The Ely miner., 1912-11-15

Is 10 fight the enemies of society had
his own powers to rely upon. Be
tween him, and the criminal it was
skill against skill, art against art.
Then came the modern inventions
railways, steamers, the telegraph, the
telephone-and matters grew worse
for the detective. Alas! 1t was the
murderers, the forgers, who had the
advantage, inasmuch as they could
steal long march upon Nemesis, and
get their accomplices TO use the tele-
graph and the telephone for their
benefit
The question, therefore, was to dis.
cover a system by which society, and
not its foes, would reap the advantage:
Ladies and gentlemen, this system has
been found. and the man to whom we
owe 1t, and whose name will go down
to posterity. is NJ Bertillon."
l undid the parcel which my "nep-
hew," at my request, had brought up
stairs.
This box" l continued, contains
the instruments used in the anthro-
rometrical department for the identi-
fication Of those who. having previ.
ously fallen into the hands of the po-
lice, expect to escape detection by
changing their names, or altering, as
they think, their appearance"
Having explained to the company
the practical working Of the system.
and how the little instruments are ap-
piled to the head and fingers, l said:
With your kind permission, l will
now conclude with practical demon
stration, which will leave to some OF
you little souvenir of my lecture. AS
had already the honor to explain,
the measurements of the incriminated
person are put down on card, to
which his photograph is affixed, ana
thus we possess the infallible means
| of dicovering, at a moments notice;
the identity Of the person arrested. 1t
is net through whose meshes moth
ing can slip. l have brought some
of these cards with me, and shall be
happy to take the measurement of any
| lady or gentlemen, and present them
| with the card"
never saw such excitement
Dozens of charming women made q
rush for me, and sweet voices cried,
Measure me, please, NJ. Goron.
"One moment, ladies'" l called OUT
''the mistress of the house first"
Madame S came promptly for.
ward, and, after had attended to her
and number of ladies, my nephew"
filling up the cards, l raised my hand.
And now the gentlemen"
Sarcey was the first to present him.
self. Then came Daqdet, and other
distinguished personages.
All along had kept my eye on
Charles Vernet, who had remained in
the background, and now slowly
moved toward the door.
IN. Vernet," l said, don't go away.
Have your measurements taken"
He hesitated moment, and then
said, with what appeared to me
forced smile: .s.
"No, thank you, have seen the
thing done before" E- .s.
Well, have set my mind upon
measuring you. Ladies" l cried, to a
couple of American girls, who had
been among the first, to be operated
upon, please take him into custody
and bring him to me-" .
Amid shouts of laughter they seized
him and pulled him toward the table.
This time he scowled. q
rs this meant for a joker" he re-
marked. u u,..a- a
"Of course. 1t is part Of the fun"
Either my suspicious were unfound-
ed, or the man had mavelous self-pos-
sion. He never moved a muscle while
being measured.
Others were now pressing forward,
bot, on the pretext that | had no more
cards, l withdrew 10 the smoking
room, whittier Vernet had gone, fol-
lowed by my detective. The latter
had given Vernet g prepared card.
and had quickly slipped into my hand
the one he had just filled up; where
upon / went into a corner to compare
it with the official document relative
to Simon, which had borrowed from
M. Bertillon's Office.
A glance was sufficient The fig
ures were identical. 1t was not Yer
net, but Simon, the escaped convict.
the murder, who stood there, lighting
his cigar, making an appointment
with a friend to meet him tAe next
day. The next day! And in five min
utes the thunderbolt would have fall
en- on his head.
I went up TO him.
Have you said goodnight TO the
lady of the house," / asked.
He turned sharply around.
Monsieur GGron-" he began.
Hush, Don't make a scene. Say
gocd.by to the hostess, and tell her
you will haze to leave Paris to-mor,
row on a long journey. You will be
telling the truth. Co."
He did not move.
For the second and last time"
whispered, Il advise you not to make
scene. It is not TO Charles Vernet
/ am speaking, It Is to Simon. the as
sassin of AymarG. My nephew over
yonder Is a detective, and ] have
three more 'nephews' downstairs T..
case OF emergency"
He thought q moment. And then
II will go with you; but You are
making a mistake you will regret
1t YVES the never-yarylrg reply OF
the criminal at bay. Yet | could not
help admiriRg the mans nerve. He
shook hands with Madame s. and