The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-07-10
SHE IS PHOTOGRAPHER
TO THE POLICE COURT
Mrs. Morrison of Newark, N. J., Fol
lows An Unusual Profession.

There's a quiet. clever. notoriety-
whose occupation probably takes the
prize for unusualness. So far as heard
from Mrs Morrison is the only woman
in the country, or in the world for
that matter, holding the post of Off
cial photographer to police headquar-
ters Her work consists in taking pic
lures of criminals for the rogue's gal
lery which is a feature of police head
quarters in Newark as well as other
cities. Since criminals have begun TO
appreciate the possibilities of changing
this appearance by a different arrange
ment of the hair or another style of
hirsute decoration, photographs have
fallen somewhat in esteem. Some day,
no doubt, they will be superseded by a
record of measurements, thumb marks
and such things. It will probably not
happen in Mrs. Morrison's day, how
ever. and she has little fear on that
score of losing her job.
She has studio specially fitted up
for her work at the top of the head
quarters building and the prisoners are
brought to her under guard. She has
been particularly successful in getting
them to sit quietly and allow her to
photograph them with no more trouble
than any ordinary sitter. would give.
Men who have hitherto done this work
have nearly always had great diff
Guilty in getting good pictures, because
the sitters would twist and turn and
screw up their faces. Sometimes il
was only after the guard had dubbed
them into a proper frame of mind that
they could be persuaded to allow the
photographer to get proper focus at
ALL 1t may be Mrs. Morrison's per-
sonality or that whatever good is left
in the most hardened criminals re-
spends to the polite feminine variation
of the request TO look pleasant.
After such a pleasant account of her
success with her pictures it seems a
pity not to be able to say that the
financial end of the business is equally
successful. There is no danger that
Mrs. Morrison will grow rich as a re-
suit of her official labors. To be sure,
IS or 81 a day in addition to your in
come from other sources, is not to be
despised, and Mrs. Morrison feels very
happy over her new post. She fitted
up the studio at headquarters at her
own expense, and she is paid at the
rate of 81 a. dozen for all the photo
graphs she takes. She makes a dozen
copies from each negative. One of these
is regularly posted in the rogue's gal
written on the back. The others are
kept for use in identifying suspicious
persons. For instance, if the police in
another city have arrested a man sus-
pected of having been previously con-
victed, these extra copies come in
handy as helps in identifying him. Then
the detectives sent to identify prison
ers find these extra copies of great
service to carry with them for pur-
pose of comparison.
Mrs. Morrison is a businss-like lit
tie woman with a firm belief in the
possibility of a working woman keep
ing the personal and domestic side of
her life quite separate from business.
She took up her present occupation
because she was suddenly thrown upon
her own resources. She had some
knowledge of the work and a studio in
the lower end of the city She does
all her own work except the retouch-
ing. Mrs. Morrison's opinion is that
photography is a good, practical trade
for a woman if she will learn the BUSH
ness right through. Few of them
know more than one very simple
branch.