“THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE FOORCE.”

New Zealand Times, Volume LXIX, Issue 3677, 1 March 1899, Page 2

“THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE FOORCE.”

The Goliath of tho Victorian Police ‘Force is ho more, writes “M.G.” in tho “Argus.”, The easy - going, goodnatured, red-headed Irishman, who never knew Ins own strength, is dead. The once massive form of Scnior-Con- ■ stableTom-Waldron, whoso name is one to conjure with wherever navvies camp or pushes rave, was last Wednesday followed to its grave in the Melbourne General Cemetery by- some hundreds of his fellow jrolieemen. The strength of Waldron is one of tho articles of faith of Russell street Barracks, and the veriest recruit knows how “.Tom” Waldron toyed with masses of pig-iron and hammered tho heads of sixfoot navvies together- before he has learned tho latest definition of a. place. If there is one thing more than another that the average Melbourne policeman is “ touchy ” about, it is the representative strong man of the force. Of late, tljie deeds of Constable Holden, of Bourke street west, and his penchant for carrying three prisoners to the wjatchbou.se at once—one in his teeth and one under each' arm—have earned some little recognition in the daily press, aid the scorn with which Russell street his received the mention of such trifles a s these is beyond all description. “ jWhoyl Tom AValdliron wud have taken Horlden in one hand an’ Sampson »in tile other, an’ played catches wid ’em.” And the judgment of Russell street issupported by the oft-quoted ruling of no leps an authority than “Professor” Miller, who had , expressed.’-the opinion that AValdron was absolutely the strongest man in the world. j Waldron was a native of Tuaul, County Galway, Ireland, and; ■when he landed in Manchester at the age of 16, he had spoken ncj) language but Keltic. Picking up English during his apprenticeship as an engineer, AValdron landed in Melbourne ini 1874, a thorough master of the tongue, but possessed of a brogue beside which that of the late Sergeant Dalton was imoerccptible. For a time Waldron worked aa a stoker in the gas-works, and, though he was undoubtedly the " ringer” of the furnaces, nobody was aware of his vast strength until be joined the Garrison Artillery, on St. Kilda road, hi 1876. In tl|e barrack-yard-every oveiling the young men of the garrison wore accustomed to oUerciso themselves with weight-putting and other athletic feats, and the first day after Waldron’s arrival ho came oijit of tho Barracks, and watched tho evolutions of his comrades. At last tliey tired, ■ and as each man resumed his coat, ho wbuld throw the wpight ho was using into a big wheelbarrow that stood at the door. The redheaded “ gossoon ” who stood on tho stjeps had taken no part in tho pastime, apd as the last ponderous shot bumped iifto the barrow, the garrison joker wfliked at his messmates, and suggested tej AValdron that he might “have a try at tho, weights.” The newcomer, who wjis a man of only about SftlOin high, strolled over to the barrow, and getting his palm beneath it slowly raised the whole of the accumulated weights above his head. The garrison stood paralysed. T|ie strongest man they had among them could lift only one of, the many weights which AValdron poised above him with oqse, and from that day his fame was assured. i jin the police force, which AValdron joined two years later, he was regarded as, an invaluable man, for violence was mbre preyelanfc in those days, and the “ Nummary jurisdiction ” of the Galway man proved a better deterrent than all the sentences. The light-weight mounted constables in charge of the districts where navvies’ camps were pitched came bdek to'the hospital in dozens after conflicts with brawny Cornishmen, who relieved the monotony-of a;day’s pickswinging by maltreating the troopers who dared to interfere with their orgies. So many .men were injured, and so incapable did tho smaller-built men seem ofj dealing with the navvies, that AValdiion was picked out and sent to Diamond Cijeek, ' the hotbed of the outrages. There AValdron, entered upon his duties by throwing, teii big navvies,gut of a. bar single-handed on'the day hp. arrived; aiid by the’-tihie' they .had 1 recovered’ from the contusions 'und" abrasions received through bouncing along the metal road, the broad-shguldp-ed , Irishrnap,! was,.; in supreme cbihnlahd of the place. jin the city Waldron’s prowess was only one degree less notable than in the country. While: he was, stationed at Port Melbourne Waldroh used, to practise continually to: keep himself in -form, his apparatus consisting'of a pair of “ Indian cl jibs,” which he' had Whittled out of two huge redgum logs with an axe, and a stone weighing 741 b, which he used to throw. over an old verandah 10ft above the . ground. Of the 1501 b dumbbells wlpch Processor Miller : , used, ■ Waldron would,.havd (nothing, , contending v 4hat “ they were only fit for little boysand wijth his improvised gymnastic .apparatus hej would practise for an hour or two every day. During the visit of the two Princes to Melbourne in 1884 AValdron. wynt on board' H.M.S. Nelson, of the flying squadron, as she lay in the bay, apd in the presence of. the greater part of, the ship’s company he carried across the deck no less than 6cwt. in each hand. AVhon he was stationed at Russell street he had few for by that time his reputation was known, and the appearance of a red-headed constable in any ropgh .quarter of the city was tho signal for a stampede. But with strangers, AValdron occasionally had still to display his strength. A big negro, who took possession of a house in Romeo lane, and proceeded to wreck.it, found himself advised to accompany a quiet-looking policeman who stood at the door. He scorned the proposal, and crying for his mates to help him, ho rushed at the audacious white man who was endeavouring to restore order. In the language of the locality, the .Ethiopian “ never knew what hiij him,” and his , : companions were scattered like autumn leaves before tliey could properly realise that id was the'softvoiced constable who had taken the initiative —and the prisoner. Five mon-o’-warsmen fell one evening before the intrepid Waldron, who locked up the whole quintet without assistance, '!; and on another occasion when he had found it necessary to throw a habitue of Exhibi- ; tion street on his back, the bulldog of the prostrate man commenced worrying him in the rear. Holding his pfisoJie.'.io the ground with his left hand,,Waldron, reached round, .caught the animal *and swung him vigorously aside. The dog sailed through the-air in a beautiful parabolic curve, and, landed on the top of a verandah, where he—remained until rescued by friendly shopkeepers an hour after his master -was collecting his scattered thoughts in a cell. - *