Omaha daily bee., 1901-01-27
SIZED Up TO A FINE POINT
Pat Groves Physical Record a Part Of
Bertillon Archives.
FACTS ABOUT CRIMINAL MEASUREMENTS
Queer Letters md Figures Are Like
~ Puzzle to the tninitintcd,
Yet They All Have
Meaning.


II has been said by men skilled I'm
crimnology that n Pat Grove is ever
captured tho authorities will have the
Btruillou system ut identification to thank
for it. This system has been in use by
the Omaha police since 1895. aud I'm that
time has aided in the apprehension Of
several shady characters and Il is now In
position TO further cNalt the name of its
inventor NJ. Alphonse Bertlllon OF Paris
In the circulars descriptive OF tho
Cudnhy kidnapers, witch the police have
been sending out since January T. appears
this cabalistic matter:
Htlm59-i.o. A.So-O. Tr.9S-6HLlq-S.H.w
l5-4 4.Ch.14- 4-1R.E.6-S l.. F.26-4 4d2. LMFll-9. /.
L.F.9-I.LF.A4S-5.
This reads like a cryptogram such as
Captain Kidd is supposed to have left to
point ont the hiding place OF his plumber
And indeed, II is something in the order
OF cipher letter. and It does Yield the key
TO tidy sum-twice as much as the bandits
received for returning the stolen boy II
is the open sesame to a vault containing
$4,000 in gold. All one has to do to earn
1t is to act the role Of the prince in tho
story Of Cinderella and find tho man who
will I'LL those measurements.
Hero Is the magic key TO the cipher. Tho
letters In the mysterious passage in every
case save one, refer to various parts Of the
ruman anatomy. For example, "Ch" stands
for check bone. aud -. NJ F." for left
middle finger. Tho numbers appcrtain to the
measurements Of these parts, the metric
system being used instead of tho cumbcr-
some old-fashioued standard OF measure
mcnt.
Japanese Ciumcy Mcthod.
Tne "cryptogram' points out the physical
pecullarites of Pat Grove and they apply
to him and to no other man in the world.
The japanese have a system OF Identifying
their criminals by means OF the peculiar
markings on the ball Of the thumb. a fact
which has been pretty thoroughly adycr-
tiscd through the medium Of Mark Twains
'Pudd nhead Wilson" The thumb OF the
suspect is pressed upon a piece of soft
way whereby is secured an oval-shapcd
mold of minute lines. like the delicate
tracing Of ocean borders on a map. This.
with the name OF the criminal. the nature
Of his offeuse and the date Of his arrest, Is
filed away in the archives. which correspond
to the rogue gallery OF the more civilized
nations II is said that in all the world
with its billions of people, no two thumb
Impressions are identical. and this may be
true. But the system Is defective. never
1 theless. because 1t involves some remark
ably delicate work with the microscope 20
distinguish tho minute variations in the
wax negatives. The Bertillon method it
less concise. Is moro practical II is based
upon the theory that while two men may
have arms the same length TO the fraction
OF a millimeter the chance of their being
identical in all the other measurements
and in all other physical characteristics
amounts TO an impossibiIty.
rat Groves Mcnsuremc,t.
Here are the Bertillon measurements as
applied to Pat Grove. expanded for the
benefit OF the uninitiatod Height, / meter.
~ centimctcrs, 4 millimcters; q. \. tout-
, stretched arms, so ccntimeters, Tr. ,top
OF aead TO seat while sitting), 93 cent?
meters, 6 uillimeters; ". L. (head length
l9 contimeters, millimeters; II. w (hcad
width), Ia centlmeters, 4 mill!metors. on.
Ccheek bone measured from side TO side q,
the face between points of greatest width
IA centimetors / mllimcter; II. f. CrIgbt
ear measured with sliding compass from
upper rim to bottom OF lobe), cent
meters millimeters; l.. f. 0eft foot
measured from the tip Of the grea: toe TO
heeD, 20 centimeters, 4 millimcters; /, NJ.
f. ueft middle hngerD, II centimetcrs. .
millimoteis; l.. L. +. 0eft little flnger).
centimeters. mtlllmeters; l.. +. A. ueft
iorearm), iS centimeters, + inilllmeters
bunions on Hts Feet.
II will be observed that in tho Ie,t foo,
measurement these characters appear.
'L.F.26 26-4d2." In this the I'd" stands for
"deviates" and the "2" for "millImeters "
and by experienced Bertillon operators is
| interpreted to mean that there is an nh.
| normal formation caused probably nv n
/ hunion or tight shoe, resulting in the bip
toe deviating from a straight line and that
| II the toe were straightened out the foot
| would be two millImeter8 longer than Il ia
now.
The Bertiiion system takes cognilance
OF nearly every possible physical peculiarity
and Characteristic. For example. whIIo II
| recognizes only two colors of the human
eye Cblue and maroon) It notes eighty sub
divisions in shade OF these two grand
divisions, There is no such thing as n
gray or brown eye, according TO Mr.
Bertillon Nor is there any such thing as
black hair, save among negroes and certain
Latin races.
The system also includes two pictures O,
the subiect-a front view and a proalo
| These are always photographs with the re-
| touching process omitted, in order that any
! little facial blemish may be noted In
/ Omaha tho Photographic work IS done by
a professional photographer, whose gallery
| is al tlG South Sixteenth street. and tho
! BertllIon measurements are taken by Oscar
| harbach' secretary to the chief Of police.
| The metric system is used instead of the
old foot -and-inch" standard. because II
| IS more convenient ana accurate. In tina
, latter the smallest unit Of measure Is The
inch, so in describing the nose, fingers ears.
| etc, oi the subject 1t would be necessary to
use fractions which are always awkward
IN comparison with whole numbers The
| Berillon system has done great deal
toward Introducing the French standard OF
weights and measures among the common
people OF America.
nMI Nn&..,