The evening times., 1898-06-09
PARIS Police SURVEILLANCE.
rae. rheropshpess sf- the Spy sys
ten Upon strangers.

g1e. HoSfO~Bh DCe8 - inc ~ BJ0>
tena Upon Strangers.
0rcm Today.)
More curious than all its strange call
ings and its strange customs is the po-
lice system in Paris When an English
man gets to his hotel. he remarks.
probably to his wife, We'll. Martha.
we can do as we like. No worry about
what Mrs. Brown would say II We had
met her at Brighton. Here We are free
and nobody knows who We are or cares
who We are. But before he has time to
dress for dinner the police know that
he is in Paris. and his name is inscribed
at the Prefecture. Every hotel must
keep a register OF all foreigners. and
hand 1t over daily to the special officers
who are sent to collect them. In the
case Of the English or American citizen
little interest is taken. unless their ex-
Ienditure is noticeably extravagant.
and then friendly interest is taken In
them, and their description sent to Scot
land Yard.
It is almost impossible to conceive
the thoroughness of the French police
spy system. You never know who is a
mouchard in France. The waiter who
serves you, the man who shaves you,
the coacher who drives you. are as
likely as not to be in the police pay.
They know everything and they know
everybody. Here is an instance that
occurred to a friend of mine only the
other day: He received from the Pre-
lecture an order to appear on the fol-
lowing day. So far as he knew he had
done nothing particularly out OF the
w n n had ho had d0nn IL
unintentionally.
The magistrate invited him into his
private room, and put him at his ease
at once by explaining that the affair
did not concern him personally, but he
wanted some information on two or
three of the English colony with whom
he was associated. The answers were
perfectly satisfactory, and, in leaving,
he turned to the magistrate and said.
laughingly, Now, why didn't you ask
me something about myself" But
know all about you," he replied.
Would you like to know what you did
on any particular day within the last
three months?" My friend replied at
random. Take last Friday week. I
haven't the remotest knowledge as to
what happened" The magistrate
turned over his dossier and replied:
1Ou 6ot HUME al s-oV a Sdo lhht
you had taken at the Madeline. You
rode out on your bicycle at $3.50. You
lunched at the Cafe de TEsperance,"
and SO on throughout the day he re-
counted everything that had passed.
There was no reason to have made the
inquiry. as there was not the slightest
mark on his doSsier, but 1t suited the
police to know just how he passed his
time.
A casserole-that is to say, mou-
chard, who has by some indiscretion
let his connection with the police be-
come known, and is accordingly value
less-once told me a lot about the
working Of the system. / had pointed
out to him that 1t seemed to me thor
oughly impossible that l could have
my footsteps dogged during a whole
day without becoming aware of the
fact. He answered: Naturally. This,
for instance, is how l should have acted
il / had wanted to find out all about
your movements. When you left this
cafe, l should have followed you until
such time that l knew you had noticed
that was at your heels. Then / should
have passed the signal" ITO whom?'
suggested Have you ever noticed"
he said, that around all the big cafes
there are men offering novels out of
date, but who are always scanning
closely the faces of those on the ter
races? Well, should have passed the
signal on to one Of those men. He
would have followed you in a cab. If
necessary. and on seeing you enter a
cafe would have followed you on the
pretense of selling wares. and handed
you on to another Of the band. And so
it would have gone on. After all. are
the French police wrong? The foreign
er comes here and inscribes his name at
the Prefecture of Police. We are not
like you in England. We have only
just enough money for our own poor.
and We do not encourage the out-of-
works of the world to come here. Nei-
ther do We want to harbor criminals.
the police trace the man,
and If they find that he is honorably
earning his existence he is left in
peace; but if there is shadow of sus-
picion against him, his dossier gets
heavier every day, and one morning he
finds that he has forty-eight hours in
which to quit the country.
1t Is owing to this system that the
police find it comparatively easy to
arrest criminals. The vilest class of
ruffian, and the painted women you
meet in the night cafes. are all useful
the women, especially. Your own ser
want may be spying on you. Your con-
cierge certainly is" He hesitated for
a minute. and then said to me. in a
semi-whisper, Watch that gentleman
In front with the ribbon of Legion of
Honor in his buttonhole." I looked at
him. but noticed nothing particular,
except that he seemed very intent in
his newspaper. That's a mouchard,"
he continued, I'm prepared to bet that |
he has heard ever word that has pass |
ed. If you had eyed him as closely as |
have, you would have noticed that he |
has been looking at the same para !
graph for over an hour" The man |
paid for his drink and went out. Next |
I suppose his report was sent |
in. The ruses Of these men in finding |
,ut persons who are wanted" have no |
INIT. Only the other day the English |
police had sent over the description Of |
4 man they would like to put in the !
lock. As he spoke French without the |
slightest accent, and as 1t was GER
ain that he would be disguised out of |
Ill recognition, the task was a difficult |
me. One afternoon, two of these de-
ectives noticed a well-dressed man and
him. One Of them took off |
his overcoat and hung it up side by
tide with his. A few minutes later they
got up to leave, and the wrong coat |
was put on. In the most fluent and
,olite French the suspected man point
ID out the error. The mouchard took
t of, and looked at the name of the
maker, and saw that 1t was a London
irm. They had found their man.
'The man Is a philosopher who drinks
he National Canifa1 RraWinC n 20 /
nond' and 'Munchner' Beers exclusive
y"-Dr Analysis