SCOTLAND YARD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 15553, 7 September 1912, Page 5

SCOTLAND YARD.

LONDON'S GOVERNING BRAIN

Bi A. J. Hkighway,

The great unwieldy mass of London is governed by a central br.iiu which has a wonderful system of iiorves spreading in p.vcry direction. Tliat,central brain is housed in Scotland Yard, the hoad<)uart*!-s of the Metropolitan police. The building is eight storeys in height, and has 301) rooms. It forms tiio oflicial home of 21,000 men, whose administrative and protective powers extend over 629 square miles, in which reside nearly ciglit millions of people. Of iho lives and pro)Kxrtv of thai total Uiev are tlio guardians. And* that they discharge their trust in wondrous Hishion is the testimony of all who know. The Ixxndon policeman, for every aspect of his varied activities, is fjunous the world over. Paris, Berlin, and other Continental cities frequently send batches of men to "watch, leant, and inwardly digest," especially so far as the regulation of street traffic is concerned. THE YEAR'S RECORD. •In the last official year the London policeman arrested 112,000 iwrsons on various charges. Some 500 detectives apprehended 10,913 people, of whom not fewer than 9440 were secured because of that slight and subtlo tiling called a finger-print. Many, of courso, of those arrested were not convicted, cither because of a mistake in their identity or through insnllicicnoy of evidence. For example, 4968 persona were taken into custody on charges of having behaved " riotously," but tlio magistrates could convict only 3718. Similarly only 708 convictions were recorded in respect of 768' apprehensions for. attempted suicide. In London, in every four days, three attempts at murder aro made." Last year there were 279 attempts to take life. In 236 cases an individual was arrested for tho offenco, but in only 127 was the proscculion successful, For larceny 991 peoplo wore taken into custody. Only 201 arrests were made in respect of 1673 cases of housebreaking, and 37 arrests only wero mode in connection with 547 case of burglary. These last figures givo point to the official statement of Iho police that at any one time in London there arc just about 4000 confirmed criminals whom they " want" for various reasons. In that total is to he found some idea of tho magnitude of the man-hunt that is continually being prosecuted in tho great metropolis.

Til addition to the duties involved in these eases the police wore required to give attention to the details arising out of the finding o( 43 unknown Ijodies. These were photographed, and afterwards were mostly identified. But living persons also go missing-. Last year the T>olice found and restored lo their friends no fewer than 10,374 such persons! This seems incredible unless one conceives in adequate measure tho swarming multitude represented by 8,000,000 peoplo in the maze of streets threading that stupendous area. Th the performance of their duly some 2055 constables were injured last year from all causes—street accidents as "well as various affrays. Lastly, it may bo mentioned in this statistical section that the wages bill amounts yearly to £1,500,000.

THE SYSTEM AND THE WORK.

Scotland Yard is responsible for tho law and order of London,,apart from tho criminal aspect, in a maimer that few realise, The Criminal Investigation Department is a very important bureau, but it is by no means the most conspicuously important deportment into which the activities of the Yard are divided. There are a thousand and one details concerning the government of London which are attended to by this ono governing brain and by no one else. In the first place Scotland Yard provides the policeman. Its medical odiccrs select him. Its drill oitiecrs train him. Its tailors clothe him. Its cashier pays him. And it provides his whistle by contract. Then the policeman regulates the traffic. But the individuals in charge of that traffic have first been examined by Scotland Yard. Its officials license tho cabs, taxis, and other vehicles. Tlioy examine the drivers of all passenger conveyances in regard lo thoir luiowledgo' of the topography of London, and issue licenses to those who pass this test satisfactorily. And of all articles loft in these vehicles the Yard takes charge '

