| Show sleuth sleuth h has ari r as some very odd k J d d relics e collection of souvenirs of noted crimes most complete in world kansas city in a waterfront water front saloon in shanghai 18 years ago an an angered chinese coolie threw a knife at an american sailor merle A gilt gill kensington avenue now a nationally known criminologist was the sailor marked for death ile he saw the lethal blade poised in the Chin amans hand lie ile felt his time had come for coolies seldom miss when they flash their long knives but gill was not destined to die at the hand of that chinese assailant As aa the knife was drawn back for the throw a shipmate of sailor gill drew his service revolver and shot the coolie through the head he dropped to the floor door lifeless as tits his blade sped through the air and barely grazed gills head starts a collection gill picked up the knife and carried it with him as he and tits his shipmate lied fled back bach to their ship it started gill on his hobby ot of collecting souvenirs ot of violent death and crime in 15 years of pollee police work which has followed tits his retirement from the navy lie he has baa acquired an extensive collection abroom A room in gills residence just south ot of swope park has been set aside for his strange collection it Is a museum ot of unusual interest especially for or the student ot of criminology from till all parts of 0 the country law enforcement ceals and collectors of crime souvenirs come to kansas city to see gills collection it has been exhibited at the convention of peace officers associations in many jnnny states efforts now are being made to induce mr gill to show his collection at the worlds fair to be held in chicago in 1033 1913 plenty of variety tho ali nooses which have hung famous criminals the revolvers carried by such notorious gunmen as aa jesse james cole younger henry starr and sam carr pictures of virtually every gang killing and notionally nationally publicized crime mementos of the careers of billy the kid and other early day bad men are included in his grim and fascinating collection the most important department in gills museum Is a collection of handcuffs leg irons strait jackets and other devices for shackling prisoners gill claims that tits his collection Is the most complete ete in the world gill Is the inventor of several different types of handcuffs used by police departments and sheriffs through ou oil the united states for many years be was a manufacturer of police equipment although he has made and patented various types of shackles gill has specialized ciali zed in the manufacture of handcuffs that specialization started him to collecting handcuffs more than pairs are included in his fits collection Sol collection lection has oregon boot one of the treasures of the collection Is half of an old wrought iron fron handcuff made in england in 1020 1620 the year the mayflower landed at plymouth rock the other half of that ancient relic now Is 18 in the guild hall museum li in london gill also owns a pair of heavy ban handcuffs used in the old bid linclon county jill jail in texas when billy the kid was confined there la in 1879 an old oregon boot a peculiar type of leg iron made in 1870 Is another feature of his exhibit leg irons used on the battleship maine an old handmade iron prison lock used on the leverett street jail in boston for more than years thumb screws hand mitts nietta and types of shackles obsolete for generations are included in the collection gills grim collection represents the ex expenditure pend iture of thousands of dollars and more than a decade of travel bravel and research the monetary value la Is difficult to estimate lie he explained for many of the pieces could never be replaced for more than live five yea yeara gill was a special agent for the united states department of labor investigating the activities of 1 I W W s and communists ts lie ile traveled widely throughout the country and made friends of pence officers in scores of cities lie ile holds pollee police commissions in hundreds of counties throughout the middle west lie Is a member of the pence peace officers association of missouri sas and oklahoma and of the international association for identification A simple trick in his study of handcuffs and development of shackles from which escape Is impossible gill has learned all tho the tricks of escape artists with a small piece of wire such as aa a stick pin or a paper clip he Is able to escape from virtually all types of shackles ile he has demonstrated various methods of escape to thousands of pollee police officers to show them how to forestall escape of clever prisoners it Is comparatively easy for a dexterous prisoner to escape from the type of handcuffs usually carried by policemen and sheriffs he said many peace officers have lost their lives because they do not know how to keep beep dangerous criminals shackled A few months aso ago the chief of no lice of a kansas town told me he had a pair of handcuffs from which no one could escape I 1 called his fits bet just to show him lie he had too much confidence tn in handcuffs 1 I permitted him to search me thoroughly for anything I 1 might be carrying to pick the lock and then lie he locked the cuffs on me with my hands behind my back lie ile left me alone in it 11 cell for a few minutes and when he returned I 1 handed him tits his unlocked cuffs uses well known trick 1 I never told him how I 1 escaped but I 1 merely utilized one of the simplest tricks used by criminals defore before I 1 visited that chief of poll I 1 attached a small piece ot bent wire to the instep of my foot with adhe adhesive tape although he searched me thoroughly ue lie never found lt it by stepping through my shackled arms and getting the handcuffs in front of me I 1 was able to remove my shoe and sock obtain the piece of wire and unfasten the lock when one knows just how to do it the unlocking of almost any handcuff with a small piece of wire can be done quickly and easily gill can talk for hours of interesting experiences he has had as federal agent detective and policeman lie he Is a fingerprint finger print expert as well as an authority on locks and sli shackles ackes and lie he has aided many police departments in capturing criminals by the fanger print method gill Is particularly proud of his bis unusual collection and he be shows it will egly to visitors who are interested lie he knows the history of each object in his museum each piece has n long and fascinating story thrills and shudders are wrapped around many of those grew some relies relics there la Is one piece in his collection which has real beauty however it Is a 38 caliber colts automatic pistol of polished blue stee which was made especially for him primarily tor for exhibition hi hibi tion purposes it has hag a matched mother of pearl handle studded with amethysts and emeralds bud and all the metal surfaces are covered with elaborate hand engraving gill avows it would be almost a pleasure to be shot by such a beautiful gun |
