Show keep their faces covered detectives of san franc closely masked during inspection of prisoners consternation and fear were written on the faces of the inmates of the city I 1 r son the other morning when 40 de teethes wearing blak masks falej down the long corridor and silently t ok their places in parallel lines at II 11 e end of the tiers of cells the sin francisco chronicle says the vi i of detectives to the prison eve morning is a custom of police wo s handed do from t me immemorial the prisoners arrested during the 24 hours of U e day before are brought out and maichel between the two files like captives running the gantlet the detectives then observe the faces of the prisoners carefully so they will remember them As a result the de are able to recognize the criminal element on the streets this rule has worked both ways however as crimin Is who have submitted to the ordeal have been able to photo graph on their memories the faces of detectives and have taken advantage of it to circumvent this chief cook suggested recently that the detectives conceal their faces and cant ander on introduced a custom that Is in vogue in large eastern cities he has ordered his men to conceal their aces behind black masks the rule went into eject recently and the result was startling low footpads their faces seamed with villainy were yanked out of their cells and suddenly confronted with 40 burly masked men A gang of atas trotted up and down the line like a herd of frightened rabbits A woman pick pod pt became hysterical and laughed and cried vociferously three vagrants took one look at the masks and bolted back to their cells it required the united efforts of all the trusties to drag tl em out again when the inspection was and the 40 detectives filed out the prison was quiet as the tomb tho whistling the singing and the rau cries ceased for longer than an hour |