Popular SeicJice Monthly 



73 



sortcil. Of two cars similar in other re- 

 spects, for instance, one may have three 

 oblique ventilators while the ventilators 

 of the others are vertical. If no other 

 car possessed a similar mark, it would 

 constitute a factor. Such factors may 

 be found on an>- part of the car: mud- 

 guards, headlights, radiators, hoods, gas 

 tanks, tire carriers, springs and so on. 



To simplify the s\stem, the car is 

 compared with a human being, and the 

 patrolman is taught to identify it from 

 three angles; face, profile and rear. 

 Furthermore, since he recognizes each 

 make by the factors, the trained patrol- 

 man makes a better identification for 

 police purposes than would be possible 

 for even the most 

 experienced chauf- 

 feur, since he can 

 swear to his evi- 

 dence. He can 

 cite the factors he 

 observed as proof, 

 whereas the chauf- 

 feur, though equal- 

 ly certain of his 

 case, has nothing 

 to support his de- 

 cision as a rule ex- 

 cept general facts. 

 True enough in 

 itself, ne\-ertheless 

 the cross-examin- 

 ing lawyer can 

 make such evidence 

 almost worthless. 



COMFO^nTAUTOWOBILE 



SHO/ViNC WHERE REAR LIGHTS 

 A-e PLACED ON SOME MODELS. 



LOCOMOBILE 

 MERCER — 



STurz -^ 



PACKARD -\ 

 CAOILLAt 

 HUDSON 

 OlDSMOBILLt 



pifRf F ^tsnw 



In watching for a certain car in the 

 traffic the patrolmen are taught to use 

 the factors for rapid elimination, after 

 Sherlock Holmes' famous precept of 

 "obser\ation, knowledge and deduc- 

 tion." If the car in ciuestion has a crown 

 mudguard, for instance, one glimpse of a 

 flat or oval mudguard is sufficient in- 

 formation. He drops the machine at 

 once. Observing the remaining cars, or 

 those with crown mudguards, he finds 

 contradictory factors in all except the 

 one he seeks. 



All of the outlet posts of the city are 

 connected with a single alarm system, 

 and the descriptions of stolen cars, cars 

 containing escaping criminals, or those 

 wanted for any 

 other reason, are 

 communicated as 

 soon as the crime 

 is reported. The 

 importance of 

 training these out- 

 let men to know 

 the various makes 

 is obvious. Even- 

 tually every man 

 on the force will 

 receive some in- 

 struction along 

 these lines, and a 

 short course has 

 already been in- 

 corporated into the 

 schedule of train- 

 ing for recruits. 



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Note the face, eyes and ears 



of these cars and how they 



differ from one another 



An escaping machine can be 

 identified by the position of 

 the tail-lights 



The "nose" of an auto- 

 mobile is a good index to 

 its lineage 



