Theatre of FR, not far from Oak Grove Cemetery, used to be one. And that's a little building, that probably could not service the whole city.

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:40 pm

Granite Street (Central Station) was the police station where Lizzie was held overnight after her arrest. The police court there is where she had her inquest and her preliminary hearing.
She was kept in Taunton from Friday, Aug. 12th until the prelim and was shipped back to Fall River, Central Station on the 22nd of August for the prelim but it was postponed until the 25th. She was held there the extra days in the jail and that is where the *You have given me away Emma* scene happened.

If you want to knw more about the police stations, try the Keeley Library, online, for Phillips History of Fall River- there might be info there-
http://www.sailsinc.org/Durfee/fulltext.htm

bobarth · Post by **bobarth** » Tue May 01, 2007 4:56 pm

Found a link which has pictures of Fall River issued items and one of the items is a call box key.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl= ... n%26sa%3DN

geesh hope that link works, did not realize how massive it is

shakiboo · Post by **shakiboo** » Tue May 01, 2007 7:39 pm

It works just fine! Thanks it was pretty enteresting!

Allen · Post by **Allen** » Tue May 01, 2007 8:06 pm

Awesome bobarth.

The link worked fine for me also.

Shelley · Post by **Shelley** » Tue May 01, 2007 10:04 pm

It is a great site with lots of good photos and history of the FRPD. Also love the photo of Medley as chief of police (1911) and the 1890's handcuffs which they say , jokingly I bet, may have been used on Lizzie.

Harry · Post by **Harry** » Tue May 22, 2007 12:33 am

When Kat and I were in Fall River last week we stopped at the library for a little research. I stumbled across a book called "1892 Fall River City Documents". It was one of a series by year. The purpose of the book was to record the various reports of the city departments for the year 1892. I looked at the report of City Marshal Hilliard and found this about the police signals:

"The police signal system is working well. One new box was added to the system, making the total number of boxes sixty-eight."

Kat · Post by **Kat** » Tue May 22, 2007 12:01 pm

Since it expressly states the system is working well, it sounds like it is still new-ish. That helps date the use of call boxes in Fall River.

Lizzie Borden Society Forum

Marshal Hilliard's signal

Marshal Hilliard's signal

What about that "signal"?