Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-11-27
WOMAN SLEUTH
To De NEWEST
AID To POLICE
Class in Criminology
Started at Columbia
University,
By GRANT EDWARDS
fSpecial Correspondent Of The Tribune
nnrriaht 1000 IL Grcpt Fails TEihnne

Copyright 1922, by Great tahs l!i"A'e'
New York. Nov. 26.-Just because
she does not look like a detective, she
is cultured. refined, and knows how
to dress, the college woman viii be
come the ideal detective Of the future.
This is the verdict of Mrs. Mary
Hamilton. president of the women s
rights staff AT police headquarters.
She Eas been detailed TO act as IN
structor to a group Of ten women IRON
Columbia University, where a class 10
crime detection has been started.
After concluding the initial lesson
held at headquarters the pupils we're
shown fingerprinting and the practical
workings Of the detective bureau as
the first step in the course. Mrs
Hamilton was most enthusiastic. Col
lege women are fitted in many ways
and along certain lines TO make the
finest detectives in the world" said
Mrs. Hamilton. who has the distinction
of being the first policewoman ever
appointed on the New York force.
There arc occasions when a woman IS
q better sleuth than a man. ard 1t
follows that q woman with a carefully
trained. educated mind, is the best sort
of sleuth for various purposes.
TO put an unframed and uneducated
mind against the intellect of the mod
crn. brilliant criminal is like asking a
detective to trail the criminals high
powered car in a fliyver."
Tips to Her Glass
! To her class Mrs. Hamilton made it
! clear that II woman could be II good
detective ever If she did not have an
education. But, other things being
equal, she offered the detection Of
crime as among the professions for
which college women are especially
suited and she urged it not only for
it's excitement but also for its value
to the community. The ideal thing, she
explained. would be the woman an
didate for the detective force. who
could muster at least fourteen college
units Of study to her credit, with not
less than two years experience in sys-
tematic college social service or edu-
c~ational work. Trained nurses, she
pointed out. might be eligible under
| this rating. Applicants for real de-
, tective work ought to be at least %
years old. at least five feet four
inches tall. at least 10 pounds in
! weight. and with a chest expansion Of
not less than two inches.
Even after so many years Of finger
printing. comparatively few people
iSuliEF AhF Hlthf NdtuF N fhtH ~ SleLl.
she told her class. IT is my belief
that every citizen should be finger
printed. Id f%ingerprint babies at birth
rather. I'd footprint babies and finger
print their mothers. just as the baby
was born. This would prevent any
possible mixltp of babies in hospitals
or any failure TO identify the child in
case OF kidnapping
Why footprinting for babies? Be
cause they curl up their fingers and
il is hard to get a good print. The
fingerprint or the soleprint is the pro
lection Of every honest citizen. 1t ex-
onerates him when commercial evil
dence would send him to the chair.
No two prints are alike, and from
birth to death and afterward. until dis
solution. the prints never change.
Pupils Learn Facts
The class learned. round-eyed. that
only 20 states require a record of
births and deaths. to say nothing Of
f~ingerprints. and that 20 years ago
/ New York city itself did, not make the
recording Of births compulsory. They
| learned also that if everyone were
| fin~gerrrinted it would be easier to
trace the $1,000 missing persons re
| ported to the city missing person bu-
reau annually. And that whfn the city
! postal employees were recently finger
printed. 40 out Of the first 100 We're
| found TO have criminal records. An