The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-12-02

mer striking on a cap in the scenter Of
tha shell.
The old revolver took cartridge which
is fired by the hammer striking on its
outer rim.
But the bullets with which these DIFF
ferent kinds Of cartridges are loaded are
identical. Their shape is the same, being
half an inch long, rounded at the front
end, 32-100~ of an inch thick and weighing
exactly 81 grains each, and each having
crosswise crease in the same position,
How, then, could it be determined from
which weapon the bullet was fired?
The police believe this can be determ-
ined beyond the shadow of doubt by
the lengthwise grooves on the bullet
taken from Grogan's body.
These were made by the groove in the
barrel of the pistol from which it was
fired.
The target pistol has five shallow
grooves running through It's 8-inch bar
rel These are 1892 of an inch In width
They run spirally and make one-half a
complete turn in the length Of the barrel.
1t is these grooves that give a circular
movement to the bullet; making it rotate
like a rifle ball, giving it greater range
and penetration The target pistols bar
rel is nearly twice the length of an or
binary revolver. This is for the purpose
Of giving the bullet more rotation and
accuracy Of direction.
As a bullet is forced through the pistol
barrel the soft lead conforms to the
grooves and comes out distinctly marked.
There are grooves and alternate ridges
running lengthwise along its sides These
conform exactly to the bore or groov-
ing of the pistol
These grooves are not straight from one
end Of the bullet to the other They fol-
low the same curvature as the spiral
grooves in the barrel from which they
have been expelled. In this way a bullet
REGISTERS an accurate story of the kind of
revolver from which it was fired.
CHASTITY TESTS.
With this knowledge in mind. the police
went to work to determine whether Prof
Eastman fired the fatal bullet from the
target pistol or from the old rim fire re-
volver.
The old fashioned revolver, though of
the same size Of barrel, 32-1G0 of an inch
is bored slightly different. It's grooves
are about 1892 of an inch as in the case Of
the target pistol. The old rim fire re-
volver also has a different twist of the
grooves in its barrel
From such markings On the bullet that
| killed GrOgan it is expected to prove
whether Prof Eastman is guilty or inno-
cent of murder, and so determine wheth-
! er he shall live or die.
In preparing their evidence for the
| trial the police authorities Of Cambridge
! two dead bodies from the morgUa They
bound the cadavers upright to a board
| fence.
Into one body. shot was fired from
the old rim fire revolver which Prof
Eastman claimed to nave used ait exact
~. the same spot, just over the heart,
where his bullet struck Grogan.
| At the other CHASTITY mark the target
| pistol was fired and the bullet was i'm
! bedded just over the heart. The two bull
| lets were extracted, and are now pre-
| served for evidence at the forthcoming
! trial They are both slightly flattened
from contact with bone and muscle like
! the bullet taken from Grogan's body
The police hope to show that the bullet
! Eastman fired into his victim has the
! pistol and must have been fred from
! that weapon, instead of from the old
| revolver. That would wreck Eastman s
| defense.
To make their case strong and con-
| vincing they viii call in expert gun
| smiths, manufacturers and designers of
| cartridges from all parts of the country.
The bullet that killed Grogan and the
bullets used in experiments on the dead
! bodies will be examined under the micro
! scope by experts, judge and jury
They will be photographed and enIarg
ed. Their groovings and lines of clirva-
! ture will be measured by the finest. in
! struments
The bullets will be weighed in the most
! delicate apothecary's scales to show how
! the friction from the barrels of the diff
Ierent pistols would cause them to rub
! off metal and vary in weight, even to
the fraction of grain. In this way the
! prosecution expects to show beyond the
| possibility of a doubt the guilt of the
! prisoner.
ence Of expert testimony in murder
cases.