If a member of the general public desires private inquiries to be made he can procure from the Yard nn introduction to some pensioned officers who will undertake the work. If anyone is lost the Yard will circulate his description to every likely corner—oven throughout tlio world. The public has no conception of tho extensive ramifications of this department. To enable it lo attend to all this work, headquarters has its own telegraph office, i(s own telephone- exchange, a marvellous storehouse of records, an efficient printing house for the speedy circulation, amongst other things, of "reward" and "wanted" bills. It has a safe deposit, a pension ollice, and, lastly, it contains the editorial rooms of it newspaper. In addition it .has the mast wonderful museum of unique objects in London and the most extensive collection of criminal careers in flic world. The extensive work undertaken by the Yard has necessarily been reduced to a fine system, For the internal.administration of the force there are four assistant commissionera who direct in this work tlio efforts of 350 officers and civil servants. One of theso four deals with the ordering of public functions, the controlling of crowds, and the barricading of streets. •Another is concerned with the maintenance of discipline in the force; a third occupies himself with legal problems affecting police methods; and. the fourth deals with the investigation of crime. THE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DEPARTMENT. The head of the. Criminal Investigation Department is Sir llelvillo. Macnaghten, who is tlio best-known of the quartet, He, the superintendent, mid the five chief inspectors at the Yard, form the famous "Council of Seven," which deals with socially dillicult problems. All serious crimes and mysteries arc referred to this council. Minor matters arc cojwd with in lho departmental routine. The machinery of the "C. I. D.'' is most complete and efficient. There arc over 600 detectives, being an average of 15 lo each of 22 divisions, with 60 at the Yard iieclf always available in case of urgency. This latter number includes the special service men, part of whose duty it is to shadow the Anarchists. These various organisations, by the way. arc supposed to have a membership in l/ondon of some 14.000, but fortunately all of these are not nctive. Its special telegraph office is of great assistance to the department in its work. When a person is wanted his description can be punched out very quickly on the tape machine at (he Yard and wired simultaneously to the ehief divisional stations, so that a complete description of the (suspect can be circulated throughout the whole of Greater London in less than five minutes. Naturally the members of this staff are always ready to travel. For that, emergency a supply of ready cash is kept in a f.ti'o ill the superintendent's room. It is in that safe, it is interesting to note, tint the great Cullinan Diamond was kept hcfore it was cut up for the Royal crown. Like the Prime Minister's house, Scotland Yard has an underground exit. This leads to the Westminster Bridge tube station, so that squads of men can be drafted by special train to any point at very start notice. IDENTIFICATION RECORDS. Naturally in its attempt to cope with undoubtedly the biggest criminal population in the world Scotland Yard must amass mice stores of records and information for identification purposes. A record of every man who has been sentenced is preserved there. These are stored in pigeon holes ranged in impressive rows of cupboards with sliding doors. It has been estimated that a 40-ton railway waggon would be required to bear the book which would hold these brief biographies. On the edge of each shelf is an indication of the munbers stored there—as, for example. 7000 to 8000 or 51.000 to 52.C00. Of conreo a wonderfully complete index and cross index is kept of these biographies, mid it is an easy matter, once the searcher h?s secured the number of his man, to piece his finger on the biography wanted.

Bui before a man's biography can U

stored away there so beautifully ho must have been caught. Thcro is another department, an<l a very famous one, just closo by, which works towards that consummation. This is tiso finger-print department. This has been established just barely 11 years, but already it lias in its records the prints of over 2t0.003 persons. The original prints arc photographically enlarged many times and Huai indexed according to a very elaborate system which takes account of where t.hc central arches are and where one lino begins and another ends, what angles the lines make, and whether they w.liirl' or only wave. 'I'ho magnification is so great that each line is about one-eighth of an inch thick. The systematise*! indexing of this department is SO complete that when a particular print is brought forward for identification it is an easy inaltar to determine in which division it will fall and whether the owner of the print has had any previous dealings with, the department. The superiority of this new method of identification over the eld anthropometric system has long been established. In tho introductory paragraph it was pointed out that last year tho detectives arrestwl over

9030 people simply on Uio evidence of their finger-prints, but the total of ido.ntifieat.icms now arrived at by this means is much greater—iiiuiiely, 12,000 per annum. THE LUST Pari of tlie duty of Scotland Yard is lo take charge of all articles left in vehicles and public places. Tlvey arc stored for tliree months in order to give the owiwrs an opportunity of claiming them. The

storeroom of the lost property ollice is on the ground lloor, and resembles nothing eo mucli as a departmental branch of a " miivca-sal provider." Articles lo tho number of (0,000 jwss through here in a year. Umbrellas, as is but natural, play a big part. Their number is 27,000. Walking slicks conic next with 2000. Opera gljisses score well with 700 pairs. At different times some curious things have passed through here. Once a cabman handed in an ordinary "peggy ! ' bag containing a pearl necklace valued at thousands. It was claimed two days later by an American lady. No claimant has as vet appeared, however, for a small Indian idol left in the same way sonic years ago. liags are sometimes left in cata, and through ono of these a driver once rc< ccivnd the champion fright of his life. His last fare one night was a foreignlooking gentleman to a Kensington flat. Thereafter he proceeded to his stable and had put everything in order when ho fancied ho heard a dull ticking from jJio cab. Ho opened the door and saw' a brown gladstonc Ixig on tho seat. And tho ticking was quite pronounced. Instantly ho thought of anarchists and bombs and flew to tho telephone for the police. When the Scotland. Yard experts arrived and investigated tlicy found the ticking was produced merely by a harmless brummagem alarm clock left in tho bag. The owner never was found. Hut it must havc taken some nerve to open that bag with tho ticking going on inside!

