Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-11

| important FACTOR. w nile the BerClllOn SyS-
tenn is the basis of all progressive methods
of keeping chronological records today
some criminoIogists have attempted to i'm
prove upon it by slight variations. Never
theless, all rogues cards are now known
as "Bertillon cards"
Indexing a Worlds Rogues.
From all parts of the world patches of the
Bertillon cards are constantly pouring into
the international bureau Of Identification.
Each bears. the photograph, name, measure
ments, peculiarities, history and record of
a criminal newly apprehended. Were the
library system of filing authors cards, for
instance, employed, these pasteboard
squares would be grouped alphabetically
The result would be nil, so far as success
full identification is concerned. The crook
changes his name as often as he varies his
vestments, and oftener, too, in many cases.
So the name cannot be taken as the index
to the system. What then? The photo
graph? Suppose we put all men with mus
tacheS in one drawer, those with Burn
Sides in another, those with ''Oom PauIs"
in another, the horse-tail boards by them
selves and the clean shaver faces too In
separate class And the women? We might
classify them according to pompadours,
frizzes, spit curls," water falls cork
screws and subclassify both men and
women as blondes or brunettes. But the
hirsute adornment of the professional crook
changes DIS OlteIl DIS HIS udlue.
AS the cards come in they are classified
first according to SEX then according to
head lengths. There are separate cabinets,
for large heads medium heads and
small heads A large head is 1913 cent?
meters or over in length; a medium head
from 1873 to 1872; small head 1871 or I'M
der OF course, where so many thousands
of cards are stored together there will be
many equal head lengths side by side in the
same drawer. These are subclaSsified, first
according to head widths second according
to length of middle finger and further &C
cording to the other dimensions of the hui
man body framework which the Bertillon
operatives in the worlds police departments
record.
This Is the main classification. An
haustive card index of names, croSs-indexed
as to aliases, is auxiliary. Each Bertil-
lon card contains pasted upon the left,
profile and upon the right a full face pho
tograph of the crook. From some small
cities and rural county seats there are ordi
nary studio photographs showing a front
view only. Some far western cities have
adopted the English system of photogra PHI
ing each criminal against a mirror which
reflects his profile at the same time that
his full face portrait is being made. This
method is a time saver and time is an item
to be reckoned with by police photograph
ers.
Modus Operandi.
Branding the shoulders of criminals with
the feur-de-lis burned into the skin with a
red hot iron was the means still employed
for criminal identification in France, not so
many generations ago. That this improved
system, the invention of a Frenchman, is
more sure as we'll as more humane, is at
tested by the number of identifcationS
made daily by Superintendent e. A. Evans,
in charge of the international bureau. Mr..
Evans, grew up in his profession, his father,
Capt. M. P. Evans, having been superin-
tendant of the Chicago city bureau of iden-
LITIGATION since 1884. In boyhood the
younger Evans assisted his father between
school hours and as he grew older devel-
oped into an expert in the fine art of iden-
LITIGATION.
l called upon Superintendent Evans yes
terday, and he illustrated to me his method
of 'spotting crooks
cipher dispatch is received from the
chief of police of, say, Montreal, Canada.
Translated this asks: What do you know
about Henry Lewis, alias Foxy Lewis,
alias Poker Shark Fox head, 1914 by
AS; middle finger, 11.9; ear, 7.3, etc.; wart
on nose, ETC.? Card mailed today
Foxy must be sought among the "big
heads" All of the cards comparing favor
ably with his description are laid aside, an
error of one millimeter being allowed each
Bertillon operative. The name index is
searched for a clue, and if any alias therein
happens to fit "Foxys," that fact is noted.
If Foxy appears to have a double, parallel
to him as to measurements, marks, scars,
moles, tattoo designs, deformities, etc. that
prototype is in all probability Foxy himself,
although he be carded as Clarence Alger-
non De We're" alias Denver Dude" The
suspicion that Foxy is the same Clarence,
the celebrated bank robber, arrested in New
Orleans in 1898, is wired to Montreal. Su-
perintendent Evans then awaits receipt of
| the new Bertillon card made by the opera
tives of Montreal. AS last resort he COM
pares the photographs Although the said
| Clarence is portrayed with such a wealth
| of whskers as would make Kansas popu-
| list turn to the emerald hue of envy, a GER
| tain twinkle in his eye confirms the suspi-
| cion that he is the aforesaid Foxy with
| priestly visage, shaven clean. This clinches
| the identity of the man with the wealth of
Names but dearth of head lengths.
Were the photographs relied upon pri-
| marily Superintendent Evans task would
| be a hard one. This he illustrated to me
| by taking from the drawers various groups
| Of cards. each representing the same crook.
| In many cases there was no shade of re-
| semblance which the eye would note unless
| forearmed with the suspicion given by the
| other data upon the cards.
Tracing Pat Grove.
Three cards of the famous Pat Grove,
alias Frank Roberts," alias John Will
| son''-still sought by the Omaha police for
the Cudahy kidnaping-were shown to me.
These contain Pats criminal history in a
| nutshell. In 1890, while engaged in con-
| versation with woman in the doorway of
| a Chicago resort, he tore a pair of 500
| earrings from her ears. She screamed. and