The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-04-25
THB BERTILLoN SYSTEM IN THIS
 COUNTRY.

The identification on Thursday of a man giving the name of William Mox- ley, who was arrested on suspicion of having defrauded Dr. Louis F. Schade, the dentist, of one hundred dollars, as | Louis Burke, a noted wire-tapper 1 within ten minutes after his arrest by Superintendent Edward A. Evans of | the National Bureau of Identification, | who had never seen the man in his l life, has called local attention to the | great value of this organization, whose headquarters are in Washington, in the Identification and conviction of criminals. But for the operations of this system it might never have been known how important was the clever capture by Detective Hewlett and Peck. True, this identification has since been supported by evidence found in the mans room, but had the police not realized that they had bagged noted criminal, they might not have made the extraordinary exertions ne- cessary to locate iae hiding place of their catch, which was discovered only with the greatest difficulty, and only just in time to forestall the removal of the evidence.
 The method employed by this impor- tant branch of the police service of the country is not generally understood, and it is hard to realize, until the sys- tenn is explained how Identification can be made so quickly. The system, is elaborate, yet simple, and has proved eminently satisfactory in results.
 When criminal is arrested in any of the leading cities, and in many of the smaller towns, he is immediately photographed. Two views are taken, one full-faced and one profile. One is usually taken with the head bare and one with the hat on. This, though not answering for perfect identification, would still serve in majority of cases, if it were always possible to put the hand on the photograph. and was, in fact, depended upon while the popula- tion of the country was still small and the proportion of criminals correspon- dingly low. But when rogues' gall lery reaches the number of many thou sands of pictures, how is it possible to look over them all every time man is ol iCStSu, tO GtE Ii ilC lG thCIC IGpTGSSlll- ed? With each addition the task be- comes more difficult and finally irnpos- sible
 Here comes in the value Of the Ber- tillon system of measurements, invent ed by a distinguished French police Of ficer, and now in use throughout the civilized world. Under this system the following measurements are taken:
 Head, two measurements, length and width; foot, length of left foot only; ear, length of right ear only; forearm, length of left forearm only, elbow to large finger end; fingers, length of large finger and small finger, left hand only; arms, outstretched, or reach: height, in bare feet; trunk, length of body from seat to top of head: cheek bones width. "A
 By securing the above measurements of an individual together with an &C., curate description of the features, nose. forehead, chin, etc., color of the hair and eyes, and the exact location, size and description of marks and scars, a criminals record can be filed in such a manner that he cannot escape identifi-
 
 sible in a collection of thousands of de- scriptions as quickly as in collection of a hundred. His measurements lead in few moments to where his descrip- tion will be found, the complete de- scription recorded making his identity a certainty. This can be done without the assistance of 8 name or photo- graph; the side and front photograph, however. is taken and placed on the card with his description, to meet any occasion where it might be an advan- tage.
 The following example will illustrate why the various measurements are ta- ken, and the amount of labor saved in Identification by this system.
 In collection of thirty thousand criminal photographs, it it easily seen that it would be impossible to find an individuals former record without measurements. His name he gives diff