The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-08-28

all the others. Perhaps one Of them is
that very hothead who is going to get Up
presently and make a speech suggesting
that the king be hanged and that the
Parliament buildings be burned 10 the
ground He is the fellow who. II a plot
ever is formed to put his advice into ef-
feet, will inform Superintendent Forest
secretly in time 20 have the rlngleaders
clapped into irons
There are hundreds, indeed. probably
thousands. Of these informants in the pay
Of the Crown. although their names
never appear on any payroll. The exist
ence Of this great stan OF stool pigeons
is one important difference between the
London and the New York police sys-
TENS II viii be remembered that sew
eral OF the New York commissioners have
complained bitterly because they were
compelled to do business entirely with
detectives and never received any ap-
/ preparation TO establish secret police"
/ 1t would seem as though the very essence
OF successful detecting" would be to
have in the employ Of the department
men who would not be recognized as de-
tectves. Yet practically nothing has ever
been allowed 20 any police commissioner
to pay stool pigeons and informants.
Mayor GaynOr's Call for Dwarfs.
Mayor Gaynor, early In his admins
tration, made a remark which all people
/ did not understand He said that The
need Of the police department was not
| for TALL straight men. but for dwarfs
and hunchbacks. The idea seemed gro
| tesque; but a person has only TO draw
a mental picture Of a gang Of East Side
! toughs planning an assault. and then
imagine the effect II a tall. broad-shoul-
dered man with a heavy black mustache
| should sit down with them in the saloon
where their plot was Matching and try
to overhear their scheme by pretending
he was one OF their sort
II Scotland Yard were operating IN New
York City it would have a half dozen
barkeepers on the Bowery: Il would have
dozen foreign-bred informants in ev-
cry foreign quarter. it would pay some-
body In every circle Of criminals. or
putative criminals, to continue his assoc
Citations with those criminals. take part
In their crimes II necessary. but keep
Suppose. in the grist OF intelligence. at
headquarters some morning there were a
letter from some small town in New
Hampshire saying that a man giving his
name as Julius Schmidt had been arrest
ed there for attempting 10 rob the bank.
The name is repeated to the assembled
detectives, and they fail to recognize
1t as anybody with whom they have ever
had any experience. Even the accom-
panying photograph, taken under difficult
conditions by an unskillful country pho
tographer suggests nothing to the men,
TraiIed TO the Bowery.
Up on the Bowery. however, where the
subsidized bartender is at work. another
more enlightening chapter Of the same |
story is taking place. Some confederate I
OF the arrested man has been riding In" (
TO get somebody in the city to provide |
ball He drops in az the saloon and /
leans Up against the bar with friends.
Presently he confdes 20 them that '"Fris- /
co Mike" is in jail up in Massachusetts
for trying TO crack a crib" The bar /
keeper makes a mental note OF the name.
Headquarters has no difficulty in recoR- |
nizing the arrested man by that name. /
Any one OF q hundred detectives would /
have known Frisco Mikes" whole /
record; and at that very moment he is !
wanted, perhaps. for the robbery OF an l
Amsterdam avenue jewelry store. which /
he is known TO have broken into and /
robbed. So an officer goes UP to the
Massachusetts town and gets the au-
thorities to release Mike" to New York.
where the case against him is more sure
TO produce conviction.
The Italian squad In the New York de-
partment was an attempt to mingle with
people Of a certain class and learn their
Intimate ways Joe" Petrosino. before
the Black Hand got him in Italy, used to
put on SLOUGH hat. take chair at some
corner table In some italian dive. end
spend a whole evening apparently doing
over his liquor. but actually listening un-
suspected 10 the conversation around him.
But, as a whole, the New York depart
ment is iil-equlpped with men who are
fitted for this sort Of thing and it never
will have the wonderful corps Of under
world assistants that London has until a
quantity Of money is provided to pay
them.
Crimes are Headed on.
Scotland Yard is under the home Office
IF Great Britain. and the crown pays its
nformants literally. SO it comes TO PASS
hat most Of the crimes in England never
axe place at all. They are headed off
md the criminal seldom knows how the
police found out what was afoot II Is
necessary TO set ahead Of the criminal.
because, once a crime has been commit.
ed and a man arrested on suspicion. the
arrested man has the benefit OF ALI
doubts. The entire burden Of proof is on
he police and the prosecutor.
There are fewer defalcations ana .4n-
ide jobs in English banks. because the
ystem Of inspection is more rigid. On /,
he other hand. England Is afflicted with
'littering promoters of the Whitaker
Wright class; and one Of the most difi- 7,
ult problems which Scotland Yard has
o face is the genteel swindler Europe
reduces this variety OF gentleman" mar
xcellence. and the figure he makes as a
olished descendant of some time-hon-
red family is frequently so good that
america must hope in vain to produce
Is Ike. The English swindler is like
,nglish reensward-produced only bv
Of refinement
Detectives in Top Hats.
The Scotland Yard man often goes
bout in a top hat and excellent clothes. ,
! order to look like the average Lon >
oners with whom he might ningle. He
probably, on the whole. rather better :
ressed and Of better appearance than =
he New York detective. He takes his =
-ork very seriously. almost soIemnlv ;
yhen he calls on a fishwife to elicit soma !,