On Saturday, October 29, 1899 Andrew Sproul passed away. His obituary ran in the Nov. 4th edition of the Cambridge Chronicle. He was 76 years old. This not only made him the oldest man in the department but he was also the longest serving member, having joined on Jan. 30, 1861. When Sproul joined he was assigned to the section of North Cambridge known as "Dublin" because of its large Irish population. At this time the Cambridge police force consisted of about forty men. His shift started at sunset and lasted until the sun came back up. His beat was a tough neighborhood and he had to deal with a lot of drunken fist fights. His work on this beat started just before Camp Cameron opened. He remembered this time as "exciting days, at the opening of the war, and I had a good deal of trouble. In my section of the city rum was sold openly and without a license, and it made trouble for me."
"I had my experiences, but when I went onto the police force I was as able physically as any man in the city and rather liked a chance to use my muscle. I had a beat in a pretty tough community up there at Camp Cameron , in North Cambridge. For ten years I was in the district called "Dublin," but I got along pretty well. The soldiers would get drunk often and sometimes four or five would go in together and put out the owner of the saloons and then trouble followed. Fights between soldiers and citizens were frequent. I generally succeeded in making things quiet. I never felt afraid, but rather relished the work."
"As a matter of fact, in my thirty-six years of experience I have used the billy with effect only three times, and then to save myself. I always was careful not to hurt anybody if I could help it and when I struck with the billy it was invariably in self defense. I have been many times in a row, but would rather get hurt than hurt anybody."
"I had my experiences, but when I went onto the police force I was as able physically as any man in the city and rather liked a chance to use my muscle. I had a beat in a pretty tough community up there at Camp Cameron , in North Cambridge. For ten years I was in the district called "Dublin," but I got along pretty well. The soldiers would get drunk often and sometimes four or five would go in together and put out the owner of the saloons and then trouble followed. Fights between soldiers and citizens were frequent. I generally succeeded in making things quiet. I never felt afraid, but rather relished the work."
"As a matter of fact, in my thirty-six years of experience I have used the billy with effect only three times, and then to save myself. I always was careful not to hurt anybody if I could help it and when I struck with the billy it was invariably in self defense. I have been many times in a row, but would rather get hurt than hurt anybody."
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