The Sentinel=record., 1914-07-19

habeas corpus is often used by a
 lawyer to force the booking of a Iprisoner."
 Many pickpOckets are at present
 plying their trade in Chicago. having
 been released from the Bridewell and
 Jail through the working of the writ
 or habeas corpus. A list showing the
 plckpockets who have resorted to the
 haneas corpus writ and who are re.
 ported at large has been furnished
 Aid. Merriam, chairman of the coun- Ieil subcommittee to investigate crime.
 by judge Of the Municipal court.
 "A thing most desired" continued Ithe lawyer, 'is to be booked so as to
 avoid the shoWup.' At 6 o'clock in
 the evening at the detective bureau
 all of the detectives who may be on
 duty day or night congregate and the
 leulenalt or captain in charge calls
 the roll. Then all of the cells are
 unlocked, the prisoners are brought
 out and ranged alongside of each
 other under a long, narrow tin re. Hector which contains about eighteen
 large incandescent lights, shedding strong rays upon the prisoners. The officer in charge has a list of the names, aliases and ages of each prisoner As a name is called the lprisoner steps forward and Is made
 to turn his face in all directions, with his hat on and off, thus allow ing the detectives to impress his Iphysiognomy upon their memories.
 This 'showup' is greatly feared, especially by out of town thieves who might be brought in for the first time, and 1t provides harvest for the dis honest policeman.
 Within a short time after the ar rest the prisoner Is generally visited in his cell by the officer or officers who caused his arrest and the prison CT is usually informed that he win lie there until he rots and that he will get several raps' (complaints) against him before he gets out.
 The prisoner with a guilty con science is in a serious predicament, and the one who knows that identifi- cation and accusations of several crimes are possible faces an alterna- tive of giving money to the officers or being charged with other crimes of which he may be guilty. In most cases the prisoner will give up, and if he does he is speedily booked, and if he happens to be under arrest at the bureau he is then sent to the South Clark street police station in q patrol wagon. There the profess sional bondsmen are called and the prisoner is speedily freed.
 "Ole of the professional bondsmen is a reformed thief. Strange to say, a whispered conference to com manding officer by this man usually results in the prisoner being booked and then bailed out The paramount idea in being booked at once is to get out immediately and thus avoid a possibility of Identification from any victim
 "If a prisoner is unfortunate enough not to be a member of the trust, he may sometimes lie in jail for several days and is shown to victim after victim in an effort to have him iden. tifed as many times as possible.
 Before the 'showup' the prisoners are taken to the bureau of identitica- tiol, commonly known as the 'rogues' gallery Here are contained thou sands of pictures and measurements under the Bertillon system and keep ing a prisoner away from this bureau is a remunerative pastime of the corrupt policeman.
 Capt. Evans. who has change of this bureau, is an expert on finger prints and Bertillon measurements and he has wonderful memory. He can determine in a few moments whether there Is a record against the prisoner brought before him.
 "The policeman who is responsible TOT the nfTpSL lh Stlcl any dJ tht VH reau when the prisoner is being 'mugged' (photographed) In fact, it is peculiar thing that the detec- tives who make the arrests seem to be very much in the company of the prisoner from time to time while he is under arrest.
 'eThe prisoner first is required to remove his shoes and his coat, then he is put upon the scale and his weight taken. His body is searched for marks or scars which may in the future serve for identification. He is then measured from head to foot and his picture taken.
 Finger prints are then taken. A narrow block is produced, over which an ink roller is run and starting with the thumb, each finger is successively laid on piece of paper and an inn print of the fingers and hand taken.