AN ELECTRO-PHOTO DETECTIVE THIEF CATCHER.
FIG. 1.—THE PHOTO DETECTIVE.
FIG. 2.—DETAILS OF THE PHOTO DETECTIVE APPARATUS.
The device which we illustrate has been very successful in securing photographs which have led to the identification of the perpetrators of petty thefts. A cigar dealer of Toledo, Ohio, had for some time lost cigars from his showcase, and the detectives were foiled in their attempts to discover these thieves, so he had recourse to the proprietor of the photographic apparatus shown in our engravings. The apparatus was set up and arranged in working order. It was then left to do its work. Early one morning two boys entered the place, opened the showcase, and, in so doing, set in operation the apparatus, which made a permanent record of their deed, and upon the evidence thus obtained they were sent to prison. As the boys opened the case they closed an electric circuit which released the camera shutter, and at the same instant operated the flashlight apparatus. Our first [engraving] shows the photograph being taken, and our [second] shows the mechanism. The side and end of the camera are removed so as to show the mechanism. The camera is placed in a box which is provided with a shutter operated by the spring seen at the front of the box. The shutter is tripped by an electro-magnet. On the top of the camera box is arranged another electro-magnet, and a vertical spindle carrying at the top a roughened disk; the electro-magnet being connected with a detent which engages an arm on the vertical spindle. A match is placed in a spring-pressed holder which rests against the roughened disk, and above the disc is supported a flashlight. When the circuit is closed by tampering with the showcase, the shutter of the camera is opened by the action of the magnet connected with the escapement, and the detent magnet at the top of the box is operated with the shutter. The detent is then released and allows the vertical spindle to revolve, the power for the purpose being stored in a volute spring connected with the spindle. The match is ignited, and as the disk completes its revolution, the match projects through the aperture and ignites the flashlight powder. All this occurs in a fraction of a second, and as soon as the shutter is opened and closed the image on the sensitive plate is prevented from being further acted upon. To secure the closing of the shutter, the current which lets off the igniting mechanism is taken through a fusible wire or strip located in the flashlight chamber. When the flashlight powder burns, the wire or coil is melted, the circuit is broken, and the shutter is released, so as to close automatically. The effectiveness of the apparatus is clearly proved by the work it has done. At the same time there seems to be no good reason why the burglar could not smash the whole apparatus, thus destroying all photographic record of the crime.