| Show S G CHIEF DEVIE SHOW HIS HAND He Fulfills the Prediction Made by The Herald DONOVAN IS SUSPENDED And the Principal Charge Against Him Is Incompetency lain Sullivan is Also Suspended The Action Was Xot Unexpected Hut the Grounds Stated fly De inc Set the Whole Town Laughing Laugh-ing Xoiv For the Sequel to That Haeli Romance Big Sensntion is Brewing Developments in the case of Chief onoan against his officers came 20foner than expected The first blow was delivered yesterday yester-day Ever since the meeting of the commissioners on Monday evening when the chief declared that it was absolutely ab-solutely necessary for his own peace of mind and the harmony of the department de-partment that he have a new set of higher officials under him those on the inside have been looking for something to drop It i known that the commission commis-sion by its decision in the Devine case and private opinions entertained has given reason for the chief to believe that it r prepared to stand by him to tho bitter end The only question S lar had been just how to gt at the matter mat-ter It was not known at first just i what charges would be made lit was debate whether ito open up a long case and take the record of the officers and thpjr doings while supposedly in private pri-vate or transgressions of rules in many different ways or whether to make a direct attack on general inefficiency and let the whole thing rest at that A decision was arrived at on Thursday night and the charges prepared yesterday yes-terday morning in Chief Devines best Spenccrian hand The Firfct Move In the morning Assistant Chief Mik Donovan was summoned from house NoI He came up immediately and called into the chiefs office andre and-re s rved with written notice of his aiion without pay and the charged Wf charg-ed agaanst tim Later in the day Chief Devine went down to engine hoifisp No 2 and presented Captain P J Sullivan with a written notice of suspension and > copy of charges I is a curious thing that the chief has chosen to bring life charges almost al-most wholl > on the matter brought out in his own trial While he professes entire freedom from all such feelings i gives the charges an ah I retalia ton and revenge The first charge is I base on his testimony as to the placing plac-ing of men on the apparatus The second sec-ond and third are that he has failed to keep good order and discipline among the mm and has not reported their insubordination i in-subordination With Captain Sullivan the charge is on the evidence alt the hearing that there were only two mea at house No 3 during meal hours The last charge in each case is that their removal would be for the good of the detriment s It is on the latter Charge that the trongest effort is to t r t ° made Those concerned have been walking on the idea for sOme time The principal suggestion sug-gestion inregard to it carn ° fr m Omaha Oma-ha where the board of police and fire commissioners recently discharged a captain sergeant and sixteen patrolmen patrol-men The idea has been worked on and ithas ben decided if that charge will stick as being sufficient caus it will t put both the police and fire chiefs in a position to govern their men without letting them have a cinch on their j jobs t The Charges 4 The charges as Jed with the commissioners > r com-missioners against the two men are as I f follow Gentlemen In compliance with rule 19 page 2S rules governing the chief p engineer I beg leave TO report that M M Donovan assistant chiet of the department i I de-partment is incompetent to fill the po fctVn he now holds in said fire depart p lpwt in that hp is ignorant of how to 3ace men to man the apparatus I > This disqualification is specified in rule 3 page 69 under Offenses and I penalties rules governing the department i I depart-ment Charge 2He has violated rule 4 I chapter 1 page 45 rules governing assistant as-sistant engineer in that he has failed I to see that good order and propel discipline dis-cipline among the members of the department de-partment are maintained Charge C I charge that he has vio I lated rule 1G page 65 chapter 10 of I Rules Governing the I Department DeIartm t This rule as well as the preceding one he iris violated on several occasions I br more particularly during the month of June of the present year I Charge 41 further charge that for I the goood of the service said M M Donovan department should be retired from the JAMES Chief DEVUSTE Engineer h SUI1ivnu Case Gentlemen beg to report that 1 have this day suspended from duty in the fire department P J Sullivan of engine hose Xo 2 on the following changes towit a While acting in the capacity of captain of engine dose No 2 he violated rule 18 on page 40 chapter of captain 3 i rules prescribing the duties I aiso charge that he has violated rule 2 on pag 6 under head of regular absence The particular violation is specified as follows That on or bout r May 25th 26th and 27th 1895 the said f 1 J Sullivan while in charge of said house as captain and captin responsible for the whereabouts of his men permitted the two pieces of apparatus then stationed l f sta-tioned in said house to be left tvith L only two men during meal hours 2 f further charge that the good of the serb demands his removal from the fire department c JAMES JEVIXB e Chief Engineer L The particular rule spoken of in < charge 3 against Donovan chare onovan reads Shall Not neglect refuse or evade a any duty or fail to take notice of any t infraction of the rules or of any conduct r con-duct or action of any member of the r S department which he is in a position t see or of any language which he may hear and which may be preju w kI lal to th > good order welare or uiation of the department aud he S aU ascertain the ttue facts and eon 5 Ion lii every case to which his at I tention may be called for the purpose of acting as a witness In other words it is charged that Donovan has had i cognizance of the bringing of charges against Devne and other acts of insubordination I in-subordination and has not reported or interfered I is suggested that the prosecution will endeavor to show that prosecuton wI II Donovan was really at the bottom of all the trouble Were Expectlnp I The charges were received very coolly cool-ly by both those suspended Each had been expecting the blow to fall for some time Donovan did not care to talk about the charges He said he would meet all the issues on tne trial and would make as good a defense as possible He did nQt seem particularly worried over the matter Captain Sullivan also said he would meet the issue on the hearing He said at the time of the trouble at house No 2 he was off on leave of absence with a broken collar bone and did not have charge In the Interest of Harmony Chief Devine when seen yesterday said that the move was made in the interest of harmony He said that he must have men under