The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-02-08
BertillOn Measurements
A Certain identification

What would be the result were all
the persons now engaged in crime IN
America to suddenly decide to hence
forth live honest lives? What Won
drous systems of crime prevention
crime detection and criminal tdentih-
cation would be suddenly rendered
useless, systems and annals obtained
many of them in the face of terrible
dangers, and many others at the great
est of expense. Among the most won
derful of these, without a doubt, is the
Bertillon system of Identification.
Hitherto, or at least before the in
stallation of the system in this coun-
try, the major portion of the crimes
and wrongs which disturb the order OF
society, resulted either directly or in
directly from the apparent impossible
ity of distinguishing in every case, with
unerring certainty, one individual from
another. 1t is for this reason that sc
many of the professional crooks and
hab1tual Wrong-doerS who are abroad
in the land go unwhipped of justice
This difficulty was mitigated in the
year 1882 by De. Alphonse Bertillon, a
noted anthropologist, who brought to
the notice of the chief of the prefecture
of Partisan police a system of identi-
ficatiOn upon which he a studied for
years, and which he had just complet-
ed.
It's high degree of perfection and its
absolute efficiency is recognized by all
authorities on this subject the world
over.
1t is not so very long since this sys-
tenn was introduced into the police
department of st. Paul a1< put under
the supervision of Detective ]. c. Muir
name, whose wide acquaintance among
thieves, crooks and criminals of all
kind, the result of years in the de-
tective service, places him among those
at the top of his profession.
For it is a profession-this knoWl-
edge of criminals. Among the many
hundreds who infest American society
there are few, very few, the where
abouts of whom Detective Murnane
cannot tell every day Of the year.
Face Cuts Little Figure.
In other days detectives were wont
to depend upon the facial description
of the man or woman wanted. Now
that is the very figure most ignored.
OF course it is used to a great extent
by which to make a cursory identif1-
cation in the case of a well-bred GRIM
inal whom it Is needless to measure;
but in the majority Of cases where
an unknown but suspected man is ar
rested, the measurements are all that
are used by the bureau of identification.
OF these there are nine. The first
10 the AS1Snt5 ScCOuu, 1eLBlu VI uGdUI
then successfully: left foot, reach,
width Of head, left middle finger, trunk,
right ear and left forearm. With three
Of these measurements all authorities
agree, it is possible to cheat the police.
They are height, reach and trunk. But
the others are as certain as fate, and
the three mentioned are taken merely
to serve as extra means Of identiflca-
ton, though not looked upon as sure.
ATonnC %hnSn fhof hoxrn hoa- Nv
absolutely reliable are such as the head
measurement and that Of the finger.
In those only what are known as bone
measurements" are made That is,
only those portions are measured where
the bone is nearest to the exterior. For
instance, the left middle finger is meas
ured from the knuckle to the tip Of
the finger. the measuring stick press
ed down hard as the intervening flesh
will allow.
Another is the length of the head
from the forehead, or frontal bone, to
the extreme rear of the skull. The call
Hpers are then placed upon the head
from side to side and the width meas
urement taken. These are measure
ments that can never change in the
grown person, n now that the entire
country is cobWebbed with lines OF
Bertiilon identification, it means there
is little chance for a man who is once
measured and "mugged" to ever be
taken into a police station and escape
Identification.
In cases where doubt is felt the pris-
oner Is brought in on a charge Of wa
grancy," measurements taken and sent
10 Chicago. In forty-eight hours after
the arrest is made word is received
by wire, I'VE have" or I'VE have not
your man." If his record is in the
Harrison street station it is forwarded