The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1905-08-10
CRIMINAL MICROBE.
GERM OF CRIME FLoURIsHEs
DURING SUMMER HEAT.
City Of Paris Disturbed Over Unusual
Prevalence of Criminality-
Efforts Of the Police
to Abate It.

Paris.-Just as when the earth tenn
perature rises to a certain degree II Is
supposed to release the germs OF infec-
tious disease. SO the criminal microbe
seems to be especially active In the sum-
mer heats. 1t is, perhaps. not really SO.
from a statistical point Of view. but. al
any rate, II is a microbe that gets itself
more talked about than in the winter,
when there are other matters to occupy
the attention Of the newspapers. At this
moment. with the Grand Prix over and
the fashionable life in the Boise on the
wane. we are rapidly approaching the
silly season. when Paris criminally
reaches its high-water mark in the col
umns Of the Fats Divers" OF truth
there Is reason for a certain disQuietude
at the prevalence OF crime, not only at
this moment. but during the whole round
Of the ~ months.
The central parts OF Paris are we'll
and adequately policed. but the suburbs
and the outer regions are in deplorable
condition Of insecurity. No other con-
clusion can be come to from the long
series of attacks upon the person, mur-
ders, robberies and violations which
have been set forth In the police news
during the last Is months. A case in
point is the shocking assassination Of
the English governess. Miss Charlotte
Cary, which is now occupying the at
tention Of M. Hamard and his sharpest
detectives. That such deed is possible
In broad daylight and at the very gates
Of Paris Is no compliment to the police
arrangements. ! hasten to say that the
police themselves are not necessarily to
be condemned: rather, on the contrary,
It is the limited budget, or grant. that Is
at fault. The police service is starved
for want Of funds. a condition, by the
way. which is not singular to Paris.
The organization Of the cycle police
has brought a certain amount of order
and security into some districts, bu:
they cannot obviously perform quite the
same service as the foot police. Too
much license Is unfortunately given to
the creatures belonging to a detestable
class which preys upon women and
supplements its evil earnings by an
occasional robbery or murder. Num-
bers OF these utterly worthless mem
bers OF society are to be seen on
any fine afternoon summing them
selves on the fortifications, which
are the especial haunts of the male
factor. One of the first measures
toward rendering the town and en-
virons of Paris secure would be the
suppression Of these ill-favored loafers,
whose characters and occupations are
well known to the police.
Short of Draconian laws against
these people there are other measures
to be taken that should result in some
amelioration Of the summer crime a
Paris. Appeal should be made to the
good taste and patriotism OF certain
journals who specialize In criminal
details, whose daily dole of murder,
suicide and spoliation IL q successioH
Of stimulation to the weak-brained to
80 and do likewise. The theatsrs, too,
are not without hiss.tsne. Lately we
nave Seen a series of positively horri-
BILE dramas, one in which q woman Is
strangled before the audience In the
most realistic manner and In much the
way in which the poor English woman
appears to have met her death. There
Is too lenient an eye cast on incite-
ments to crime, and that Is, believe.
the cause Of great deal Of It, No
wonder a deputation from the city
council is urging the government to
abolish public executions, which Is the
apotheosis and glorifcation Of the
criminal. Without advertisement he
would largely cease to be.