Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1900-04-21

Ing to the ease with which criminals
enriched themselves, the wrongdoers
of Paris were confirmed in their ways,
and their numbers were increased to
an extraordinary degree. In the opin-
ion of the minister, the net result was
a moral retrogression, the effect of
which was by no means confined to
France and which cast q slur upon it's
fair name. 1t has been determined
that the exposition of 1900 shall not
incur this reproach, and NJ. Lepine, the
Paris project of police, has been hard
at work for months organizing special
measures for the protection of the
lives. the property and the peace of
the strangers whom the exposition will
attract.
He has entered into relations with
the police authorities of the principal
cities of the world in order to secure
their cooperation, and he now declares
himself quite ready to cope with all the
clever villainy which in a few weeks
will swoop down upon the city.
The following details of the system
of prevention and detection which has
been evolved have been furnished to
the writer by NJ. Lepine himself and
the officials who work under him. At
the immense hotel of the prefecture
there is now installed the most com
pete "rogues' gallery" in the whole
world. 1t contains photographs, bodily
measurements, thumb prints and biog-
raphies of the veteran criminal mag
mates of nearly every civilized land.
The green goods men of America, the
buried treasure experts of Spain, the
mercenary assassins of Italy, the card
sharpers of Greece and of everywhere
else, the German "barons," with fur
coats and charming manners. who bor-
row from their fellow hotel guests
| trihing sum Of $500 or so while they
wait for the remittance which the
major dOmos Of their castles and es-
| tates on the Rhine have forgotten TO
send, the Amsterdam merchants of
false diamonds-these and all the
rest of the dreary company of crooks
and criminals are represented in the
vast collection.
| French consuls stationed in all the
| big cities OF the earth have obtained
| from the police authorities every kind
| of data that can be of any possible
lvalue No prominent criminal can leave
| any city for Paris without his move
ments being made known at once to
the Paris authorities, with complete in
| formation regarding his special line and
methods. In a long sale, which looks
| like n library are hundreds Of boxes
| and pigeonholes containing careful
/ studies of different forms Of swindling
lpracticed in different countries. From
these the Paris detective service has
! been able to increase its knowledge
of the inner working of the most ex-
| pert gangs. Thus it win be able to take
| effective measures for warning the
public against them and to secure ar
rests when a swindle has been accom-
| plished.
| In hotels, in cafes. in railroad sta
lions and other public places printed
placards informing the visitors of some
of the devices likely to be employed
against them by dishonest persons will
be posted up and it is expected that
these will have a considerable effect in
diminishing the number of victims.
| Precautions have also been taken
against the criminals who employ brute
force rather than subtlety. The city
of Paris has authorized large in
crease in the number of street police,
and the night service especially will
be, arranged on a much larger scale
than in ordinary times. The armed
mounted police will be nearly doubled.
A service of bicycle police, somewhat
on the model of the well known and eff
fective corps in New York, is being
formed. BY the middle of April there