him in command whom he could implicitly trust He could not afford to have those who were disloyal to him The department is now to be run an a business basis This suspension is in that direction and there is no politics or revenge in it i itThe removal from the department of the two men Is asked because it is felt by the chief that a simple reduction to the ranks of the two would only increase in-crease the lack of harmony by adding another element He believes that i he could have two good officers brought in from outside the department depart-ment who would be loyal to him and work properly with the men to get the best service from them peace would again spread its white wings over the department and the men would do their best to pull together Captain Byvrater The first move of the chief after the suspension was not calculated to allay the feeling of hostility which the suspension sus-pension produced Captain Bywater about whom there was so much trouble on account of alleged favoritism favorit-ism was immediately sent to take charge of No2 He did so relieving the assistant chief and Captain Sulli and van who surrendered their keys other city property in their possession to Clerk Chalmers Captain Bywater will have full charge of the smaller and the house until the trouble is over board decides to remove or not to remove re-move Another man will be sent down to help him but he will be virtually that assistant chief ll Devine says Bywater is a good reliable man and is perhaps the best man in the department I depart-ment to take such an important position posi-tion under the present circumstances ton the two departments the feeling generally among the men is against I the action of the chief After the second ond blow had been struck and Captain Sullivan suspended there was a great deal of wonderment as to whether anymore any-more heads would fall during the day However the intelligence soon spread that i was the intention of the chief to make his fight on the two officers andget suitable successors in office before be-fore he made any more onslaughts on the men themselves However there is a general feeling af ifneasfciess among those who signed the charges They do notknow just how long they will be allowed to retain their offices I is thought that a strong test case will be made of this I the commission and the courts hold that men may be removed for the good of the service then all those that oppose the head of the department might as well go at once for that charge is very elastic I and if the board is with the chief any objectionable man may be put out in short order I is known that this is the point on which the chief most relies re-lies He simply put in the other charges to fall back upon in case there should be a disposition to rule this charge out of the hearing Feeling Against the Chief It will be noticed that the charges are very loosely drawn almost without with-out specifications and an interesting time is expected at the trial Judge Powers openly charged on the Devine hearing that the board had one rule of evidence for the men and another for the chief At the last hearing there is no doubt that a great deal of good evidence was ruled out on technicalities tech-nicalities because there were no specifications spec-ifications made There will be an attempt at-tempt at the coming hearing to bring in a great many specifications under the general head that the removal of the officers would be beneficial to the department What will be done there is not known Bovine Laughed At I would be a good thing for the commission to take a trip among the business men of the city with a view of ascertaining the feeling on the matter mat-ter of the control of the fire department depart-ment The members can ascertain very ren soon who has the confidence and esteem es-teem of the public the chief or the assistant as-sistant chief To think that James De vine in the face of all that was brought out on the recent investigation should prefer charges of incompetence against a man like Donovan who ha been entrusted with the control of the department time and time again and never made a mistake is simply a stunner The members of the commission commis-sion can gather 0 whole lot of useful information by traveling over the city and talking with those who are in a position to know and to teach I the members of the commission will take the time and will ascertain the opinions of the people this on topic I they will learn that the general impression im-pression is that the whole matter of the trouble in the fire department should be shifted to the bottom That all men in both the fire and police departments de-partments should be compelled to tell all the truth and those who are willing I promised safety from the heads of those departments if they will state what they know The commissioners may not realize it but i is a fact just the same that the community generally believes the late trial of the chief was a good deal of a farce Is Still a Politician Those who know Devine best realize I that he is nothing more or less than a pofttlcian That he has always been a politician and always will be so Song as opportunity presents Itself It is llsents Itelf 1t the general belief that he desires to remodel re-model the department with men who will he subservient to him in political matters and is taking this means of accomplishing ac-complishing the end I is a fact that he does not command com-mand the respeot of the men who are under him oven those who are now considered his friends Apparently too he does not command the respect of some influential taxpayers and those who have to depend upon the lire department de-partment for protection Look Out For a Sensation There has been a fight made on Donovan Dono-van for some Ump I is alleged that all sorts of schemes have been used to get his head and when the case comes gct fore the commission if that body opens its eyes to a statement of the facts in tho matter there will be some testimony testi-mony introduced which will create as much of d sensation as does this an Continued on page 31 5 5 > 5 S 5 c r DEVINE SHOWS HIS HAND Continued from page 1 nouncement in Tho Herald This paper has it from authority which is reliable authoriy that Devine has been laying for the scalp of his assistant for months This it is claimed will be slated at the trial Inasmuch as the public has a general knowledge of sill this for i has leaked out from time to time i is little wonder that when the citizens of the city heard of the latest movement 01 the part of the chief they were Indignant Ir is quite likely that Chief Dcvine has a choFen quie who will applaud him for his latest breal but if he could hear the omments which are bestowed upon him by some of the leading citizens he would go and hid somewhere as a man who had lost the I confidence and respect of the community |
