Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-02

@1HE adoption of the hnger-prlnt
system of criminal Identification
by the local police department 's
now an accomplished fact. ana II
will be used as an auxiliary to
the Bertillon system, which Is IN seheioi
use throughout this country. Inc hhser
print method will also be employed In the
national bureau of criminal identincation'
the headquarters Of which are In this CITY,
ms soon as sufficient numbers OF prints are
obtained and several of the larger police
departments in the country adopt the sys-
tenn.
Furthermore. finger prints will be used to
keep the official record OF identlncatlon III
the War and Navy Departments. by the
use of this system. 1t Is thought. deserters
will be unable to get back into the service.
This system will be in vogue in the Navy
Denartment within few days. 1t will
also provide means of ident1hcatlon OF
killed and wounded on battle neids. Inc
efficiency of the system depends upon the
scientific fact, supported by experience, tnat
the peculiar designs formed by the ridges
on the inside of the fingers between the
last Joint and the tip are never repeated
and that no two persons ever nave designs
exactly alike, and further that these marx
ings never change from childhood to old
age Sir Francis Cation OF England. VINO
developed the system into a practical work
a repetition of finger prints in 10. 100000, 600
of people, a population ten times that or
the earth at present, showing that the sys-
tenn is practically infaliibie IN lat regard;
Mrs E. NJ Holland of Chicago, who
studied the system under John K. Terrier,
finger-print expert OF Scotland yard, Eng
land where this system Is used exclusive
ly has been In this city for about a month,
giving instruction in the manner of taking
finger prints and of classifying them after
they are collected in large numbers. and
now her pupils are ready 10 carry out ths
SISTED In their respective offices. Fred
Sanberg assistant Bertillon measurer at
police headquarters. has received instruc-
ton in the system and he will put 1t into
effect In the local department. E. Van
Buskirk, superintendent OF the national
bureau of criminal identification, has also
learned the system and will add the finger
print Identification to the Bertillon identifi-
from the Navy Department have been re-
ceiving instruction preparatory to the In
stallaton of the system in the government
service.
When the person whose finger print Is to
be taken il ready for the operation the
proper blank for his prints Is procured,
one color being used for males and another
for females. A tin plate. foot long and
three inches wide Is coated over very thin
with printers ink. To ink the digit. the
expert takes the finger OF the subject be-
tween two fingers of his right land about
In the middle and presses the end Of the
subjects finger with one of his fingers on
his left hand and rolls the subjects finger
on the plate. After getting the finger
linked. he then rolls the linked part of the
finger on the proper place on the paper
from one side across the inside of the finger
to the other side. The advantage of the
rolled print. instead of the fiat print OBJ
tained by simply pressing the finger fatty
on the paper Is that more OF the finger
print Is thus obtained and thus more char
acteristics are noted
Prints OF every finger and thumb on both
hands are taken, small square space
being specifically set apart on the paper
for each finger and thumb. The thumb on
the right hand is taken first, then the prints
OF each OF the fingers in order from the
thumb to the little finger. and the same