The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-12-01


 prisoner quickly betrayed himself. He
 was actually chafng the tips of his f1n-
 gers together. They were as soft as
 those of child. He was pickpocket. Little, delicate, slim fingered white hands are generally supposed to be 1 characteristic in a man of refinement,
 subtiety and vacillation. They are, 1t
 has been noted, a peculiarIty of the
 male prisoner. Palmer, Pritchard and
 Lamson all had beautiful hands-ta- pering, soft and white. They were all
 men of refinement and subtlety but in their grim work there was at least no
 vacillation.
 1 Many criminals are, however, by no l means anxious to show their hands in court. Bennett the murderer of his
 wife, on Yarmouth sands kept his 1 hands well down from observation
 while taking his trial It was one of l the points in his defence that such a
 weakly looking person would hardly have dared to murder rather strong woman in such a fashon. As matter | of fact. Bennet's hands were pe- i culiarly large, and he had long and big
 thumbs, capable of a errible
 grip and he did not care to display
 them.
 The left handed man is at a disad-
 vantage compared with ordinary indi-
 viduals in escaping the penalty of many crimes. In one sensational case In which man named Patch was &C., cused of having shot a gentleman named Bligh, the doctors called in de- clared that the crime must have been the work of a left handed man. But Patch who was suspected stoutly maintained that he was right handed and no witness could be found to say which hand he ordinarily used Dur ing his trial, however, in anxiety and terror at some of the evidence, it was noted that he used his left hand. He was really leftnanded.
 In the case of a woman named Rob inson, who was found dead with her throat cut and with a razor in her hand, the question arose whether she had committed suicide but the woman was proved to have been right handed, and the razor was in her left. The per- petrator of the crime was himself left handed, and so had put the weapon in her left hand.
 Left handedness is more common among criminals than among ordinary persons, So is ambdexterity-the pow CT to use both hands equally well. Why it should be so none can tell It | would not be fair to left handed or am 1 bidextrous person to infer that they 1 are more disposed to crime than others. | One of our best judges is ambidextrous. | and when he gets tired of making notes l with his right hand I have seen him l change his pen to the left and go on l writing as readily as before.
 Left handedness which has been un- expected has frequently placed detec- ttves in an awkward position. Mel Ville, the terror of anarchists and for eign political criminals generally, once had a career very nearly cut short by l it in the early years of his work. He was on the track of peculiarly des- perate offender, who had succeeded in baff1ff1ing him for considerable time.
 The famous detective came upon him unexpectedly when there was no help near, and when he would have to rely solely upon his own promptly ana effect a capture. The man was short, but powerful in build, and 1t was well known that in the pockets of his coat he carried revolvers loaded and ready to his hand. Melville sprang upon him and grasped his right hand in an iron grip. But the man was left handed, and the revolver was whipped out and presented at the detective's head al- most before he realized it. He did so just in time to dash it aside, but it was "a near thing"
 A furtive ability with the hand ap- pears peculiar to criminaIs-even to those whose crimes have not been such as are identified with hand skill. Rush the murderer of the Jermyns in their home near Norwich, was a farmer but he performed in court a feat which al- most showed the skill of a coniurer. While the trial was proceeding num- Der of slips of paper were produced against him. At @ later stage of the proceedings they were not to be found. They were of the highest consequence to the prosecution. They were eventu- ally discovered in Rush's hat, which he Qdu CdEEISu WlII IlI1II luLO I1lS K, concealed beneath the lining! How he managed to get hold of them and hide them there undetected by the eyes of all around him was mystery.
 Next to the professional poisoner, the forger's hand is apt to be the best. , and swindlers come third.
 Sergeant Ballantine was one of the ( cleWarest barristers that ever addressed | l jury. His power with them even in most hopeless eases was \ enormous. In certain murder case the Sergeant exerted himself most viz 1rously on behalf of his client in whose ' .avor there were one or two mysterious circumstances, and secured his acquit- al. The prisoner, released from the lock, and overjoyed at his good for une had the impotence to hustle back nto court and present himself before lis counsel.
 "You did wonderfully well, Sergeant" le exclaimed-"wonderfu well! must thank you, sir-thank you and s shake hands with you for your clever less" The sergeant looked for an instant at 'he hand he extended, and then, bend ng his eyes on him, gleaned from un- larneoth inc contra eted. sha oorv hrnve l