El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-11-09
Joseph A. FAUROT.
Inspector in Charge of New York City PC..ee
Detective Bureau
By JOSEPH A FAUROT,

ol DOCL1 u u AOLbO4a
Chief Of New York City's Detective
Bureau.
tCo0yHEht. 1913 BY the New York Herald Co. All
rights reserTed-l
HERE is no more vicious or Gun
ming band Of thieves which the
New York police have TO contend
with than loft burglars. There
never was q more cunning or
more daring loft burglar than
Charles Crispi at the tine of his first
arrest, s mere stripping with a dozen
aliases. but with the skill and foresight Of
an old offender Had we adhered to old
time police methods in establishing the
identity Of the burglar who led the band
which perpetrated the many robberies
which later we learned were Of Crispi's
conception the chances are Crispi would
be st large to-day. That science which
has to do with the taking, recording,
classification and Identification of finger
prints brought about Crispfs capture.
Crispi had figured in many robberies
and realized thousands Of dollars from the
loot he distracted from the lofts of pros
porous manufacturers. Apparently he led
a charmed life. for the police were invaria-
bly, Just a few minutes too late in arriving
at the scene Of the robbery where he and
his prize band Of burglars had either
crashed. broken, bored or climbed into the
loft they had marked fo- pIucking. Yet
strange to say, the jo0 that led to his
capture Melted him little or nothing. he
maintains that he was frightened off by
the police before he distracted even a dol
lars worth Of loot His captors assert
his spOils totaIled $500. The police are
still in doubt and care less inasmuch as
Crispi was caught, indicted, tried and con-
victed after one Of the most sensational
episodes ever enacted in a New York
court Of justice. I
CEspi is recorded in police circles under
various names. He first came to the at I
tenion Of the authorities under the name
of Caesar Celia. He was then but seven
teen years old, presumably a cloth ex-
aminer by occupation, and in consequence
in q position to know the value Of goods
stored il the lofts of the various suit and
clothing manufacturers throughout the
city. He also was known under the
ines of Celia. Ciss, Ross and Corey, and
his every Characteristic was that OF a
vicious and INSCRIPTIONS youth who
sooner or later would graduate into the
ranks Of some criminal band which would
never be content with loot that was not
easily negotiable.
Late in February, 1911, the loft of
Bernstein Brothers, in Wooster street.
was entered. Entrance had been effected
by removing a pane Of glass from The
door leading into the lott 1t was evident
that the loft above that of Bernstein
Brothers was the real goal, for the burg
lars had set TO work to bore through the d
ceiling Of the Bernstein rooms to that h
above L
As soon as 1 heard Of the robbery,
learning that the pane of glass had been t
removed from the door, I instructed one p
of my detectives to bring the window t
light to Police Headquarters. Then we S
set to work to search for teIItaIe finger j
prints. d
A novice after glancing at the racks a
in which the thousands Of finger prints g
at Police Headquarters are filed would L
think an endless task lay before the Of.
fetal in charge to go through this Iaby- !!
ri-th Of data in search for a fac-simile L
Of the print just brought in, but in this 1
he IS wrong Only seconds are required .
before out comes a batch of prints. ?
few leaves are fIpped over and there +
before you is the objec of your search.
To learn classify the prints, even to n
group them into the four great cllsses Il
Of finger lines known as loops" b
arches" "swOles" and composites is, t.
Of course. a long study, but in half an Il
hour can teach person of average in n
teIligence to match given prints placed h
conveniently before him, so that he is Il
absolutely certain that the two are one P
and the same.
1t was only a question of seconds be- tt
fore ne had the duplicate Of young c.
CEspi's prints. IN less tine than it takes u
to tel it we turned from the print files ..
to those Of the Bertillon, and there we il
found a minute and carefully measured It
description of the man 1 knew had been
concerned in the loft burglary. IS rec =.
was on file, and we ] wv al nee =
We had a desperate young criminal to h
deal With-One who was as crafty as he NJ
was inscriptions. But that gaze me a.