The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-08-06

ing evidence the other day, ''was the result challenged The finger print sys- tenn has robbed the alias of it's utility; the man of many names and many crimes can no longer successfully plead hunger. desperation and . first o1ensos His finger prints betray him"
 Many dangerous criminals have been traced and brought to justice by the voioeisss witness of their nnger-prints. The dishonsst hand has grasped the window-siil. | tumbler. or. as in the l box; photography and Scotland Yard records have done the rest
 M xlphonse Bertillion, the French anthropometrical expert, whose system is used by the Brooklyn police. has become . convert to the nnger-print system. Bertillon says he got the foundation of his fngsr-print knowl- edge from the English An inter- viswsr asked him recently if he thought the science of measurements would ever supplant the science of finger prfnts. sNo," he answer. T think the human measurement system will sup- plement and assist the fnger-print sys- tenn In the ultimate marking down and tabulating of practically every known or potential vriminal in the civilised world. The sister soisncss viii %
 
 based upon the fact that each different individual has among his bones certain characteristic shapes and dimensions will march forward In unison with the science which arises from the circum- stance that the finger prints of prao- tically everybody are different from tho finger-prints of anybody else. Both these truths and the application of them in every day criminal search and <xf vice to us in France. and have helped to rid respectable society of many of the human harpiss who prey upon it."
 And what led you to take up she study and practice of finssr-prfnt sciencer
 'Readins of the work of Herschel and Cation. looked into what they were doing as pioneers of the finger-print system. became deeply interested. I soon found that they were right and I started collecting hnger-prints of friends and of criminals myself.
 My subsequent experience in actual criminal practice has shown me that if two finger-prints tally exactly 1t is practically certain that they are the prints of one and the same person, how ever many of the population of the en- tire world may have passed that way
  the print has been made"
 And the sister science to finger prints. your own gift to the world, the science of the measurement of man. how did you first come to think that outf'
 well" answered M. Bertiilon. T saw the need for some such system for the Identification of criminals. l saw that the evidence of the photograph and the official description might very easily be made useless. and Indeed has in many. many cases been quite nullffied by the criminals own little tricks Of disguise. All the previously photo- graphed and officially described crimi- nal ha@ 70 do was to alter the style of doing his hair and the color of 1t, to distort his features in one of the well known ways, to remove or add mus tache. a beard. to alter the eyebrows or what not, and he had passed beyond the Likelihood of recognition.
 sBut c man cannot change his bones. He cannot disguise the exact length of his nose. of hts forearm. the length and width of his head. the length of the left middle finger. the length of the left foot.
 Experience soon taught me that these bony portions of the human frame rarely undergo any material change in the adult. and that practi- cally no two persons in the civilized world have the same combination of measurements. This great central fact together with the marvellous faithful ness of the finger-print record. has been of immense assistance to us In France in the detection of criminals. and the more of these records we take. the more strongly Is the efficacy of the two systems of finger-printing and measurement substantiated and prov- ed
 At Scotland Yard 1t Is said that the English police have on record S00,00O thumb prints arranged and tndexed. When the idea of comparing thumb print of an old offender with that found at the scene of the crime was suggested, 1t was widely believed that one of the first principles of English legal procedure would have to be broken down. The fact of 6 prisoners previous conviction is not allowed to 20 to the jury until after they have given their verdict. How was this to be got over. as the production of a previous finger print for purposes or comparison would show the jury that the prisoner had been fin the hands of the police before7 They found way out at Scotland Yard. The police now take @ new impression Of the mans finger or thumb soon after his arrest, and while he Is awaiting trial. no mat ter how many times he may have been thumb -graphed" before. They then present this new thumb print in court and compare 1t with the one found on the cash box, the knife or what not at the scene of the crime. They say nothing about the one carefully pre- l served in the records at Scotland Yard |
 One of the most useful things learned | in recent years is the power by which | the police can bring out, as clear as | daylight, the print of warm finger | upon glass or any other smooth sur | face Prints quite invisible at first | have been dusted over with the powder | they use and have come out in per fectly clear designs. The slight diff ferences in the measurement of the ! various ridges, lakes" islands"