An interesting section of this department is that relating to Uio goods found in tho possession of arrested men. On searching the habitations of men arrested nil certain charges it is frequently found that other goods, obviously not personal property, aro lying there. In tho event of no other owner being found they are simply taken charge of by tho Yard and stored away with the name and number of the man in whose possession they were found. When he comes out of prison ho knows where to-go and secure his goods, lint tho chances arc that he never will claim them. Should lie do so it lies within the discretion of tho commissioner lo refuse to givo them no. In Uiat case tho ex-oonviet is obliged to summon him beforo. a magistrate in order to have the issuo decided. Needless to say, this courso is rarely resorted to. Hundreds of articles are lying in this section hearing convicts' names, and if they arc unclaimed after a certain time they come under the auctioneer's hammer. Some very valuable

property is naturally io bo found hero. Thcro are innumerable gold watches secured beforo they reached the " fence." Thcro aro pocket-books in \ refusion, ono or two still with £5 notes in them. And in ono of tho safes lies a diamond tiara and pendant. Should that ever bo claimed by any ex-convict it is reasonably certain thai the commissioner will exercise his discretion in a certain direction. THE MUSEUM. The Scotland Yard authorities aro naturally chary of allowing journalists a free liantMn tho description" of tho treasures of this room. For it contains the secrets of crimes and schemes which have given Hio.ni a great deal of trouble to unravel, and there would bo but small sense in spreading abroad tho ideas of frauds and swindles which havo been successful in limes past. Tho criminal's brain is quite itetiyo and ingenious enough without, receiving the assistance such descriptions would possibly afford. The novelties and treasures of this room havo therefore rather to bo indicated than described in detail.

In this museum aro preserved all tho exhibits connected with all tho crimes and cases for years and years past. The walls aro simply smothered with guns, pistols, swords, daggers, and knives, ovory one of which has been concerned in tho taking or attempted taking of human life. When ' went through tho museum tho Crippen case was of recent memory. It was interesting, therefore, to seo the spade with winch he bad worked, to seo tho clipping from the hotel register in llrussels of tho [also registrations of " Robinson" and Robinson tils," to seo the small patches of hair taken out of that gruesome cellar, and, last of all, to seo his card with this final message scribbled in a thin hand to bo Neve, ' I am suffering so much and sro no bright prospect ahead and all tho money has gone that I have determined to jump overboard to-night. I know I havo spoilt your life, but I hope you will forgive mo. With lovo to yon, love." Kelics of other famous murders arc also prominent, and tho ropes that hanged famous criminals. Nowadays separate ropes are not provided for each caao, but that practice lias been stopped only in recent years, and there arc a great number of ropes to be seen labelled with tho names of the lives they took. It is a favourite " thrill " for visitors to put the nooso over their heads. It may bo interesting, by the way. to describo tho rope. There is an eye-splice at the end and a looso leather washer on tho ropo above the nooso. This is packed in behind the man's left ear to prevent tho possible slipping of tho knot. The length of slack allowed is from sft to 6ft, according to the weight of the man. For the purposes of record plaster casts of tho men aro taken after death, and these aro grimly ranged around the wallApart from murder relics there aro bogus bank notes—whole cases of them— fa bo coins and coining plant, and the very latest thincs in the way of scientific safeboring appliances. A number of bombs aro also included in Uio collection. Ono of these, very ingeniously disguised as a cigar, was handed to the driver of a royal train, together with a real cigar. Fortunately, however, tho driver detected the difference in the weights, and so averted a catastrophe. MISCELLANIES. Housebreaking instruments and burglars' appliances aro there in full array. They appal by their wondroiis ingenuity. Householders generally fancy that a locked door with tho key turned on tho insido is im-

pregnable. It is nothing -of the kind. Tho un-10-dato burglar would thank yo.i for having given him such an easy job. With a special little instrument ho will grip that, key—and unlock tho door!

