"POLICEMEN WHO CONTROL STREET INTERSECTIONS," Toronto Star Weekly. August 10, 1912. Page 7.
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Live a Life That Is Nerve-Racking - Must Always Be On the Alert.
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P. C. McMENOMY IS DADDY OF 'EM ALL
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Has Been Ten Years At King and Yonge Hobson and Bolton At Queen and Yonge.
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By G. E. M.
IF some eccentric individual were to hold a question and answer com- petition concerning geographical Toronto and make the awards according to the greatest number of correct answers per minute, the honors would doubtless fall to certain men among the police traffic squad. There are four men in particular who occupy, so to speak, the butt end of the human interrogation point, and the manner in which they rattle off the answers reminds one much of a schoolboy reciting "Lucy Grey."
The two busiest corners in the city being the intersections of King and Queen on Yonge, it is naturally expected that the constables who regulate the traffic at those points are the most adept on the force. As a matter of fact, they are, and the things they know about the city are surprising. Perhaps at the same time they are the four best-known policemen on the force. It may be that they are not known by name, but at least they are by figure and gesture, for they have their mannerisms which one cannot forget. Any person who has traveled this city for any length of time will recognize all the accompanying photos, and doubtless he will recall times when the same bluecoats have been obliged to be authoritative when the same traveler was in an auto or other vehicle.
One of the men is W. R. McMenomy, commonly known as "Bill" or "Mac," and he enjoys the distinction of being the longest-service traffic regulator in the city. Of a rather sturdy figure, with a deliberate, emphatic gesture, The will be recognized by all as the man who rules the little kingdom at the corner of King and Yonge. He can't help being recognized, for he has been there ten years now, and is the day- duty man. Occasionally he has a day off, or takes the evening shift, but he's the rather dark man who could, if he would, nod to half the motor owners in town.
A Rather Likely Man.
IN the days when it first occurred to the police to handle the street corners, "Mac" was brought up from Division Four as a likely man who would know where to find his own head in a case of emergency. At that time McMenomy had one year's experience on the force, so he still had his laurels to win. In due course the emergencies cropped up, and to know where "Mac" was at those times you have only to remember that he is still meeting them. An emergency, roughly defined, is a combination of facts thrust upon the officers-without a moment's warning, demanding a solution, and with the life of one or more citizens depending entirely upon that solution. For instance, there was a big skyscraper being built adjoining McMenomy's domain not many months ago, and one day a big plank fell from a scaffold way up. Out of the corner of his eye "Mac" saw the plank falling, and he also saw a teamster driving across the corner, straight under the falling weight. He could have folded his hands and shouted, but he didn't. Instead, he stopped the horse. It looks simple, yet it was a case where the seconds counted. That is only one instance of a quick wit in explanation of why a police constable may remain on one corner regulating traffic for ten years. The post is of too great importance to takes chances with inexperienced men.
Still, McMenomy may get his skill from heredity. It is to be recalled that at the time of "Mac's" birth his father was a police constable in the city of Ottawa, so the training has been there from the first. He is a young man yet, only thirty-two years of age, and his prospects of promotion are bright.
Hobson and Bolton.
FARTHER up Yonge, at the other important crossing, Queen street, there are to be found two men, almost as well known to the general question-asking public, who alternate their duties during the busy hours. They are Ernest Hobson and Herbert Bolton. The first, who passes as Ernie, joined the force in 1903, and he takes a double-sided view of his position. Instead of claiming to be an educator of the public, he believes he is an absorber of knowledge, because of the chance he gets to study the general public. In the four years of his service at that post he has doubtless answered a hundred times the number of questions that the average citizen would answer in the same time. They pour in from morning till night, and so well does he know the city, its buildings, streets, etc., that very rarely he has to refer to his book of knowledge. He is a type of the collected officer, quick and firm, bit, as all other officers, he has a graded gesture. It is only human nature to expect that the style of gesture depends entirely on the tone of for some time might stand on the side- walk and know just the degree of humbleness or pride with which the questioner approached.
Like a Game of Chess.
If the officer cuts away with a sharp, quick jerk, and doesn't waste any time over his words, all of which is in the regulations, you may know that somebody has said something like this: "Hi, Con., where's Queen street?" If the gesture is slightly prolonged, accompanied with the least bending of the neck, you can fancy something like this: "Officer, could you tell me where I could find so and so?"
Officer Hobson was once heard to remark that the position was something like a game of chess, as the man must keep his mind on the fact that somebody is depending upon his every move, that a false move is little less liable to leave him in predicament than it is the other person. For instance, the pedestrian public has learned to depend upon street cars being brought to a stop at just such a point every time, and, knowing this, they will take the chances of running in front of a moving car. Suppose the officer gave the wrong signal, what would happen to the citizen, and what would happen to the officer? Fire apparatus are always hard to handle, but it is astonishing how quickly one of these officers can clear a crossing of all vehicles and cars the moment he hears that clarion gong. A few months ago Officer Hobson proved his ability by leaping into a passing automobile which had knocked down a woman, arresting the driver, and forcing him to drive the injured person to the hospital. For this he obtained a merit mark, and he has three such marks to his credit.
A Veteran of the Navy.
OFFICER BOLTON came to his duty on the same corner with a peculiar record. For five years he was a stoker in the Royal Navy, serving on H.M.S. Juno in the Mediterranean Sea, also at the coronation of King Edward at Spithead. He also served on H.M.S. Drake at the North American and West Indian Stations, and H.M.S. Iphigenia on the China Sea. At the time of the Russo-Japanese war Bolton did service on a torpedo-boat destroyer in the war zone, witnessed some of the engagements, and afterwards helped to clear away some of the broken mines and wrecks of Russian ships along the mercantile route of the British trade. In 1906 he joined the local force, and for the past three years has been on duty at the Queen street crossing.
The absurdity of some of the questions which are being hurled at him daily is one of the things which helps this officer to look cheerful. For instance, if somebody didn't come along about once a day, stare straight at the sign "Queen street," and ask him where they could find Queen street, he would not be happy. Also he doesn't in the least mind a citizen telling him there's a baby crying in front of Knox's, and would he mind going over and quietingit. One thing, however, which is aggravating is to be asked if he knows where Frank Jones lives. The helmet chin strap gives him trouble, the American visitor being the chief offenders, who cannot understand its use.
Study New York Methods.
JUST how important the traffic regulation is being looked upon by the superior officers is shown by the fact that Chief Grasett has said that two men must go to New York soon to study methods in operation there. At the same time, it would seem that suggestions from the traffic squad themselves, the men who are in the midst of it for eight hours a day, wouldbe the most valuable.
It is to be recalled of Ernest Hobson that he was once called "Roosevelt the Second," the title being gained about two years ago when he shot a black bear not far from the corner. This last statement is not clipped from "The Star."
Image captions:
SUPREME IN AUTHORITY AT TORONTO'S PRINCIPAL STREET INTERSECTIONS
Left: POLICEMAN MCMENOMY who directs traffic at King and Yonge Sts.
Top centre: Where Police Cons. McMenomy Lives
Bottom centre: Police Constables BOLTON AND HOBSON whose post of choice is at Queen and Yonge Streets
Right: POLICEMAN ALEXANDER HILL assistant at King and Yonge.
