Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-02-17
YOUR OWN DETECTIVE.

YOUR OWN DETECTIVE.
How do you wear your hat? Do you
jam it on the back of your head, wear
it sedately straight up and down, or
tilt it over one ear? This detail OF
daily demeanor has become worth
watching, along with number of 9th
er minor matters, because one of the
new class Of investigators they are de-
veloping in Europe is likely to read
your past and your character in it.
The new European experts have
been combining the application of their
work largely to criminal science so
far, but their methods can be used by
any intelligent man in his daily bust
ness. They tell you how to read what
the other fellow is thinking and feel
ing, especially when he wants you to
believe he is thinking and feeling
something else. When you put a price
on a piece of land and the buyer al
most falls out Of his chair in surprise,
you can tell, if you know what to look
for, whether that surprise is real or
not. When you strike the head Of your
department for raise, and he is hor-
rified, you want to know whether the
horror is genuine or assumed.
The new methods are based on the
fact that there Us part of us-the
subconscious part-that is largely be-
yond our control. The more we are in
terested in something else, the more
the subconscious goes its own sweet
way. And for every emotion, the sub
conscious mind sets in motion some
little gesture, some apparently unim-
portant little twitch of the face, turn
of the head, change of the eye. The
real personality, the real John Smith,
has nothing to say about those little
gestures. He can't stop them. If you
know what to look for, you can come
pretty close to the truth about John
Smith.
lures has been applied to the court
room. Experience has proved that II
is entirely beyond the powers of the
average man to describe a thing the
way he actually saw it. Days are
spent in hearing testimony which is
absolutely untrustworthy. Lawyers are
now able to save a great deal Of time
by employing their knowledge of typ
ical gesture. When a man makes
resolution he suddenly congresses his
Inns and makes a slight backward mo-
ton of the body. When you resolve
that you are going to perform certain
action you set your lips and perhaps
push back your chair. Then you begin
to think it out You cannot imagine
Yourself making an important resolu'
ton with your mouth open. The law
yer, then, watching the prisoner, de-
tects a sudden compression of the lips
and an almost imperceptible backward
movement of the body as the man
moves in his chair The last piece OF
evidence brought forward by witness
declared that the prisoner was seen az
a certain place at certain time. Inc
lawyer now knows that the accused
has resolved to deny 1t.
The same thing is noticeable WIN
the Jury, When juryman sits back IN
his chair with his lips closely SET 1t IS
conclusive proof that he has formed
his opinion and that thereafter noth-
ing can change it. BY the nature OF
the evidence preceding this attitude
the criminal lawyer can determine
what that opinion is. If condemnatory
the verdict will be "guilty;' II favor
able. he will vote for acquittal.
The eyes are always infallible baro'
meters of the emotions, especially the
pupil of the eye which dilates and con-
tracts under great mental stress. A
man may be weak with pent-up anger
and outwardly serene with the excep-
ton of his eyes, the pupils OF wnlcn
will, he contracted and have an unnat-
ural glitter Sparkling eyes are al
WAYS an indication Of inward hysteria,
the sparkle in reality being an inten-
sified secretion of tears.
The quick closing of the eyes is in.
dicative Of unpleasant shock. The law
yer produces the knife of the accused
which was found near the scene of the
murder. The man in the dock instant
w wells his eyes and slightly lifts his
H. firm Tho "a r1nQr the