The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-10-09
over, and where great cities 60 Wild over base
bail-in this country mania becomes serious
A Method of Identifying Cinnamon Which
Might BE Made Useful in Other Ways.

| A Method of Identifying Cinnamon Which
Might BE Made Useful in Other Ways.
New York Tribune.
When the Chinese restriction law was passed
1t was believed by the advocates of such legisla-
| ton that it wonld put an effectual check upon
Monaghan Immigration. That expectation,
however, proved fallacious, for the Chinese are
very astute and cunning, and at once began to
devise all manner of plausible methods of cir
cnmventlng the law. The latter put re-
striction upon the ingress OF merchants or stu
dents, and consequently those classes began TO
multiply so rapidly that suspicion was reused
and the leak was stopped Several other smart
lodges were tried, and though they were dis
covered In time an experience of four years
has proved the impossibility of keeping out
the Celesflals by any of the old precautions
| The most serious difficulty has always been in
regard to Identification. A Chinaman possessing
legal residence in the United States would go
to China, and, on going, would procure the statu-
tory certificate the strength of which alone he
could return. But in nine cases out of ten when
that certltlcate was again presented by a newly
arrived Chinaman it was found impossible to
decide whether the man presenting 1t was the
| one to whom it was originally issued This diff
fculty was made free use of by the Chinese, and
with the general result that at the end of four
| years there are more of them in California than
when the act was passed
10 render the law something better than a
dead letter, some new means of Identification
had to be devised, and at last succss seems to
have crowned the search The scheme is
to take impressions of the top of the outgoing
Chlnamans thumbs The thumb is first pressed
| lightly on ink-pad and then piece of
white paper. The resulting impression is char
acterstlc to a remarkable extent. 1t is, indeed,
asserted that the lines of the thumbs present
| more distinct varieties than can be found in any
part or the body, and that Identification by other
means OF such impressions is practically infalli
bic. The discovery is not by any a
new one, nor can its application be claimed as
original 1nasmuch as the practice of taking
thumb impressions has been followed by the
| Chinese themselves for several centuries they
applying the method with success to check de-
serton from the army Those who have studied
| chiromancy are, of course well aware that the
| dncients attached great significance to the lines
! OF the thumb, and modern essays at systems of
| haracterinterpretaUion have also built much
upon the striking individuality of these lines 1t
| is said that no two thumbs give similar impress
sions. and that right and left thumbs are always
| markedly different.
In the present case there is no desire to read
| the character of the Cinnamon, but simply to
| prevent fraud, and it is believed that the new
| process will checkmate the Celestial ways that
| are dark and tricks that are vain" With the
| thum b-lmpressions before him the inspector will
| no longer have to trouble himself about the
helght, age or external appearance of the appli~
can't. he will simply turn TO the book in which
the thumb-plctures corresponding to that par
tlcular certificate are recorded and he will take
a new set of impressions from the applicant and
| compare them with the old ones The San
francisco Daily Report has recently published
engravlngS OF several sets of these thumb
impressions showing the striking differences in
their lines and convoutions These engravngs
reinforce the theory strongly and render proba-
BILE its practical value The new plan has not
yet been put in operation, but the opinion of
| those who have tested it most thoroughly, is en-
tirely approbative, and Secretary Manning. be-
fore whom the proposition is at present pending,
is expected to authorize the change. 1t has been
suggested that the taking of thumb impressions
might be utilized in other ways, by banks,
for purposes of Identification for instance, and
that it would be much more convenient than
the current usage in that respect.