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Show inke note of the details of the appearance -of some one assuiate or oWnet aiivi nn- j r;ctr.t those detai's in his mind, going j Lark to thorn Uter, he would be giving ( himself calisthenics in obs-rvation whi.-h would develop a hatd; of accurate observation. ob-servation. Son the mind wv.iM au toil to-il :aucally store away such det.uis. t . ! Do You See When You i ! Look? . i j By Frderic J- Haskin. . , f WAriiirXGTON, July 27. Are you a pood observer? Couli you, if requested, ; tell the color of the eyes of your three best friends, or whether the numeral on your watch are in figures or Roman notation? nota-tion? It would be of great assistance to , your police department If you and other Ieople coutd report simple details like these. As it is, the police are constantly being asked to truce and recover lost articles and mlaslnj? persona, supplied only with vague and often misleading description. de-scription. It la well known, for Instance, that automobile owners seldom know the numbers num-bers of their license tas, much les the number of the ear's motor. Sometimes they are even uncertain on the point of color. The other day a man telephoned the Wash inp ton police department that his car, which was navy blue with a preen stripe, had been stolen. The police obtained a further description of the ear' from the agency which sold it, and finally final-ly succeeded In recovering it. Hut ti stripe on the car was not green, but distinctly dis-tinctly yellow. A few weeks ago a retail merchant in a middle-western city reported to the police po-lice the disappearance of hia senior clerk, with the contents of the cash register. The merchant described the young man ai bolnR above the average height, witu black hair and brown eyes, and a fair complexion. The woman who rented the apartment above the store and who claimed to have seen the man leaving it, carrying a suitcase, late at night, described de-scribed him as "a short, stout man with dark auburn hair, gray eyes and a swarthy skin." How would you like to get on the trail of a criminal, armed with two such descriptions as these? Major Raymond W. Pullman, commissioner commis-sioner of police in Washington, has recently re-cently requested every automobile owner to keep a memorandum In his pocket or desk, containing an exact description of his car, including the motor number and any peculiar marks of identification. The New York police department has gone a step further and asked every citizen citi-zen to write a description of his cherished cher-ished articles of personal property, as well as one of each member of his family, fam-ily, and keep it where it can easily be obtained In case of an emergency. It hasi been found that few Individuals can put-down put-down this Information without having the objects before them. Details make no impression im-pression on their minds, and besides, the imagination insists upon interfering and inserting details that really are not there at all. This. ;idde1 to the fact that the eyesight eye-sight o-r many people is not normal, ac-for ac-for the weird exaggerations and enn'nd'ettons which often get into print. Tr-e the recent fight at Toledo, for ex-mrrl- The greatest experts on pugilistic mr ttevg. trained observers, witnessed and reported this fight for the newspapers, and everv one of them reported different EMails. One of them declared that Demp-sev Demp-sev stood with his back to the ring until Ihf rail to battle had been sounded twice; another said that he stood facing Wil-lrrd. Wil-lrrd. eagerly awaiting the summons to 'start. It has been Jmpojisible to tell from these accounts what was the color of the umbrella hoisted ' over the champion's bend when he first entered the ring. According Ac-cording to the testimony, It must have been either blue or tan or green, but no one seems to be sure. Then there is the question as to who struck the first blow. Various authorities disagree on this point, also. As to the result of the tight, there was certainly no doubt among them, but so far as the detailB were concerned con-cerned all is confusion. To demonstrate how little reliance may be placed in the testimony of eyewitnesses, eye-witnesses, a professor in one of our middle-western universities conducted an experiment for the benefit of his class. He explained that a certain incident was about to take place in the classroom; that the class was to watch it as carefully as possible and afterward write a report of what they had seen. Scarcely hadi he finished speaking when a man, Introduced as Jones, with a black mask over his eyes, nose and mouth and wearing a gray raincoat, rushed into the room. In his left hand he carried a salt bag half full of nails, and In hie right hand a small wrench. A streak of red paint was smeared across his left cheek. Just Inside the. door of the classroom he turned and pointed his wrench at the pursuing party, shouting, "Stand back, or I'll shoot!" Then he ran across the room, dropped to his knees and flung the bag on the floor. "There It Is; take it," he said, and rushed out of the room again. At this point Smith entered in pursuit of Jones, shouting, "Give It up, you scoundrel," and, rushing over to the bag, picked it up. The professor then jumped from hie chair and exclaimed in pretended pretend-ed alarm, "Men, what are you up to here?" This was the way the little drama was actually enacted, but It was not what any one of the twenty-five witnesses actually ac-tually saw or reported that they saw. The ' descriptions of Jones were widely varied. One eaid he wore a black coat and a light mask; another declared that the mask was red; another that his mouth was painted red, and still another asserted that he carried a pistol and a club in his hand. Some thought that Smith wore a black suit, some a gray suit, and some a blue suit. He was described de-scribed as carrying- a pistol, which he snapped several times, crying, "Oet out of here!" One of tho students said that he dropped an umbrella on the floor, and another reported that lie had yelled, "Catch that man!" Even the professor's part in the drama was falsely described. He was reported as saying. "What's all this?" "Hullo, what's going on here?" and only one student stu-dent even approximately set down what the professor had actually said. Conflicting testimony Is common in the courtroom. Sometimes a half dozen witnesses wit-nesses will tell completely different stories of how a crime happened. Not long ago a woman was found murdered 'in her home. Some of her jewels were missing, and it was suspected that the crime had been committed by a tramp who had appeared ap-peared in the town on that day. Four persons were found who declared that thev had observed the tramp leave the woman's house by the side door about half-past eight at night. When asked why they thought it was the tramp, each was surprised and finally said ft was because be-cause of his appearance. Asked to describe de-scribe his appearance, the four witnesses agreed only as to one detail, namely, that the man wore a cap. One woman swore that she could see by the street lamp that he was unkempt, and that he thrust something into the pocket of his overcoat. Kventually. It was a little girl of nine who pave the detective on the case his lirst correct clew. She stated that he had not worn an overcoat at ail, but a eape-Thi3 eape-Thi3 caused the detective to eliminate-the tramp and start on another line of in- I vestlgation, which finally ended in the j conviction of a man who was not a tramp at all. Another case which shows the fallibility fallibil-ity of the human eye Is that of a wealthy manufacturer who was attacked by a man who forced his way into his home in the suburbs some years ago, and stabbed the manufacturer to death. The stranger also attempted to shoot him with a revolver, but the manufacturer's wife knocked the weapon out of his hand. By the time the police reached the scene the man had made good his escape, but the wife was absolutely certain as to his identity. He was dressed in dark clothes, dark cap and mufller. she asserted, but she knew "by the look in his eyes" that he was her cousin, a young ex -sold ier. Fortunately, Fortu-nately, the cousin was able to prove a conclusive alibi, and the Investigation continued con-tinued until some time later another ex-soldier, ex-soldier, bearing a resemblance to the co.isin, was arrested as the murderer. A sain the wife, as well as the famiiy servants, identified the man as the mniri-facturer's mniri-facturer's assailant, although they were a shade less certain, hut this defendant was al?o able to prove his innocence. Thus the lives of two innocent men were placed in jeopardy by incorrect observation. observa-tion. The hab't of accurate observation, It is held, is not difficult to acquire. Most j I minds are indifferent to details because they have not nen trained to retain de- j I tails. If one would each day consciously v |
