The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-11-24
DETECTIVES FOUGHT WITH OWN
WEAPON MODERN MALEFACTOR
HAS system In HIS BUSINESS

The modern criminal has taken a les
sor from the systems of modern
business. Crime is the modern crimi-
nails business, and he has learned that
10 be successful in his calling he must
do away with slipshod methods.
The main object in the criminals life
is not to get caught Anybody can
commit crime. snatch purse or
pick pocket. It takes an expertl to
do it and then make his getaway. He
can always avoid his victim. The man
he must look out for is the detective,
who is looking out for him. ~
Most of the professional and habitual
criminals-those who make business
of crime--are known to the detectives,
because they are duly catalogued and
pictured in the rogues' gallery. The
only safety for the rogue. therefore, is
to know the detective by sight.
LEARNS WHO HIS FOES ARE. Z
And this is what the modern crfni-
nal makes his especial business. He
has established what some humorist
pickpoeket has dubbed ''the rogue
catchers' gallery He knows exceed
ingly few detectives by sight, so he
gets their photographs and studies
them. Thdp he knows whom to avoid
Perhaps you never have noticed that
there are few detectives whose pictures
are published in the newspapers. There
are 300 plain clothes officers in Chicago
and perhaps the average citizen knows
two of them by name and sight; but
the thief. if he may not know them
all, at least must know all those who
specialize on his particular line of
crime, as we'll as those who travel
beat in the neighborhood in which he
works. =
How does the criminal get the
photograph of the detective? That is
the most astonishing thing in the work
of the modern smart criminal He
buys the picture from q man who
| makes a business of taking snapshots
Of the sleuths.
CAMERA MAN ExcITEs NO sUs-
PICION.
The man with the camera is every
where now. He may be an annoyance,
but he excites no particular suspicion.
He can haunt the criminal courts. the
police stations, or even detective head
quarters at the City Hall, until he
learns all the detectives by name and
sight. Obviously the criminal cannot
do this. He keeps as far away from
the law as possible.
When the. snapshotter has. located
the detective he watches his oppor-.
tunity to take a photograph. Then he
makes as many prints from the mega
tive as he can find a market for.
is said that for a. dollar the Chi
cago pickpocket, if he knows where to
go, can buy a photograph of Detec-
tive John Shea, James Duffy, or any
or all of the smart Chicago officers
who make a business of guarding the
public pockets from criminal raiders.
The camera fiend who supplies these
pictures does not call himself a crini-
nal and perhaps does not consort with
criminals. IF questioned he would
profess not to know why his custom
ers were collecting photographs of the
various detectives.
Tt is said the custom of snapshotting
the detectives originated two years ago
in London, when a high-class criminal
hired an amateur photographer to
take snapshots OF some Scotland Yard
men who were looking for this partjcu-
lar criminal. By knowing them he
was able to avoid them. Then the Gus
tom spread to New York. It was dis
covered there first when a notorious
counterfeiter was arrested and search
of his trunks revealed a remarkable
collection of photographs of Govern
nient detectives who devote their time
to the search for counterfeiters Not
only did the criminal have the pic
lures of the Government secret agents,
but he had their descriptions and care
fully tabulated accounts of their
habits. Even the men who arrested
him found themselves catalogued in
this amazing rogue catchers' gallery"
When questioned by the officers who |
arrested him, the man frankly confess |
ed that he had bought the photographs |
and obtained the information from a |
man whose name he would not reveal !
His own name and picture was in the /
rogues' gallery. The secret service men |
knew him and constantly were on the /
watch for him, knowing that sooner |
or later he would be uttering or maxi /
ing eounterfeits. They had the advan- /