Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1902-10-16
SERGEANT SHERIDAN'S SKILL
A New Yorker Who Has a Wondrous
Memory for Criminals.
Brooklyn Eagle


One Of the strongest faculties ever bestowed
upon a man Is possessed By Sergeant William
p. Sheridan, who is in charge Of the Identif-
cation Bureau-the Bulletin Bureau, they call
it-of the New York police department He
can identify any man he has once seen and
In addition can remember his name, his occu-
other peculiarities which may have appeared
at the time of the first meeting.
Disguises give absolutely no protection
against recognition by Sergeant Sheridan. Again
and again criminals, detectives and his per-
sonal friends have tried to deceive him. 1t has
always been in vain. The man has never been
known to make a mistake in identification.
Daily at police headquarters he Identities Grim
inals whom he has not seen for ten years. often,
too, he recognizes them from photographs,
having never before seen the original Of the
picture.
$1,000 criminals. This does not mean that he
merely knows their names and records. It
means that he knows them as well as man
knows his wife; II means that Sergeant Sheri-
dan knows the facial and bodily peculiarities
of each one. that he remembers their names
and aliases, the date upon which they were ar
rested, the charge made against them. the
name Of the policeman who made the arrest,
the date and extent of the sentence and in
what prison il was served In other words, he
remembers every fact that may be written down
on the back of the criminals photograph in
the Rogue's Gallery. and, often enough he Is
able TO recall the number Of the picture in the
gallery.
No criminal with a record has ever succeeded
In getting past Sergeant Sheridan. So we'll is
this fact known by the dishonest fraternity
that the old-time men never think Of trying IL.
AS soon they brought before Sheridan
they confess their identity.
When Il Is said that Sergeant Sheridan has
never made a mistake in the Identification of
a criminal the statement must be taken in its
absolutely literal sense. However remarkable 10
may seem that a man who has been in the
police department for nearly thirty years should
never have made an error in this, the most diff
fcult task, the fact is as II has been written.
1t is no mere empty boast. It is thing admit
ted by criminals and attested by every off,
cial and man of standing in the police depart
ment II seems miraculous, but It is true.
In the Rogue's Gallery a. police headquarters,
In Mulberry street, MANHATTAN, there are, in
the old and new galleries, more than fifty
thousand portraits of criminals. You can pick
out a dozen of the pictures at random and
shuttle them as much as you please Then let
Sergeant Sheridan see the face Of any one
of the lot, without touching the picture and
he will tell you whose portrait II Is, the man s
criminal history and aliases, and in addition
he is quite likely to be able to give you a
list of the scars, tattooing and other marks
which are noted at the foot Of the written
record on the back Of the portrait
It is because OF this extraordinary gift that
Sergeant Sheridan Is so greatly feared and
hated by the criminals of the United States
He is the final court Of appeals in doubtful
eases. When some country police officer is
lucky enough 70 catch man who has attempt
ed to break into the local bank he knows pretty
when he says that his name is Henry James
and denies that he has ever been arrested be-
fore The country policeman thinks It is quite
likely that he has caught a man who is very
we'll known a criminal and for whose arrest
large rewards are offered. Wishing to identity
him. and II he is wise, he sends 1t to Sergeant
Sheridan.