The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1907-02-14

Away aleA9 10 Dmbanknsat.
do0o TO the Honnas Of Parliament. II
: big, busiasnaiks red brick build
~, Ne headquarters Of thoss vAoss
budaas t = to sotvs mysteries.
Scotland Yard II tho home Of
thrilling occupations, and has many
tasks undreamed OF by those who re-
gard it merely - tho directing once
OF the army of blue-coated London
constables. and among those tasks il
that Of probing the mystery of lost
PERSONS mystery touched often
by romance, often by tragedy, and
occasionally surrounded by a black
obscurity into which no human inge-
nuity can pierce. 1t is part of the
work OF Scotland Yard to endeavor
to extract from the bewildering hui
man continent OF London those in
dividuals who have suddenly walked
of the track Of human knowledge,
who in ordinary speech with friends
and acquaintance in one hour have
in the next, for no reason and with
out a word, disappeared.
Some of these mysteries never
have been solved and never will be
solved, but they are astonishingly
few compared to those which Scot
land Yard unravels every week. Only
one case here and there is heard Of,
because the work is in the ordinary
routine of the Yard, and the force
has no eye for romance, rigidly re-
stricting itself to practical thoughts
and practical work.
! Stretched over twenty square miles
OF London, with it's population of a
nation, are the nervous tentacles of
Scotland Yard, ever alert for the
work, responding in a moment to an
impulse from that centre of intel
ligence-the red brick, businesslike
building on the Embankment. Ere
Quently throughout day and night
the agents of Scotland Yard are
securing London in the search for
missing persons. The great organiza-
ton spread for miles works like q
machine.
| To give an idea of the work it will
be best to take an instance Of what
happens in an individual case.
A prosperous, middle-aged civil
servant living at Chaplain is amazed
and alarmed to find that his son, q
bank clerk, aged twenty-four, does
not return home one night after
!, business. He is we'll behaved
young fellow and has never before
stayed away all night. In the
morning his father hurries to the
branch of the bank in Kensington
where his son is employed, and nnds
that he left at about half-past I'VE
on the night before in quite his
usual manner. giving no indication
that he was not going straight home.
From the time he left the bank door
he has not been seen. His accounts
are in perfect order; he was a young
man on the way to promotion.
The bewildered father takes a cab
to the nearest police station and re-
lates his story to the inspector in
charge. "Oh, I daresay he'll be
found in couple of days." says the
CHEEKY inspector. We'll get on to
it at once. What is his descrip-
tion?"
Thereupon the father gives a de-
scription Of his son, running, per-
haps, something like this: Height,
five feet eight inches; fair hair;
slight, fair moustache, gray eyes,
slim build; wearing silk hat, morn
ing coat, dark-striped trousers and
glace kid lace boots. The inspector
enters this in book, together with
some details as to the disappearance.
/, He hands the book to a policeman
clerk and turns to give another word
of reinsurance to the father
Within a minute the latter hears
the tick-tick-tick" of telegraph
instrument in the hands of the po-
liceman clerk. The description he
has given is being telegraphed to ev-
cry police station in the London area,
and is also being sent to Scotland
Yard. Thus within a few minutes
the police depots from one end of
the metropolis to the other are on
the Qui vive for the slim, fair-haired
young man.
But the process has only just be-
gun. AS soon as the father has left
the police station the inspector Calls
out from another room two special
inquiry officers" who are expert
searckers for missing persons and
who. have a wonderful knowledge of
their district, with it's doubtful re-
sorts, low-class clubs, boarding
houses and other places where lost
people drift. They hear the details
and they go out on their quest. start
ing first with inquiries at the hos
pitfalls within their reach in order to
make sure that no accident has be-
fallen the young man.
BY the time they are in the street
headquarters at Scotland Yard have
the matter in hand. At intervals
throughout the day the private
printing presses at the Yard pro-
duce a printed sheet with the latest
confidential information on police
matters, and this sheet is distributed
hot from the press to every police
| 80 r