Evening star., 1924-04-10
PORTRAITS IN CODE
FOR POLICEWOMEN
Cabalistic Figures on Hats Enable
Comrade to Make Quick
Identification.
IDEA FROM DENMARK
Affords One Safeguard Against
kidnapping.

special DSpatcn 10 Inc sur
NEW YORK, April 10.-keeqing
something under your hat" is moth
ing to what the reorganiZed squad of
New York policewomen are going to
keep on the top of their hats for
all the world to see. But although
the world will see it, only the in
itiated will know the true inward
ness of the little fancy device across
the front of the headpiece, which
goes with the new "dress-up" uni
form.
To the outsider, the ordinary citi-
zen or the ordinary subway masher,
the thing on the policelady's hat will
be merely bit of ornamentation
To any member of the police force.
however, the bit Of ornament will
II the lady wore her photograph
pasted on the hat, together with her
hnger prints and description.
1t may be Chinese to you, or
Greek, either, said Mrs. Mary Hamil-
ton, official head of the 100 patrol
women, removing her hat and placing
1t on her desk in the CHEEKY Office at
police headquarters. She pointed to
the str$age medley of embroidery
decoration.
Affords Identification
Here" she explained, lis the shape
of my nose and ear, the color Of my
eyes, my height, my name, and my
finger print. The patrolwoman of New
York city is going to wear all these
things on her forehead, so that If she
is il an accident or meets with foul
play and her hat is found an identi-
fication may be established"
But" you protested, cycling the
o q
finger print and where's the shape of
the nose and the rest of it?"
Right here" Mrs. Hamilton re-
piled, an amused twinkle in her keen
gray eyes. right here where any oth-
er policeman will see it Immediately.
To you the device is only an inter-
mingling of squares and circles and
strange figures. But that's because
the identification tag is in code.
It's called long distance Identified
ton We have Denmark to thank for
the idea. This strange little slanting
thing and this half circle, and this
angle, each has code number. II
were kidnapped and managed to drop
my hat. the patrolwoman who picked
it up would decode the ornament. She
would see, for example-just for the
sake of argument-that the angle was
numbered &c in the code book. Num-
Der 26 stands, lei US say, for 'aquiline
nose This slanting thing might be
finger print 50 and So You get the
| idea?
Code ATortis Brevity.
Another advantage Of this sort of
Identification is that persons whole
description can be put on one line of
a telegraph blank. Thus, 43,1,25.5'
tEhf h nesht sah fee yei nd oa5h oh ESe
patrolw oman is going to wear her
code portrait embroidered on a rib
bon acrOS the hat of her new uni.
form. And l hope the day is not far
distant when every woman-togethe
an omeia1 Indsntihe d ea1ie ation- Babies n5e
should be footprinted at birth-older
people should be fngerprinted"
Let nobody suppose, however, that
the 100 patrolwomen, who are MAX
ing life one arrest after another for the
subway mashers, will burst forth into
uniform. No, indeed. At work the
patrolwomen dress becomingly and
smartly and in accordance with the
styles. That's why it's so difficult
for the subway masher to believe he's
''pinched" when the calm-voiced, chic
lady whom he has been annoying sug-
gests that he come along quietly to
the nearest police station. But on
dress parade occasions the snappy
squad of 100 are about to blossom in
suits Of French blue, of a grayish
tinge, witA an English type of coat
that has lapels and slightly fiaring
hem; skirts of sensible brevity; white
Sam Browne belts; white felt hats
with a sailor brim and the black
satin ribbon bearing their code de-
scriptions, white gloves-and a white
carnation in the lapel buttonhole.
In this uniform they will escort
distinguished visitors, march in pa
rades and. incidentally, make an ever
lasting hit.
on ordinary days and occasions,
watch out-if you are inclined to f1irt
or to shoplift-for the fanciful mono
gram. And when you've spotted one.
you'll probably merely have spotted
the newest Easter bonnet with the
Chinese device which Paris this sea-
son has decreed. All in all, filtration
hereabouts isn't what it used to be.