New Britain Herald Newspaper, December 15, 1927, Page 19

(305 IGHTS! ACTION! CAMERA!" But the scenc of t shooting” was not a motion picture studio. It was the Desplaines Strect Station House, Chicago, where a most unusual happening in cinema his- tory took place. The occasion the filming of the super “Show-up,” dirccted by Chief of De- tectives William O’Connor, and cnacted by an extraordinary cast of two hundred and fifty sus- pects, record men, gangsters and hoodlum No frivolous gesture, this—no college boy con- test—no attempt to select the most “three-gun” gangster to be sent to Hol the “‘type” system; but a criminal records wherel be taken of rounded facilitate criminal ident being sent to other citi nation-wide in scope. wi other city will recogniz man. In this manner, an Yect system of identificati “Features take on 3 changing expressions, ve O'Con- c y times we have been deceived by th difference between a face in re order to he films, by the show-up ty that some oup a wanted Ovals, Above and at Right, De- pict Seven Famous Chicago Wrong-Doers. Above: Jean Hunter, Charged with Banditry. on a Bertillon record and the animated features of the suspect. In the employment of the mov- ing picture camera, such deception will be im- poesible. The camera will not only catch fleeting expressions, but will register movements and ul‘i‘ent characteristics. It will be one of the most important check-ups of modern police in- wvestigation. “This method has been in adoption only four weeks, but already the daily arrests appear to have diminished as a result of our fight against crime.” This remarkable method will enable the police not only to keep a lifelike record of criminals, but, by an ingenious voice-recording device, may make possible a record of the tones and diction of the criminal. Experts of the police force are now at work perfecting a remarkable dev similar to the ‘“Vitaphone” and ‘“‘Movietone,” whereby a synchronization of the pictures and vocal record enables both to be obtained simul- taneously. ! Many problems, of course, confront the police which do 4ot now trouble the commercial re- corders. There is, for instance, the puzzle of taking the record in a crowded court room, where many extraneous sounds will necessarily be registered on the delicate instrument. The rat tling of paper or breaking of a tiny glass tumbler for instance, are clearly registered on these records which are made in the studio in a sound proof, sealed room in order that no outside noises will register. In a crowded court room this selection of sound is impossible, and one of the great problems now confronting the police is to eliminate the registering of all unnecessary sound it appears Infallible Records of the Salient Characteristics of Criminals’ Features, Expressions, Voices and Movements to Be Broadcas so that only the desired record can be obtained. However, the experimenters, now working in secret, are mnot discouraged by the huge task which confronts them, and it is expected that astonishing revelations will be made in a few months as a result of their endeavors. In addition to the taking of the pictures, three hundred victims of recent robberies in Chicago, who had crowded into the police station, viewed the prisoners as they passed before the camera, and many were able to identify perpetrators of robberies, Each prisoner filed past the camera and, tak- ing his place on a small platform, turned slowly Martin Durkin. around in full view of the spectators. Most of the unwilling actors regis- tered a deep, and not un- natural, disgust. Big Dave Earsman, accused of safe-cracking, expressed his contempt for the proceedings with: “What do you think 1 am—Jackie Coogan?” Jackie Coogan—or Lon Chaney—it was all the same to the police, who disregarded Dave’s pro- tests, and pushed him roughly to the platform. “Dapper” Dan Harnett, who, police records show, has started and stopped many bullets dur- ing his hectic career, was another who objectad to being “shot.” Marcus (“Steady”) Looney, ex-convict; vet- eran of a score of pitched gang battles, and identified as one of the men who had been present at the murder of Max Braverman, junk dealer, shuffled to the platform, glared at the camera and stamped off indignantly. It was evident that none of the participants relished the film test. The police have many methods for tracking down crime, but the new device is regarded as the logical sequel to finger print evidence, the most important anti-crime machinery hitherto. It is agreed by experts that there is not one chance “in sixty-four million that two people would have the same finger markings. But Dr. Albert Wehde, formerly a laboratory worker in the Department of Identification of the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas, has startled the police authorities and prosecuting attorneys by the discovery that it is possible to forge finger-prints. In the ordinary course of Russell Scott, Remarkable Panoramic View of Chicago Station House During the Sensational Movie Show-Up of Suspected Criminals Held There Recently. The Men Can Be Seen a Long Line Before the Camera, Which Reg a Living Replica of Each Suspect. Charlotte Weiss. crime, this would not be liable to happen Most criminals are carcless and not pos- sessed of the patience to bother with tech- nique required to leave behind them the finger prints of an innocent person. But it is entirely possible, Mr. Wehde states, that a master crime might be planned and exe- cuted and a telltale finger print left behind for the deliberate purpose of bringing the police to the door of a person who had nothing to do with the affair. .Ru;zusxus Thomas dramatized this situation in his play, “Nemesis.” In his book, “Finger Prints Can Be Forged,” written under joint authorship with John Nicholas Beffel, and published by the Tremonio Publishing Company, Mr. Wehde gives this de- tailed account of how finger prints can be forgi: “The first requisite for forgery of a finger impression,” he says, “is, of course, possession of a genuine print. But it is easy to obtain such a print, inasmuch as any smooth-surfaced article cannot be handled without leaving digital marks. These marks may readily be developed and brought into plain view to the naked eye by dusting powder on them, a powder contrasting in color with the object upon which the print has been placed. Newmaper Featora Service, 1327, Emerging from the Cage, At Left, to Pass in Nathan (“Babe™) Leopold, Jr. “Suppose we have be- fore us a piece of black anned tin and on its rface a finger print de- veloped with white powder. With a camera, we t photograph of this, making > negative the of the original. The ridges of r prift will appear in opaque aspect on a perfectly clear and transparent plate. “An etching is made from the negative, pref- erably on copper. This etching is a positive and serves as a matrix or die, having the ridge lines etched into i arply. Then a piece of paper—any fairly heavy correspondence paper will do- moistened slightly into the ridges by rubbing its back firmly with v hard, smooth instrument. When the paper is lifted off it will be found that the portion of it that hears the finger impression is now an exact replica of the skin design on the finger involved.” As 4 cthod of identification, finger pri have been held in high regard by police officials Richard Loeb. t by Startling “Speakies.” Highly Interesting Device Used to Protect Stores Against Robbery. For Experimenta- tion, a Planned “Hold-Up” Was Staged, The Man Behind the Counter Turning On, with Treadles, Tear Gas from Fixtures Hidden in the Room. It Completely Overcame the “Bandits.” William Edd Baker, “Cat” Bandit. because of accuracy of the human skin's distin- guishing mar! But now, with formerly “‘infallible” finger prints somewhat disqualified, members of the Chicago police are doing what they can to further methods of investigation, and they firmly be- lieve that in the adoption of the voice-recording moving picture device they will take a great step in the tracking down of criminals,