Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-01
FINGER PRINT SYSTEM
Method Of Identification Being
Generally Adopted. .
NO MISTAKE POSSIBLE
Regarded as Better Than the Der.
,tillon Measures.
USED IN CHINA FOR CENTURIES
Employment in Europe Of Compare
lively Recent Date-Process Of
Operation Explained.
USED IN CHINA FOR CENTURIES


Operation Explained.
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Written for The Star and the Chicago Record
Herald.
The government of the United States
has adopted the finger print method of
Identification for the army and navy, and
for all persons convicted of offenses
against the acts of Congress. The finger
prints of every officer of the army and
every enlisted man are filed with his
record card in the War Department at
Washington and the finger prints Of
every officer and enlisted man in the navy
are filed in the Navy Department, which
makes a permanent record that cannot
be questioned. This system has been
generally adopted in the armies and
navies of the European powers, and will
establish the identity of any dead soldier
or sailor on the field Of battle or in the
wreckage of ship 1.-THE unknown
dead" as Gen. Ainsworth says in a recent
report. will be a thing of the past" The
finger prints will also be infallible evil
dence in pension claims, in charges of
desertion and in other cases where it be-
comes necessary to prove the identity
of a person.
| thousands of finger prints have shown
that no two are alike. Single digits of
different persons have been found to show
close resemblance in pattern. and also in
point Of detail. but other differences have
invariably been sufficient to distinguish
their individuality with a certainty. Finger
Impressions therefore are now recognized
by the CIVIL military, prison and police
authorities of all civilized nations as the
most convenient and reliable means of
being generally adopted but are being
exchanged between the authorities of the
United States and Europe
New Bureau Of Identification.
The government of the United States
adopted the system last fall, and Mr..
H. w. McClaughry, the leading expert in
this subject in the United States. was
placed in charge of a bureau of identifi-
cation at the Department of Justice in
Washington, under Mr.. r. B. La Dow,
superintendent of prisons. Mr.. Nc
Claughry is a son OF Maj. r.. w. Nc
Claughry. formerly superintendent OF the
Illinois state prisons at Joliet and
Pontiac, the Pennsylvania prison at Hunt
ington and now superintendent OF the
United States prison at LeavonWorth
Mai. McCiaughry is recognised as the
highest authority on prison management
In this country, and his son isthe highest
authority on the finger print system of
Identification, having spent much time In
Investigation and study at Scotland Yard,
London and other police and prison head
quarters of Europe. He Is now engaged
under Mr.. La BOWS directions in organic
ing a plan Of cooperation with the police
and prisons of the different states and
with those of foreign countries 1t Is
Impossible. for obvious reasons, to have
a complete set Of finger prints OF con-
yicts and other suspicious persons at
every police headquarters, and 1t Is I'M
perative that there should be some CEN
trail bureau where they can be assembled
classified and kept ready for examination
whenever it is necessary to identity a
infancy in the United States. Congress
made the first appropriation for the bu-
reau last winter, and it was not organized
until october, 1907. The first step has
been to take prints of the hngers OF every
prisoner in the federal prisons at At
Ianta. Leavenworth and McNiel. Wash,
and those that are scattered throughout
the several state institutions The Mes
now contain about 1900 sets OF impress
sions
prisons and other institutions, and In time
it is expected that tn" finger prints OF all
the convicts and pl = slonai CRIMINALS IN
the United States ~. be filed Tor reIer-
ence in the Department OF Justice. inese,
of course have nothing whatever to do
with the records of the War and Navy
departments. The latter keep their own
files and furnish the identification bureau
with finger-prints of only deserters ana
soldiers and sailors who have been con-
victed of crime. In this way there can
never be any mistake as to the 1dentif-
cation of a man who Is arrested for
desertion.
There has already been one remarkable
the United States Army was Identified by
his finger-prints as a deserter from the
British army and surrendered to the Brit
ish authorities to be tried on the charge
of numbering a comrade at Malta. There
was not the slightest question as to his
identify and extraditiOn papers were
promptly granted.
Used by China for Centuries.
Mr.. McClaughry says that Identification
by means of finger-prints has been COM
mon in China for thousands of years. The
Chinese passport for centuries has con-
sisted of a piece of oiled paper. stamped
by the authority of the government, on
which the person to whom 1t Is issued i'm
presses the tips of his fingers, and
sooner or later. he believes that the same
ancient system will be adopted by other
governments as an ehectual means OF
preventing the unlawful use of passports
by persons to whom they do not belong.
Finger-prints have also been used for
signatures and seals In China for a thou
sand years, but 1t was not until 1923 that
the plan was suggested In Europe. A
German scientist proposed its adoption
that year in an address at the University
Of Breslau on that subject, accompanied
with illustrations, but it Interested few
persons.
about forty years ago." continued Mr..
McClaughry, ''Sir William Herschel, while
representing the British government in
Bengal, made extensive investigations
among the Hindus and finally adopted
finger-prints for practical purposes with
marked success. Therefore he must be
regarded as the first person who used the
method. for official purposes.
"Sir Francis Cation took up the work
of Sir William Herschel about twenty
years ago and reduced the system to a
science He devised the present method
of taking imprfnts and convinced the
police authorities that every person car
ries about with him on his fingers ten
lnfallible witnesses to his identity. Every
child in horn with certain lines m tho