Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1902-06-12
CATCHING CRIMINALS
Operations of the National Bureau
Of Identification.
Beginning OF an Institutisn That
Promises to Become an Inyslu-
able Agency In the CurtaiI-
ment Of CriIae.

meat of Crime.
1t was a woeful day for the 100000
criminals OF the United States, not to
mention their brother crooks III other
countries when the National Bureau
Of identification was conceived. says
a Washington %. c. correspondence
of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Maj Richard sylvester, president of
the Nuu u . Association Of Chiefs Of
Police all .. member OF the board Of
gJ,srnJrr oil the bureau, w.iiie super
in ulent of the Capital Guys mcGel
y,L.re force, originated tits central
bureau of information for the aid OF
the numerous Sherlock Holmses Of
NOrth America.
T. \. Evans, the superintendent OF
the new bureau, is Il young man with
an eagle eye. Identifying criminals
was pnrt Of his kindergarten train
Ing. He il the son Of Cnrt. ". T.
Evans, supe rintendent OF q Chicago
lily Identification Dure' since 1884
In boyhoOd lie assisted lis fatl er be
tween school hours, and for the past
five years he has been an attache Of
the embryonic national bureau.
The walls OF the bureau are lined
with cabinets filed with Thousands OF
cards each bearing upon its face the
photographs OF a criminal, one full
face and the other profile. On the
sa,ae side are given the measurements,
age and physical characteristics Of the
criminal On the back are noted such
data rs his name, residence, crime, etc,
also his marks, scars, molds and other
defects or nbnormalitics. In short.
these cards are such as regularly make
up the BertillOn catalogues used in
all up-to-date police departments.
All the cards collected in the 81
American and Canadian cities contrib
uting to the maintenance Of tho bu-
reau- such Of them. at leNst Us repre-
sent the current criminal class-nre
being duplicated and filed in the cen
trnl bureau. What task this is cnn
be CLEANED from the fact that in Chi
cngo slonc there are 10000 cards rep
r. enting the criminal element OF the
Western metropolis itself, ard $4,000
more representing criminals from out
side communities who have been in
sonm wHy connected with Chicago
Jobs" over 10000 OF these $4,000
have been collected under the Bertl-
Ion system; the other $4,000 under the
old fashioned rogue's gallery scheme.
The Thousands OF cards are arranged
in three groups, each contained in one
OF the three immense cabinets, The
first cabinet contains large heads"
the second medium heads" the third
- all hsNds."
Head length, therefore. is the first
k'N which opens the cabinet. John
Doc aljnS Skeeter jack" must there
tore he looked for first in the medium
head" cabinet" There are, perhaps,
u 'corS or more OF crooks with heads
l'.9 ccu'imeters long but all OF these
Of Ike head lengths are sulciUsSiiicd,
fr't according to head widths, second.
according to length OF ni'Gtlr finger.
and So ON down the scale of data on
each card All oi the cards con.pnr-
ing fnNurally with John Does dcscrip-
tiuu are laid to one side Tor final com.
purison with the full-face and profile
phot1gr. u, on the card sent. 4 rea-
sonahle u.aryih for error in measure
mcn,s is allowed. In fact, some OF the
most important idcntihcations SO far
made by the bureau have been based
on cards on which those errors have
been wide.
Years OF training in the science Of
idort'hcation are neces sary before
aptitude much less experiences can be
attained. Dead criminals have offered
som, - the most Gifhcuh problems.
Instances where crooks are killti n
combat with their intended victims or
in escaping from the scenes OF their
phnd,r, nre many. IN such cases the
police o' cities subscribing t. ih.u,N
bureau sgt their Bertilluu or,rutar,
and photo. raIhers 30 morvurs. where
must he -a,hrrcd the gr.'> >Dm, ,..ta
for the Identification carus. Many
such curl, are scattered % -,ur} ,hr
national classification, aud an u., ln
are t,rr b,c to look upon.
MAJ SlNcSter SAYS that a great l.o.
lice bureau will evolve out OF IN, in
siitut'uu. 1t is his ambition that its
international scope will include not
only Canada, but th great continental
countries ~ the old world. The state
department is now issuing invitations
To 2ou fa,r gu police officials to attend
the m'ctug ~ the National ASsoci.
alton 90 Chiefs Of Pole, to he held in
Louisville next MAY. During that
mrt ulg plans for the extension Of the
system vii be- discussed.
All - Ar chiefs OF police Of the
United ~ and many high federal
on'cals are strongl, in favor Of plac-
ing the bureau uudrr the department
OF Justice. \ hill now before congress
u g.. 81 A.