This is often a
difficult matter to determine. "Ringers"--particularly in the
magistrates' courts--are by no means unknown. Sometimes they
appear even in the higher courts. If the defendant be an
ex-convict or a well-known crook, his photograph and
measurements will speedily remove all doubt upon the subject,
but if he be a foreigner (particularly a Pole, Italian or a
Chinaman), or even merely one of the homogeneous inhabitants
of the densely-populated East Side of New York, it is
sometimes a puzzling problem. "Mock Duck," the celebrated
Highbinder of Chinatown, who was set free after two lengthy
trials for murder, was charged not long ago with a second
assassination. He was pointed out to the police by various
Chinamen, arrested and brought into the Criminal Courts
building for identification, but for a long time it was a
matter of uncertainty whether friends of his (masquerading as
enemies) had not surrendered a substitute. Luckily the
assistant district attorney who had prosecuted this wily and
dangerous Celestial in the first instance was able to identify
him.
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