Of articles used by famous burglars probably tho most note-worthy is tho collapsible ladder devised by Charles Peace. This is composed of battens of wood fastened together with holts. Tho wood was so compact that he could carry the whole tiling under his coat. To prevent snrprisa and assist escape Peace used to block doors back with wedges of wood. A gentleman once called on Mr Picrpont Morgan in Park lane with a Colt in his hand. Tho gentleman wont lo prison and the Colt came to this museum.

Thevo is quite an interesting collection of travellers hags to ho scon. They .Ml suffer from a certain defect in manufacture—they havo split bottoms. Down the centre ot the bottom runs a division which marks tho existence of two flaps. This is tho outfit of the luggage thief. When ho sees an apparently fatherless bag on a railway station or steamer deck ho strolls casually towards it, arid whilo admiring tho scenery inadvertently deposits his bat; on ton of tho other. 'Iho collapsible bottom obligingly opens and a very little manipulation enables tho imprisoned bag to be effectively secured. This device is also largely used by shoplifters. Pawnbrokers aro sometimes deceived iu an ingenious fashion. A tolerably welldressed gentleman showing signs of incipient poverty sometimes presents himself and asks for accommodation in rcs|iect. of a very fine pair of opera glasses stamped with the namo of the best makers, in many cases this proves lo be iv inevo dummy got up in most marvellous fashion. Confidence tricks have naturally yielded a goodly store of relics. There'is to he scon a fine piks of £5 notes with not the slightest apparent succestion of faking in the ordinary way. This is a " beat" attempted on' the ordinary lack of observation of folk. The notes aro inscribed not " Bank of England " but merely " Bank of Engraving " iu similar lettering. These notes had been passed with considerable success by swell gangs operating on American and colonial visitors. Another aspect of tho confidence trick is worked on a buinhlo scale outsido theatres. Tho operator in tin's caso represents a humble working man who suddenly exclaims that ho has found, say, a watch or a picco of jewellery. Ho eagerly inquires as to the owner, and the people gathering round diligently search their poekcU, without, of course, any result. Finally, tho " working man " offers his " find " to somo likely greenhorn for a few shillings as " ho doesn't know how to return "it to the owner." It is surprising how ofkn this trick comes off.

Interesting political relics arc tho clubs and slaves used by the rioters in Trafalgar square in 1887. Thcro is quite an amazing collection of tlicse, together with a fine assortment of police nnd civilian lints damaged in tho contesl. One of theso liiltcr bears the inscription inside of " John Burns." Mr Bums, who is now known throughout the Empire, was on that occasion sentenced to 14 days' imprisonment. Apparently he has forgotten to call kick for his lint. THE UNIVERSAL PROTECTOR. It is plain that the mine of " copy " afforded by Scotland Yard is inexhaustible. The pity of it is thai the best of it can never be published. Every aspect of human interest passes under review at Scotland Yard. Not only is there tho continual man-hunt for 40CO " wanted " criminals, not only is there an annual record of over 120,000 arrests, not only are some 10,000 " strays " relumed yearly to anxious relatives, not only is there nil'this work which CT n be reduced to report anl statistical tables, but there is a whole chapter of work which has as its aim the merely negative attribute of proventioii. And in Ibis role tho humble street policman plays an important pari. Day by day in the street with his imperturb'able and meticulous regulation of traffic, willi his wonderful humanity in the care of children, cripples, and invalids in their crossings, h 0 plays a role almost unnoticed because of its very perfection. And then behind the orderly array of overv public function aro quiet policemen who lubricate the machinery which rims so smoothly. Al tho fashionable wedding it is the man from Scotland Yard who keeps back the eager sightseers with a wave of bis hand. And when " 'Any and 'Arriefand their friends celebrate too joyously in Shorediteh on a similar occasion it is the quiet man in blue who steps in and straightens out the tangle In the city at night time and in the quirt struts of suburbia, where every house is the model of its neighbour, there is still the watchful eye backed bv Scotland Yard. All tiiis care means that the Yard is looking after everybody. It is .protecting the poor, the humble, and the halt; it is steadying wanderers a-nd reclaiming the lost, as well as caring for tho mighty and protecting tho seats "of tho powerful. The wonderful sensitiveness of this organ!. sation to the needs of tho public Is indeed amazing. It is equal to ovcry and any emergency. At. ono nnd the same moment it is undertaking tho biggest work in tbo world and yet tho most lainnte.