Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-09-07

production of the chart of the dentist
who had done soma professional work
for the victim; other means of identi
fication had been destroyed by fire
The identity of the woman was thus
established and later circular de
scribing the probable criminal was
furnished, made possible by the com
plete Identification of the woman her
| self. Although the criminal has not
| yet been arrested, every police depart
| ment in the country has an accurate
! description of him and it is quite with.
In the range of possibilities that he
will be apprehended through their ag-
ency.
The notorious Johann or Adolph
Hoch who. was recently convicted of
murder by Chicago jury, owes his
present position to the little circular
sent out by the Chicago Police De-
! partment. Shortly after the death of
his wife, Marie Fischer, last January,
Hoch left Chicago, but he was pursued
by the circulars. Every paper in New
YORK got one of them; little later,
one OF the enterprising dailies repro
duced the picture shown on the circu-
lar and a copy of the paper fell into
the hands of woman to whom Hoch
mad proposed marriage. She gave the
necessary information, Hoch was ar
rested and in short time was re-
turned to the jail at Chicago, there to
await trial and conviction.
The Notorious "Missour Kid" 1
Another equally well known exam
pie OF criminal being captured by
means OF the circular system is in the
case OF William Rudolph, the notori-
GUS Missouri: Kid, who was recently
hanged in that state after he had per-
petrated some of the most cold-blood-
ed murders in the history of the coun-
Try and had lodged the police in the
most sensational manner for several
years.
When he was finally caught after he
mad killed a finkerton detective who
was member of the capturing posse
he was placed in Jail, from which he
made his world-famous escape by
climbing over the giant rafters Of the
jail corridors and breaking through
the skylight into freedom.
After this daring and sensational Jail
delivery he might never again have
been captured had he not foolishly at
tempted a bank robbery in Kansas
and been caught in the attempt For
this minor crime he was held by the
Kansas police, who, of course, at that
time did not know who he was.
When his measurements were taken
for the BertilloE card, however, they
were surprised 10 find that this card
bore the name Of the famous William
Rudolph. Thus his identity was dis
covered and he was placed under
heaVy bond as a murderer
Even then tie criminal career of
the Missouri Kid" did not end, for
MS keen brain was devising q method
by which he might escape the death
sentence. He knew that the laws Of
Kansas forbade capital punishment
and SO figured that If he could commit
crime for which he would receive a
life sentence from a Kansas jury, he
would escape from the gallows which
awaited him in the state in which he
had committed mis- other heinous
crimes. With this object in view, he
deliberately murdered one OF the pris-
on guards in a most terrible manner
simply to insure trial by the laws of
Kansas.
Percentage of Arrests Large.
A comfortable sum of money is
spent by each police department every
year in publishing these circulars, and
1t often happens that they miss fire
Still, the percentage of arrests is sur
prisingly large and police authorities
all over the country incline to the be-
lief that for the money there ia no bet
ter means Of tracing criminal Sup
plemented by the telegraph, these cir
culars prove of speedy service in hun
dreds OF cases, and it must be a clever
rogue who can escape from the
meshes of the law. aided as it is by
every modern device. Once a Grimm
al is apprehended, it is not difficult
matter to establish his identity,
through the medium of the Bertillon
system, before alluded to-
Another excellent feature of the cir
culars is the fact that they serve to
familiarize the members of the police
force all over the country with the
faces of criminals who are wanted.
Many of the older members of the
force have wonderful gift for re-
Numbering faces, possibly to be as
crlbed to some mysterious sixth sense
1t is interesting to see the quickness
with which an old hand will recognize
criminal, even when the latter is dis
guised and is carrying alias. 1t is dis
concerning to the criminal too, to be
called by his name when some man
who arrested him ten years before
reminds him CT the case The fact
that the police circulars are sent
about all over the country puts them
directly in the hands OF men trained
to remember faces, and criminal
must go far to escape the memory Of
detective or police officer who has
once seen a i;ood likeness of him.
In this way advertising for erimi-
nails" has become a large portion Of
the work of the police departments
throughout the country, and an impor-
tant factor i'll the capture of fugitives
from justice.
TO BE HOME FOR WIDOWS.