The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1909-01-04
REAL BRAINS BETTER THAN FALSE WHISPERS

WASHINGTON, n q. Jan.
"head work and les work arr moro
imrofian, Than grecn gosglcs aud
falae whlskerah
This statement was made to ME
~ John Wilkie. chief ut the United
States secret service. I had asked
hsm about The 'old Cap Collier"
style Of detective story and the
mere upiodato sherlock Holmes
variety.
Tracking criminals and catching
criminals nowadays Is work ORGAN
lEed very much az Is tho business
az . newspaper office. II ~ a ease
Of q man on desk doing a think
part and staff under him wear
lng out the tlaeatoncs.
! know only one instance in which
While himself adopted any ala.
gulse This was IN tho famous
kerdls Jacobs countsrfeitlnr case.
IN Philadelphia, The pursuit had
lasted ncArly two years Greatest
precautions had 10 he taken. The
chlof had a mission ia Philadelphia.
which required his personal han
ding. and q WAS extremely impor
tant that he he not recognised lie
put on a lhrvadbarc fruok coat aud
heavy trimmed specsaclcs. and car
fied case such as an itlnefaut
spectacle vender would use. The
disguise was effective
Disguise Not Used.
As a rule DISCUSSES arc not used.
A better method IL 10 adapt the
operative 90 the work. II the mat.
ter ia hand requires the collection
OF Information from workmcn. an
operative Is chosen who looks the
part without a Disguise lie slm.
ply wears such clothes as work.
men wear. and affects the manners
aud speech Of the men with whom
he mingics.
ON tn rother hand. II the work
requires contact with people IN
better dressed walk OF life. an opor.
aliye Of that class Is chosen. who IL
accustomed 10 wear clothes like
those Of the people he IL seeking to
approach A negro Is used 20 ap,
prcAeh q negro. an Italian 10 rope"
/" tNtaAatApt va NA4sth AAAfAAAAsttAAtf . hAsAr
man fur a German. an engarvcr 20
work on an engarver. aud 50 on
Where Il Is essential to have a
mar on guard constantly IN a con.
spicuous place. a crippled shoe.
strlng vender allied the bin without
attracting attention. AT another
time man peddling souvenir post.
cards ably kept his eye on certain
operMtious
The most effective way in which
shadows" are worked il 10 change
the operative frequently In delicate
cases no one Is on the ground long
enough TO arouse suspicion.
Thinking Parts.
The thinking part" is. however.
the big thing. Never vas there a
better application OF the "dedactlva
method employed by Sherlock
Holmes than Ia wilkes capture Of
the Kendlg Jacobs gang.
The first knowledge q this coun.
terfelssng conspiracy came 10 the
government IN the form or a 500
silver certificate. which bad passed
the national bank experts and the
experts OF the United States treas
ury. The FIRST suspicion came when
treasury official accidentally
uoistened the red seal impression
which al such bills carry. This dis.
closed something wrong with the
red Ink Then the bill was subject
60 to q searching examination. II
was found 10 have been made on en-.
graved steel plates. done with all
the skili employed In engraving
plates for the government stimuli
taneousiy a $50 silver certificate %
similar workmanship turned mp.
with no elsss or inside lnforma.
ticn, with nothing 10 guide the de-
rarfwent bit tire counterfeit eeFtlfi-
Gates. Chief Wiikie ard nls experts
IN two days put their finger upon
the place where the bill had been
made and the men who had done
the work
The rest Of the two years Of
shadouing and investigating was
merely 10 get legal pruof. 10 land
The gang In the penlsentiaFy. which
was done.
Handling Cases.
How would Sherlock Holmes
have handled the caseg The way
n vas actually handled was the
way the famous detective OF fic-
ton would have handled ~
Il observe. Sherlock Holmes
would have declared. that this
certificate Is not made BY any 81
the cheap. ordinary methods Of
c0unterfeitlnR Il II not a result
OF the photograyuFe process. Il
"a . steel plate impression. BY
soaking tn water ] discover that
the paper on which Il IL printed T.
a hleached 81 note. This indi.
Gates that the gang did not have
supply OF the regular money
paper on which to print Either
they we're more or less amateurs.
or else we're not yet ready to
sgring their big game
but ! perceive we shall have no
trouble ia putting our hand on the
men Ne want You see. Dr. Wat.
son, The work on this portrait Is
the work OF an expert portrait en-.
graver. The man who did that
A. a a