River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1914-06-11

his chief. He was a detective of ex-
~perience and one who could safely be
trusted to clear up any case.
Ranscombe turned to the pile of doc
uments on his desk.
"Take him to the Identification de-
partment and go ahead with the case
he instructed the detective.
The fingers of Kearney's right hand
gathered up the folds of his prisoners
sleeve until his grip became viselike.
He wheeled about and started for the
corridor, the boy half staggering along
with him.
In the main hall of the building they
took a rafting and palsied elevator to
the top floor. Here they entered a
small. dingy room where were scales.
a large tripod with a camera topping
it and an iron frame for holding in
position the head of the subject to be
photographed.
Two Identification experts in uniform
took the prisoner in hand and photo
graphed him, profile and full face.
Montgomery was then placed on a
small platform and his height measure
ment made. One of the experts hlled
in an Identification sheet as the other
took the length of the prisoners arms
and legs. the circumference Of the
trunk at the navel and the hips ana
the chest measurement. With a steel
compass the measurement between
the base of the nose and the base or
the skull was made. The expert called
off the length and breadth of the right
ear in a droning voice. All the figures
went down In ink on the identification
blank, a piece of white cardboard six
inches wide by four in length.
The man at the desk put down his
pen and left his chair, advancing to
the prisoner. He stopped directly be
fore him and fastened his eyes on
MontgOmery's as if to hypnotic him.
The prisoner returned the gaze, his
pupils dilating as fear crept into his
heart-a fear that he could not define
He had not slept in thirty-six hours
and he had not eaten In twenty-four.
He felt as if his body were swayfng,
but the clear, searching eyes so close
to his seemed to hold him to his heels.
Suddenly the eyes Of the expert were
withdrawn, and Montgomery regained
control of his senses. He saw the man
pack at his desk and writing. He was
putting into the record the color Of the
prisoners eyes, a description Of their
shape and of whatever peculiar1tles ne
had discovered in them.
In his weak and exhausted condition
Montgomery was easily b~ewildered.
He was in a state of mild stupefaction
as the man with the measuring 1nstru-
ments again began work. Soon b
experts voice was droning out more
measurements. The length of the nose
at the bridge, its projection at the high
est point and at the nostrils, the height
and width and peculiarities of the fore
head, the shape of the chin, the nature
of the setting and filing of the teeth,
their number and condition, the shape
of the lobe of the right ear and its Dor
der. the color of the hair and it's con-
dition were all placed in the record
that would make James Montgomery
a marked man and easy police prey for
the rest of his life.
Kearney unlocked the handouts.
''Take off your Clothes" he ordered.
The naked lad vas placed on the
scales and his weight taken. The left
foot and the little finger of the left
hand were measured. The two experts
then examined every square inch OF
the prisoners body and made note of
every mark, mole, scar and %cutaneous
popularity.
AS Montgomery feebly struggled
back into his home fashioned under
wear and poorly fitting suit of clothes
the Bertillon men studied him careful
" and keenly, as If they were two con-
noisseurs at a county fair passing upon
an especially interesting steer. They
were seeking material to fill in that
part of the record carrying the title line
IRREGULARITIES of Habit and Action"
They conferred in whispers and de-
cided that the prisoner belonged to the
''dopey'' class. He was of good frame,
but appeared listless and weak. They
were not medical men, and they could
not know that malnutrition was the
cause of the lads feebleness and that
misery Of oul had sent his mo
Keeling over the ropes.
The prisoner was led to a desk on
which was a long, white form ruled
into twelve rectangles. A Bertlllon
man caught his wrists and pressed his
fingers down upon a marble slab COW
cred with printers ink. The prints OF
all the fingers of each hand were made
in the record, and then prints Of the
first joints of the four fingers were
made in other ~rectangles. A pen was
handed the prisoner, and he was made
to sign his name to the sheet of paper.
As he lifted the pen from the paper the
Bertillon man grasped his right fore
finger and made a separate record of
1t just under the name.
The police no longer depended on the