The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-07-31
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC j. HAsKIN. Director:
Washington, D. c.
THE AUTOMOBILE sLEUTH.

kind of detective. professional crooks
/ long ago realized that stealing autos
special technique and qualification. 1t
/ is only recently that detectives found
| that the same thing applies to recov-
I ering stolen cars.
! AS this significant fact dawns on the
police departments of the different
cities they are creating auto squads
composed of men who will give all
| their time to pursuing stolen motor
vehicles. And what is more, they are
in most cases appointing only special
1 ly qualified men for the job
The expert automobile detective.
| they have concluded, has to know
automobiles. He not only has to know
! how to run them, and good deal
about their mechanism. but he must be
| on speaking terms with the different
! makes, and have at the tip of his
| tongue all the little features that iden-
| tify each one. There are several hun
/ dred makes of cars on the market and
/ the expert auto detective knows the
| general outline, design on the hub,
colors. shape of the radiator, and 9TH
er distinguishing points of nearly all
! of them.
Furthermore, he has quick eye. A
good many people can walk past a row
| of cars and name every one correctly.
I But not so many can do the same
| thing if the machines are rafting past
| or are seen from a distance. Still
fewer can take in other details, such
/ as the appearance of the driver and
4 conditions of the car, at hasty
glance.
The auto detective cannot only per-
| form such feats of observations but
he can pick out a hybrid car, that is,
| one patched together from two or
more makes in order to disguise it.
While the amateur is puzzling over
the mystery of a body like a Red Ar
row, and wheels which are similar to
a Saranac, the astute detective gives
/ the uncatalogued specimen one look
and remarks, There amt no suck
, animal And of course he hastens to
delve into the reason for the existence
/ of the freak
Difficult to Locate Cars.
| When, a car disappears from the
! curb without leaving a trace of theft,
1 the problem of finding it is about
the most difficult you can imagine.
The police department keeps records
of the numbers and descriptions of
! cars reported stolen. The auto squad
fixes these in mind and if it is given
no clues to direction in which the
cars disappeared, the mem bers go out
in their machines or motorcycles to
watch out for cars answering the de-
scriptions listed and also for any sus-
picious looking rigs Drivers of such
ears are questioned and their machines
| investigated Numb on the cars
are especially noted. as they are one
I
fication.
| Every car has an engine number,
and more expensive cars have as
many as five or more numbers on the
chassis, horn, frame, generator:
starter, or other parts When thleI
| DISCUSSES a car, he changes as many
numbers as he happens to notice,
either by trying to cut out the stem
ciled figures altogether, or by chang
ing some of the figures so that the
/ Ill 70 1air
car thru them. Experienced automo-
bile detectives usually have little trou-
BILE in spotting numbers that have been
! tempered with. and the thief often
neglects to find and alter all the num-
! bers so that if the owner had a rec
ord of all his numbers the identity OF
his car can be proved beyond doubt.
! Wandering about town to watch tor
stolen automobiles to come past may
| seem a random method OF pursuing
auto thieves, but its effectiveness when
followed by experts is undeniable.
| Outside of tIse fact that he looks con-
! temptuously at a magnifying glass,
the auto hound is more like the infalh-
| BILE Sherlock Holmes than any other
type of modern detective. At least. so
/ it seems to the bewildered owner be-
reft of his car.
In this city, where an auto squad of
four men has been operating for
] year, 90 per cent of go lost cars have
| ter showing than was made when the
entire police department was charged
/ with the responsibility of looking out
| for stolen cars. But 90 per cent. tho
unusual. is not unique. 1t has been
matched in Salt Lake City, Los An
geles, and Seattle, all places where
| special attention is given 20 pursuing
| the auto thief scientifically.
That the professional auto Jack is
worthy of signal interest may be
| liz oSl7
DDS and their frequent success. Thefts
| have mounted so that insurance com
fpanies raised their rates several times
| on this form of auto liability. The
number Of cars stolen by JOY riders
! and professional thieves in this coun-
| try is now estimated at over 100000
a year, and the number is still increas-
| ing. Recoveries run as low as 40 per
cent in some places, with IS per cent
| as reasonble average for the country
Stealing automobiles is the most
popular outdoor sport of crooks, far
| outdistancing pocketbook snatching
And owners of cars, as in the past,
| stin leave their cars about unpro-
! tected apparently with the Idea OF
1 making life simple for joy riders, who
like to borrow cars, and for the pro-
fessional who prefers an unlocked car
tosa locked one, even tho he may be
1 able TO get away with the latter.
How the Professional Works.
7 Usually the auto Jack has nothing
! to do but walk up to a lonesome-look-
! ing car and give it a hasty glance to
see il the owner has tried to foil him.
/ Then. if the car seems to be unincum-
bered by locks, he slips into the driv-
ers seat and in a second he is out of
sight.
If the car is locked it is more trou-
BILE to steal, and many a thief will pass
it by in favor of an unprotected ma
chine. But other burglars are more
! painstaking. If a car is worth steal
| ing. it is worth stealing right, they
| seem TO think, and these persevering
ones who know the mechanism of al
most any car, and who are friends
with every protection device on the
market. will proceed to illustrate just
/ how the right turn of a wrench or
manipulation of wires will fix pro-
! tActa.a CAY. 81 HAT II will LII xrhile