Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-24

cannot find in his remarks point Whch
will help them to perfect their specially.
NJ Reiss says that to make an analysis
of criminal psychology would be a task
beyond the powers even OF man VINO
has devoted his life to the subject. lie
warns us that criminals are for the most
part men possessing more OF less strong
ly marked individualities just like other
men. Nobody can say .crtminaP Will
do thus and so because 1t may Dot be
just the kind of thing that particular
criminal would turn to- On the otner
hand there are certain characteristics
which are very often found among them
which are useful for the police as fndi-
cations, although too much reliance can
not be placed upon them.
In the first place NJ. Reiss says that in
general criminals do not steal and Kill in
order to get money. The professional
criminal is essentially a gambler who
wants to satisfy his desires on the spot
without thinking of the future. He does
what will give him what he wants. re-
CARELESS of what may be involved SINH
larry he spends what he has got with
great liberality and by this sign several
crimes were tracked to their perpetrators
lie Blanc wanted for murder in Paris,
was found because ne insisted on chang
ing notes of 900 francs in public. An
other nan of small means who had muir
dered a bank messenger gave so splendid
dinner to his friends with the proceeds
of his crime that he At once attracted
the attention of the police Manouescu,
who called himself the king OF thieves,
spent all the money he made after each
successful enterprise, and stole again
when it was all gone.
Sometimes however. criminals are
thrifty. There a little band in Paris
who lived by shoplifting and such simple
forms of theft, and sold their wares in a
shop they kept for the purpose in Lon
don. The leader of the band. sixty-two
years old owned twelve houses in Lon
don. bought with the proceeds OF his
thievery, and all the others had consider
able sums Of money laid away.
The love of vengeance is another marked
criminal characteristic. An insult is
quickly repaid with blow of a knife or
the shot of pistol, and many criminals
are found to have the word vengeance
tattooed upon them. However, it is inter
esting 10 know that In general this feel
ing does not extend to the police. They
seem to have an appreciation of the fact
that the police are doing their duty in
arresting them, and if they are not ill
treated they have even a feeling of graft
tude. VI. Reiss has been among criminals
, and heard them speak almost in terms OF
affection for the men who had arrested
them many times and always been fair
to them.
X *
Many OF the lower class of criminals
do not seem to feel pain They are able
to bear astonishing wounds withou
fainting and recover rapidly from severe
shocks. but NJ. Reiss would bid us be-
ware of jumping at the conclusion tina
this would show a habitual criminal t.
be physically abnormal Much the sam,
insensibility is found among countr,
people who have nothing criminal abou
them. and among the higher order Of
thieves there seems to be just as grea
capacity for physical suffering as Their.
Is among most of us.
There Is, of course. overpowerins
vanity among all professional criminals
When France decided to abolish the pair
of death. large number of Apache:
We're apparently genuinely distressed be
cause the guillotine with it's publicit,
seemed fitting end for their careers
Vanity. too, drives them to buy copie.
of the paper which have accounts of theil
crime. This has helped the police OF
many an occasion. In spite Of the danger
the criminal cannot resist the temptation
to carry around with him q descriptiOr
of his deeds. More than that they
actually boast of them in public at time.
and are brought to arrest this way
Their imprudence is a characteristic
which, of course, helps the police ex.
tremely. They have read again and
again about finger prints serving has
marks of Identification yet the lowe,
class cannot refrain from eating ano
drinking what they find in the house the,
; will leave marks but they do not care
} They are. as NJ. Ress points out
gamblers who do not think of the future
They are imprudent in other ways. too