Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-27
FINE DETECTIVE WORK
A Retired Scientist Accom-
plished It
INMAN'SFINGBRPO POINTS
WORKINGS OF THE SYSTEMS
CLEARLY EXPLAINED.
Ninety Thousand Sets of These Marks
Kept in the Paris
Bureau.
INMAN'SFINGBR POINTS
specln1 corresrondrnec Of The Eyenlng star.

Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star
PARIS, December II, 1902.
A unique piece of detective work has been
accomplished in Paris. One mana retiring
scientist engrossed IN his statistics-did it.
A mysterious assass' nation had been COM
mitted The detectives arrested one wrong
man. discharged him, and were preparing
to arrest another when to their chief came
the quiet scientist, saying: THE assassin S
name is Henri Leon Scheffer. Here is his
photograph, his description and past rec
ord"
NJ Cochefert. chief of the Surete, hest
tated MY men know nothing of this per-
son." he said GLOW shall we accuse him? 2
arrest him." insisted the other, land
should he prove to be innocent, 1 will give
him 900 francs as an indemnity"
But what basis have you for your GER
tainty of his guilt?" asked NJ. Cochefert.
''Some finger prints he left on a piece of
broken glass; replied the man of science.
Ii was not Necessary to pay the indem-
nifty. He who was thus strangely accused
arrested and confessed his crime; and
"Pudd'nhead Wilson" of Mark Twain-in
spite of its alleged extravaganza, finds full
Justification In real life.
The quiet man of science was NJ. AL
nhOuSe BertlliOn, already celebrated as the
founder and present chief of the anthropo-
metric service of the Paris prefecture of
police. The ordinary triumphs of this serv-
ice in the identification of known criminals
one allows to pass routine work; but the
discovery of an unknown assassin by means
of chance finger prints seemed so striking
that | begged NJ Henri Vignaud, first sec
rotary of the American embassy in Paris,
for a letter to NJ. Bertillon.
II suppose you would like to see the work
ing of the anthropometric seTvice?" said NJ.
Bertillon after had presented the letter
mo, NJ. Bertillon,' l answered. II would
prefer, If you please. to occupy the time
you have to give me in hearing the story OF
the accusing finger prints!
Alphonse Bertillon has the gentle. weary
smile of the overworked and nervous stu
dent. He speaks mildly and moves softly,
like one his guard against strain and
haste until. now and again, his thoughtful
face will light up with enthusiasm as he
let's himself go. Then his conversation be-
comes rapid and eloquent; he runs through
books and documents with ardor, pulls
down boxes from high shelves, spreads out
charts, explains them. performs expert
ments to illustrate his statements. and
darts back by short cut to the point
where he had left off; the whole man is
Transformed Thus he told me the tale of
the Accusing Finger Prints.
Joseph Rebel. serVant-o all-work 10
the Dentist AllauX. in his apartment and
. offices in the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Ho-
nore was found choked to death and clum-
silly tied. lying in his masters salon." be-
gan NJ Bertiilon. The place had been
looted hastily. closets and drawers being
open and their contents tossed about. In
particular handsome cabinet holding a
collection of coins was found with its glass
door broken and its gold coins absent.
There Were practically no clues To the iden-
tity Of the assassin, the ianitress at the
street door having confused memory is to
visitors. which set the detectives on more
than one false track
y Il
published his portrait" l said. Then the
rewspapers a least began to suspect the
innocent dentist himself"
They had taken a flashlight photogra phi
nf the salon." continued NJ Bertil.on.
Looking at that photograph one day. l no.
ticed two glittering little white marks on
the edge of the broken glass of the coin
Cabinet CThis photograph with the kind
permission of NJ. Bertalon, is herewith pub
lish6GD l asked myself what they could
b.. They might be defects in the printing.
but, on the other hand. their situation
suggested that they might be finger prints
and flnger prints are very much in my
line! The thought wore upon me until at
last | jumped into a cab and drove to the
place. Examining the edge of the glass, l
found the marks to be really finger prints,
ana, in spite of thousand chances, still
In good condition.
His Finger Prints.
THE finger prints OF the assassin" 1
murmured.
The finger prints of somebody" correct
ed NJ. Bertillon sharply, with one Of his
sudden transformations. Being composed
OF tiny quantities of grease and dirt, they
MADE the glass slightly Opaque, so that
they came out bright by contrast in the
Photograph Except when looked at in a
favorable light they were practically invisi-
bic to the naked eye"
What did you do?"
ha ,o,I--
thumb in one place and of the same thumb
and four fingers In another / had the two
pieces OF glass cut out with a diamond |
gave one TO policeman instructing him
to hold 1t just so, and saw him start off
10 my office with 1t in cab Then gave
the other piece to second policeman
WITH the same instructions. and started him
or In a second cab"
so that II an accident should happen to
one or the pieces the other might be
sbared?" / said.
IRE cisely. In the work rooms of the
Anthropometric service l had the finger
prints Immediately Photographed. At first,
L ADMIT. | did not attach ovsmuch import
ance to them. They might be the prints OF
one Of the detectives, or of the dentist AL
Alphabetically solicitous of his broken cab
lnet-or even the finger-prints of NJ Coche-
fert, One by one | took their finger-prirts
FOR comparison. One by one I found that
they did not at all correspond with those
on the glass,
L.,
NJ. Bertillon. Il began to ask MYSELF ~
among the thousands of criminals. swim,
dlers and violent and suspicious Characters
measured, photographed and fnger-prnted
yearly by the anthropometric service the
author OF these finger-prints might not, at
some time or other. himself have passed"
Here NJ. Bertillon explained to me the
normal working OF the service. While most
governments have adopted the RertiiIon
system for Identifying criminals, none Apply
II so fully-so lavishy, you might sayEas
the French. Not only convicted criminals.
out an accused persons arrested and await
Ing investigation before trial, must nass
through the great Identification mfll-for
past or future reference Since the estah-
hshment or the service over all France
more IMAM 10000 arrested persons have
been scientifically measured. photogra phed,
hnger-printed. described and classified by a
card system similar to that employed IN
libraries AZ
Told in Detail.