The evening times., 1899-01-03
CLEVER DETECTIVE WORK
How superintendent Ricknrd Found
IL Lust Girls Inme.

New York, Jan. 3.-M. J. Rickard, deputy
superintendent of Bellevue Hospital, gave
an illustration yesterday of how he thinks
police cases should be Investigated. Early
in the afternoon policeman walked into
the institution with a pretty eighteen
year-old girl. He explained that she had
been found wandering in Westchester VIII
lage the evening before, and in Morrisania
court yesterday morning had been commit
ted 10 the charities department. The girl
puzzled the police completely.
She spoke a language that appeared
strange 10 all interpreters who could be
found. No one ycould understand a word.
She was eyidehtly lost but how could the
police find out anything about a girl w,o
was virtually dumb TO them? The police
man had taken the girl to the charities de-
partment, but the department was closed
for the holiday. so he took her to the hos
pitaI. There she Vas taken in, TO be cared
for until today.
II being dull day with him, Rickar1 de-
cided that he could find out something
about his charge. He began with a bit of
pencil and paper. which he placed before
the girl. making signs that she was to
write The girl smiled, took up the pencil
bent over the paper and in two minutes
had with great care sci down what looked
like the figures ''lfol.
Nov" said Pickard 10 some OF the
1 clerks who watched him, this is evident
/ ~ the number OF a house or restitution
/ which had been impressed on the SRI $
mind. Iris looks simple Ali | hayS TO
! dc is to find every avenue in The city which
has the number 'l4G1' Then I'll iele-
. phCue 10 the police station nearest TO the
/ number 10 send man around TO the num-
! Der. Watch me find out where she
! lives
For an hour after that tho telephone
wires leading out Of the hospital we're
busy. In an hour and a half RickarI had
heard from all the 1901 numbers. 40 one
knew the girl.
While the police were al work Rickard
was not idle.
You see he explained. ",his is un-
certain: there are several ways of work.
ing it"
He held up bit of paper covered with
lines Of figures
This girl may have the numbers all
right. but she may have arranged them
! incorrectly. Now | have here eighteen
computations which l have made from the
numbers 1-4-0-1. There may be more
combinations in it, but which number will
l take? | cant hunt up all the numbers
in the city. Which shall take?
Rickard paused. locked at the girl again
and ran his finger down the column of fig
ures.
Il think ] have it, This girl looks like
a Hebrew. Now, If she is. she would hat
urally write her numbers Just in the op-
posite direction from that in which | write
them. Al least | think she would because
if she were writing she would write from
right TO left instead from left to write
Now this number that she has written. if
/ read from right to left, would be .t04l
| instead of 1401.' I find that number in
my first list OF combinations. I'll try it, >
NOV" continued Richard here's an
other thing. This girl was found in West
Chester. III just try the streets far I'd
town first
There was Il lot more telephoning after
that, and the police up town were in
structed to send men TO house numbered
'le4l.' Rickard was still at his figures
an hour later when the telephone man
shouted. Here she is
From across the Harlem River police
man had just brought in word that John
Guttman. who lives at No. lO4I Forest
! Avenue, had lost a servant. She had left
| his home the day before TO go on an er-
rard, and had not come back Guttmau,
| the police telephCned was on his way to
| Bellevue. Guttman reached there at )
o'clock, four hours after Rickard had be-
| gun to figure. At the sight of the man
| the girl uttered a shrek and rushed I'M
| to him. Guttman said
This is my servant, all right
After that the man explained that The
! girl was Lizzie Sandar; that she had been
! in the country only four weeks, and that
| she was Hungarian, but spoke pecu-
| liar accent. Guttman took the delighted
| girl home. Everybody congratulated
| Rickard.
Anyhow, my figures came out all
| right he said.