The San Francisco call., 1907-01-20

arrested and Identified as Charles Wat
kfns the man who had robbed the Bank
OF England. The more he protested
HIS innocence the more emphatic wers
his identiners IN declaring him tbs
thief. Some people congratulated
watkins wynne and told him he might
consider himself lucky to have es-
capped when the real thief was discov-
cred and turned over to the authorl-
ties.
In September. 1856, Mrs. KoehIe con
sidered herself better acquainted with
her missing husband than any other
woman in the world. So she set out
to find him. One day she came across
a Mr.. Hahn and recognized him as her
dear husband IN disguise The man as
sured her that she was mistaken and
said that some one would have to pay
2 heavy penalty IL he was not released,
OF words to that effect. She still In
sisted until Mr. Hahn proved beyond
doubt that he was not only not her hus-
band, but did not know her and had
never heard of her.
Many Have Doubles"
There are many cases on record
where men are so much alike others
that their best friends cannot tell them
apart. Phil Thompson, once q mem
Der of Congress. could not be distin-
guished from his own brother. Then
there are men who have personated
lost SONS and even shown scars and
marks on the body and answered the
most searching test questions concern
ing their early life and the family OF
which they claimed to have been a
member.
In some Of these cases when the
counterfeit son had been accepted they
were finally exposed by disclosing
traits of character entirely foreign TO
- ~~x4-- -
successfully impersonated. So II was
In the famous Tichborne case. The
claimant succeeded in deceiving many
a relative, and to this day no one has
been able to account for his wonderful
success in telling the mother just what
her boy had done and said in his early
life, and many other things which
seemed impossible for stranger to
know, even II he had been drilled by
some master of deception.
Perhaps the most remarkable oe re-
cent case Of double identity is the
man who looks like President Roose-
Welt and another who resembles NIr.
Rockefeller. And who is there in ordi-
nary life who has not been some time
mistaken for another man and has had
difficulty TO convince the gentleman or
woman who claimed TO know him well
that he was some other man?
The new system OF thumb and finger
ters Is considered a great success.
Since the late Commissioner McAdoo
introduced 1t from England it has over
shadowed the world famed Bertillion
measurement method. In eight years
1900 new photographs and thousands
OF finger prints of suspects and Grim
inals have been taken for filing in the
rogues' gallery. making n total OF So
600 pictures N the secret achives at
police headquarters.
Perhaps the most wonderful identi-
fer ia the world is Detective Sergeant
Sheridan, in charge or the Identified
tion bureau at police Headquarters He
has been in the position more than
twenty years and was originally ap-
pointed by Inspector Byrnes. and has
won fame and honor through all sue
ceeding administrations in police af-
fairs. 1t is said that in all these twen-
ty years Detective Sheridan has never
made an error in his thousands OF
identihcatiOns.
When pictures OF criminals or "sus-
pects' arrive from London Berlin.
Paris or other cities he can tell ar a
glance IL they are on file. and within
ten minutes he can recall the right
name without consulting the records.
When once see face I never for
get IT," he has often said. Each day
from thirty to forty or more profes-
slonals and suspects" arrested In dff-
ferent parts OF the city are lined up at
police headquarters. They are the ar
rests OF the entire city for twenty-four
hours. This lining up of prisoners
every morning is to enable the nolscs
and persons having been robbed TO
identify the guilty ones. On such oc-
casions Detective Sheridan's wonderful
memory enables him to single out pro-
fessionals and any new foreign "arrIv-
ais of dangerous characters whose
photographs have been sent over IN
advance from European capitals.