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

| am JdIDeS uIcdAL IilliG
if anything now But the little whorls.
islands," p~arabolas and breaks
showing in the finger prints in that
/ record forever tagged their man. He
might grow old and feeble and 81
change his appearance that even his
own brother would know him 1ot. but
the finger prints would never change,
and no other human born on earth
would have the same little circles in
the skin which nature SO wonderfully
and strangely twists in separate de-
signs for each of the human species.
The police record of James Mont
gomery vent into the files and his pic
lures into the gallery of rOgues.
Kearney took his man back to the
wheezy elevator and below to the main
floor. A short fight of winding stairs
took them to the basement and a little
prison known as 1.-The barrel" This
cramped and dark place would hold
Montgomery until he was arraigned
before a magistrate and the slow proc
ess of marching through the courts to
prison or liberty was begun. Here, be-
meath the level of the street, he could
send no word to lawyer or friend. and
he was as far removed from the saw
ing benefits of the habeas corpus as if
he were existing before the signing of
Magma Charta.
Pending his arraignment in court
this citizen of the United States was
without one single trace Of considera
ton by the law which was written for
his protection.
1t was noon the next morning when
Montgomery CROPPED about his little
black cell and found an iron shelf
hinged to one of it's walls. He threw
himself on a dirty, twisted blanket, his
body worn out and his mind a blank.
His stomach called for food, but he
dared not ask for any. The lunch
hour tramping of feet above lulled him
into oblivion. His tired eyes closed.
and he slept.
A voice. sounding very family at
first, but gathering volume until his
ears ached. awakened him.
Il thought you was dead" he heard
the turnkey say. Here, take this"
The prisoner dropped his legs over
the iron pallets edge and held out his
hands.
The turnkey had brought him a large
lineup filed with beef stew, and the
SAVIOR of it made the boys brain reel
with the delights Of anticipation. He
lifted the cup to his lips and drank
from it eagerly. The turnkey handed
him a piece of bread. He clutched it,
stuck it into the stew and ate of it
with little grunts Of animal satisfac-
ton.
Montgomery heard the cell door slam
and the key turn in the lock. AS the
welcome process of digestion started
the starved, tired lad forgot his sor-
rows and remembered his miSeries no
more in dreamless and refreshing
slumber.
Simple as was the food. and only too
slight for a famished youth, it started
the blood coursing healthily through
his veins once more. This second
sleep brought back his strength, and
the fog that had come to his brain
while he was undergoing the strange
hardships of Identification began to
lift. When he wakened again he found
that nature, replenished with fuel, had
cast off the dread load Of despair that
had settled upon him.
He knew not whether 1t was day OF
night. He rubbed his face briskly, tax
ing a dry bath and equalizing the sur
face circulation of his blood. He threw
out his arms and legs vigorously, re
moving the kinks in his muscles.
Through the bars of the cell he saw
the yellow smear of light and the turn
key sitting beneath it smoking a pipe.
He was debating the ACCESSIBILITY of
asking the day and hour when the
door Of the barrel" ratified and his
keeper bestirred himself.
A man In uniform was admitted
The turnkey placed his pipe in his
chair and came to Montgomery's cell.
Get your hat he ordered as he
unlocked the door.
Montgomery CROPPED about for his
cloth cap, found it and stepped out of
the cell.
"It's time for the lineup" he was In
formed. They want you upstairs"
In charge of the uniformed nan he
made his way up the winding stair
way and stepped into the binding
sunlight which flooded the assembly
room of the detective bureau. The
room was large and wainscoted high
with racks of pictures-the old rogues'
gallery. In the center of the room was
a clump of fifteen men and three wo-
men. They made up the police crop
of the night before. Yeggmen. bur
glars, ~pickpockets, confidence men and
a black browed Sicilian bomb thrower
were included in the group. The wo
men. blowsy. frowsy and insolent.
were common thieves.
Montgomery was put in this herd
and told to wait there. Half a dozen
uniformed policemen were doing duty
as doormen.
Altar q foyu minufQS Of ANYONE