New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-08-15
TDEN JTTY

cent Brooklyn experience it will have TO be re-
versed and read " 1t is a wise father who knows
his own child In this really remarkable case u
boy was drowned and the body was fully ident-
fed by man who recognized it as the remains OF
his son. The recognition was not simply due TO
resemblance Of the features, but to the discovery
of birth-marks and molcs on the body, which the
supposed father declared to be proof positive OF
the identity of the corpse. Nothing could have
been more circumsiantial, detailed and precise
than this Identification The father left the morsue
absolutely convinced that his WIS lying there
Yet il turned out that he completely mistaken
for in short time his son, alive and well, was
brought to him. There plenty OF instances OF
mistaken identity, and many in which the mag
ncd resemblance has been finally proved to DC
very slight so slight thaJ If the persons taken for
one another could have been compared leisurciY
probably no one would have discovered any like
ness between them. The Brooklyn case, however
is quite cut Of the common run, and is striking
illustration Of the fallibiliy of memory, even
where it has been strengthened hy long familiarity
with an object
At first sight it mi ght be thought almost impos-
siblc that father should be 50 deceived, but re-
Election will show that the resemblance here WAS
cumulative. When the man first saw the body
affirm this positively until he had examined it for
the special marks which he knew were on his boy.
These precise marks he next found the body,
and from that mOmcnthe doubtless was convinced,
as anybody would have been in like circumstances
with perhaps n single exception. II is an inter-
csting question whether the boys mother would
have yielded to the evidence of the peculiar marks
as quickly as the father did. The maternal IN
stnct is subtle and KEEN OF the nature OF intut on
IL will pierce all DISCUSSES usually, but there have
been some notable cases in which it has failed COM
, pletely. and the most recent and notCilOuS WAS
the case Of Lady Tchborne. who declared the
Claimant TO be Sir Roger. 1t is true that this is
not altogether fair instance for there was not
little ground for suspecting that this Identification
was due rather TO family cnmitcs than TO genuine
conviction.
Strange, too as the complete rest mblance in the
Brooklyn case is, it IS not without precedent
Disputes as TO identity, where large interests were
concerned. have several times been hoDelcssly con-
fused by the discovery that both the claimants
bore precisely similar marks and even scars. When
the pcrpiexlty is caused by the Likeness be-
tween dead bodies. of course, there may be no
means Of dctcrminin. The question. When the
identity in dispute is that OF living people their
own knowledge or ignorance may settle the mat
tcr-as in the Claimants case. That. however,
was mainly an illustration O. the trCachcry Of the
average human memory: for it was repeatedly
shown in course of the trials that witnesses who
thought they recognized the Claimant as Sir Roger
had no real recollection Of the latter There IS
another confusing circumstance namely that
death changes the expression of the face 50 that II
a dead face bears st9rtling resemblance to an
other wcll-rem, mbered living one. the rational
presumption does not follow that the living eN-
preston of the dead face would have been like
that Of the other. and hs fact is no doubt fertile
source Of pcrplo kitty and error. All such cases
prove-and this is an i'll pOrtant consideration-that
Identification is often if not always difficult and
delicate and that it ought TO be surrounded by
the utmost precautions, especially when any ques-
ton of crimnolity is concerned. since otherwise
the gravest injustice may be done to the Innocent.
] ---------->--------
Charles Croker who died yesterday at the
noted Pacific Coast resort he helped to found,
was one Of those great captains of industry
who would be more generously recognized by
the men of their own time if their achievements
were less brilliant. In partnership with three
Others Of whom two survive him. he undertook
the building OF the Central Pacific Kali
road at period when this was considered at
once patriotic service and the widest Of crazy
spccuations The hnancicring Of the enterprise
fell TO others. He assumed charge Of the actual
construction. and drove it forward with an energy
then unparalleled and amazing. An enormous
success rewarded his vgor and daring, and yet
il was success even more profitable TO the
country, and especially to the Pacific Coast
than to himself. lie n man Of many admirable
traits. and he had long since outsrown the petty
lealousies which. under the guise Of fighting
monopolies, sought TO crafty envy By asSaiiipl
| II Ill Ia
more sincerely than in San Francisco. where hi
benefcence was well known. and throughout the
Pacific Coast, which his enterprise did muct
to develop.
Two methods of getting rid Of dogs in a les!
barbar0us way than has been hitherto employed
are under consideration in the city. One IS II
kill them by electricity, some experiments Will
which have recently proved successful. The othc
is 20 asphyNiate them with carbonic oxide gas
Either would be a vast improvement on the re
Voting method now in use. 1t is almost incredible
that the process of drowning should have beer
C maintained so long. a substitute for it canno
g be adopted too soon.
BY tho way, does tho Editor Of The sun desTr
, November. is he merely shammlng 1.-THE Com
mcrial ADV ertscr August ID.
By the way, did the Editor OF The Com
mercal Advertiser desire Mr.. Blaine's election
}. in 1884 and did he vote for hun in November
D after having made a prctence Of supporting hin
during the campaign? Or he merely sham
ming for revenue only?
C The men OF the West who came here last wecl
S to greet Mr.. Blaine have done yeoman service dur
q ing their stay in New-York, by the vigorous am
energetic breezy emphatic and refreshing mamie
| in which they have upheld Republicanism in
great Democratic city. They have made votes TO
the Republican party, both by way of inspiration
j to their friends and defiance to their enemies.
D does Ncw-iork City, with its heated stone pave
mcnts, world Of good to catch a good stron
breath from the prairies.