Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1912-11-20

IL zen him and the criminal it was
skill against skin. art against art
ThSa came the modern iaYentions-
railways. steamers, the telegraph. the
I telephone-and matters grew worse
for the detective. Alas, it was the
murderers, the forgers, who had e
| advantage. inasmueh as they &C "a
steal a long march up5n Nemesis, j
get their accomplices to use the {,
graph and the telephone Cor treir
benefit.
The question. therefore, vas 70 dis
cover a system by which society, and
not its foes. would reap the advantage.
Ladies and gentlemen, this system has
been found, sEa the man 10 whom we
owe 1t, and whuse name will go down
to postc-ity. is NJ. Bertillon."
l undid he parcel which my "nep-
hew," at my request. had brought up
stairs.
This box" l continued, contains
the instruments used In the anthro-
pometrical 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, I said:
With your kind permission, / will
now conclude with a 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 has photograph is affixed, and
thus We possess the infallible means
OF dicOvering, at a moments notice,
the Identity of the person arrested. L
is a net through whose meshes moth
ing can slip. ! 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"
Dozens OF charming women made a
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 Daudet, 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," said, don't go away.
Have your measurements taken"
He hesitated a moment, and then
said. with what appeared to me a
forced smile:
mo. thank you. have seen the
thing done before"
Well, have set my mind upon
measuring you. Ladies', 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
rs this meant for joke?" he re-
marked
"Of course. 1t is part of the fun
81 q.
ed, or the man had mavelous self-pos-
sion. He never moved a muscle while
being measured.
Others were now pressing forward,
but. on the pretext that had no more
cards, withdrew 10 the smoking
room, whittier Vernet had gone, fol
lowed by my detective The latter
had given Vernet a 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
NJ Bertillons 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 the next
day The next day! And in five min
utes the thunderbolt would have fall
en- on his head
| went up to him
Have Won said goodnight TO the
lady of the house," | asked.
He turned sharply around.
Monsieur Goron-" he began,
Hush! Don't make a scene. Say
good-by to the hostess, and tell her
you will have to leave Paris to-mor-
row on a long journey. You win be
telling the truth. Go"
He did not move,
For the second and last time"
whispered, Il advise you rot TO make
a scene. It is not to Charles Vernet
| am speaking. It is to Simon. the as
sassin of Aymard. My nephew over
yonder Is q detective. and | have
three more 'nephews' downstairs IN
case of emergency"
He Thought a moment And then
II will go with you; but you are
making a mistake you viii regret"
1t was the never-varyinG reply OF
the criminal at bay Yet could not