QUEER AND THRILLING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 103, 3 May 1930, Page 15 (Supplement)

QUEER AND THRILLING.

CLEVER TRICKS OF CRIMINALS \ ' SOME AMAZING REVELATIONS H. ASTON"-WOLFE TELLS • EXPERIENCES. It was while Ashton-Wolfe assisted tha French Surete as scientific investigator that he was personally involved in an amazing series of queer, thrilling, and fantastic crimes. The history of their detection out-thrills the thrillers with its astonishing revelations of the methods by which the sleuth-hound tracks down the criminal. Criminals make use of disguises quite as much as the police, and the increasing struggle between the law and the male : factor has given birth to many strange devices: ! " Carouy, one of the terrible Bonnot nan», evaded capture for several weeks by 'a heroic measure. His eyes were peculiarly small and round, and eveiy police officer had been informed of this. Carouy sent a friend to buy a lancet, some cocaine, and a hypodermic syringe. When his skin • was sufficiently numbed | by an injection of the drug, the outer and inner corners of the eyes were slit and held apart by sticking-plaster until they healed. The effect was extraordinary. His round eyes now appeared to be long and narrow. He was seen one day by two detectives, who allowed him to pass because the eyes were different from those of the man they sought. All would have been well had the friend who performed the operation not given him away. Worthy Better Cause. " Another clever trick was resorted to by a banker noted for his curly hair, ruddy completion, and brilliant black eyes. He was a striking figure, although somewlia't corpulent. The police counted on capturing him with ease. As a matter of fact, when he passed the watching detectives at the frontier, he had become a thin pallid elderly man, completely bald, with inflamed, rheumy eyes. Soon afterwards the Belgian police commuuicated with the Surete and reported his capture in Antwerp just as he was leaving for the States on a DutchAmerican steamer. Everyone in the Surete felt sorry for the fellow when they learned by what means he had fooled them. Whilst in. hiding he had cut down his daily food to dry bread and water. This -soon removed the bloom from his cheeks and the fat from his body. The internal use of certain drugs and permangate off potash in his washing water gave him,;'a truly sallow complexion. Then, when he was ready to fly, the fellow had shaved hi 6 head, grizzled tlio fringe of short hair which had been left to accentuate the artificial baldness, and inflamed his eyes by the clever • use of an irritant. This utter contempt for physical pain was worthy of a better<nuse."

The cleverest forgery trick ever J worked successfully recently cost a Spanish bank 10,000 dollars: '"A gentleman called at the Marseilles branch of a British bank and opened a small account. Excellent references were given. Shortly afterwards he asked for a certified cheque for ten dollars, payable in Spain. He bleached out the words and figures, and transformed the 10 dollars into 10,000 dollars. So far, this was nothing new; but the fellow was an artist. Instead of writing the fraudulent 10,000 dollars he used a protectograph, which printed the words and figures by perforating the cheque. This gave the cheque such an authentic and official appearance that it was unhesitatingly paid. Let banks beware of this latest device," adds Mr. AslitonWolfe, "for anyone can buy a perforating machine! " The Underground Telegraph. •Professional malefactors arc very wily. Tt is of the utmost importance to a man iu prison to be able to communicate with his friends outside, and amazingly ingenious are some of their methods: "If the prisoner is not yet convicted ho may receive books and various other trifles. Truly the books are carefully but many a prisoner has obtained full information regarding vital matters in books that -appeared quite normal, but in which just a tiny dot in pencil under, certain words through the volume proved an excellent substitute for a letter. Or a man may express a wish to keep his mouth clean, and applies Ito the doctor for tooth paste. He generally obtains permission for this to be sent to him from outside, and many a time a neat cylinder of thin paper, protected by a slip of oiled silk, has thus been smuggled through, hidden in the paste. "A man awaiting trial some years ago in an English prison succeeded in corresponding with his friends by a method so subtle that it baffled the authorities for a long time. His letters to a sister and her replies were the most harmless of missives, yet they contained vital information. Moreover, he had arranged beforehand to use three alternative devices, so that if his letters were compared they would not reveal similar characteristics. One message ran: 'The keys are under the hearth. Jim has hidden the safe and most of the stuff.' Each of these words craftily woven into natural sentences had one letter below the line. His second method was a tiny dot in the loops, and the third a difference in the slope of one latter. An exclamation mark indicated where the message ended." The card-sharper has many methods of marking the cards in such a way that to all but himself these marks are invisible: _ " One of them is to prick the important cards in one corner with a hot needle steeped in wax. ' The wax melts and fills the minute orifice, but the sensitive fingers of the ' Grec' .easily detect it. Another way is to roughen the edges very lishtly at-one spot. Or the backs are rubbed with finely-powdered pumice stone. Most cards are highly polished, and if a tiny mark can be made at the with a pointed stick steeped in water and allowed to dry, the polish is reduced, at that spot, although the markis invisible."

Almost Beyond Belief. One of the most audacious tricks was perpetrated in Paris: " "A lady who is famous for her jewellery, upon hearing that a foreign potentate was to be present at a gala night at the opera, decided, naturally enough, to adorn herself for the occasion with her most beautiful jewels. She invited two friends to share her private box. These two friends telephoned at the last moment, and informed her that they could not accept the invitation. It was afterwards discovered that the friends had been put off by a telegram, and it was one of the thieves who telephoned in their name. " The lady's box was opposite tliat occupied by the royal visitor and his suite. During an interval an officer in a gorgeous uniform, and apparently an equerry of the king, presented himself with many compliments and excuses at daring to disturb her. He explained that his royal master had been so struck by the beauty of her earrings that he would consider it a great favour if she would allow him to examine on© for a moment, since it was his desire to obtain similar jewels for the queen. Flattered and awestruck at this unexpected honour, the lady at once handed one of the solitaires to the officer. "Although she waited patiently until the next interval, the latter did not return, nor could she see him in the royal box. She was about to send an attendant to make inquiries when a knock came on the door of her box, and an usher introduced a tall, dark man as a conimissaire of police. The visitor gave her a glimpse of his tri-coloured badge, and at once said: "' Madame, did you not give one of your earrings to an officer who pretended to be in the king's suite? Yes, I thought, so. Well, you have been victimised by a very clever scoundrel, but we have caught him. Give me the other tarring so that we can identify the one lie had in his possession, and then after the performance, follow the detective, who shall wait outside the door of your box, to the police station in the rear of the building. Thus you will avoid all scandal.' "Without hesitation, the lady gave the conimissaire tiie duplicate of the jewel stolen by the officer. Neediest to say, when she went to the police station, neither officer nor conimissaire were there. Both were members of an international gang."