The evening world., 1911-05-13

cult, II IL "A "whorl," a loop" an
arch or "A composite" the last being
n broken or irregular combination or
two OF the other patterns. II Is the con-
figuratlon of the pattern, the presence or
deltas. breaks. bifurcations. forks, an
giles and eccentric curves which dis
tinguish every finger and every thumb
from every other finger and every
other thumb In the world.
Seeks Finger Prints First.
SO now. when New York detectives
are sent out to Investigate "A crime they
look first for IN hand prints which
the criminal may have left behind on
furniture. door janb. window pane, or
on articles which lie fingered and then
discarded. Sometimes the smooth sur
face to the naked eye will show no
blur. But Faurot or one of his men
dusts 1t with powder-prepared chalk
for dark surfaces. prepared lampblack
for white paper or cloth-and then. II
the print IL there. II will stand out clear
and distinct when the rest Of the pow
der Is shaken on. The sweat OF the
hand will have caught and held the
PARTICLES of dust and nine times out
Of ten there will be lett behind a
foundation upon which the bureau can
go 10 work.
VI lutIt ~ only one mana pIllI UT pn'
finger print the complete record is
made mp by a process Of mathematical
deductions. A hypothesis IL figured for
the missing diglts. a couple of sums
In addition are tried, and then Fhurot
walks To a certain cabinet, draws out
a certain chart, consults the accom-
panying data and tells the Central Of
flee tn look for such and such a man.
1t Is all very simple and very wonder
full.
once, some years ago said tie
man who works these wizard tricks. "a
policeman came In with "A soup ladlc
from u house in Washington Square
that had been robbed. In the polished
bowl of the ladle the thief had left the
imprint OF one thumb. whi'h stood ont
in a clear, oily blur. I forgot to tell
YOU that the sweaty impression Of a
land will stay fresh for fully 1--WE DAYS
after II is imprinted and, unless exposed
to the elements. the dried imprint VIII
remain intact for At least ninety days
Any time within three months after a
crime has been committed We still have
a lccway Of advantage against the
tiief unless he wore gloves.
Clue on Soup LadIe.
We'll. there was this soup lddle WITH
] IVA NH'lAA' i''A ~ H. , f'F'' 81 NV
photographed n on u larger scale. Ano
then ] though, | had come to the en-,
Of my rope, For there wasn't any sue
thumb In my collection. ! spent day
trying 10 find its owner IN tho flesh,
WASN'T represented. 1t was a thuml
which impressed me. too. Do had three
deltas. whereas most thumbs nave onl,
one ana only a few have two, Final,
I gave up. ! told the people dOwns'airl
that the tiief was "A bcg,uuor-oue ina
had never been arrested. probably.
Three months later "A precinct ma
brought In a suspect who'll been caugh
hanging around an east side pawnshOp
] took his print and. following my usua
custom, studied It a minute befor,
turning the chart over 10 my assistant
to be classified. ! have worked AT thi
Job so long that my N for hngc
prints IL like tho memory Of some PEG
pie for faces. a thumb With any dis
tinRuishinE characteristic about It stick
In my mind for months or years l'ror
long practice, one thumb no mLre look
like mother to me than n white rabbi
looks Ike a gray squirrel TO you, ]
isn't a gift, us observation and expert
ence.
II studied that thumb print for
minute, and then II am 10 me! o
the ban of the right thumb were Ia
three dcltas. ! went over and got dow
my soup ladle picture, and rather tina
stand trial Herman Kaplan, called IA
candle burglar because he always cal
ried "A tallow dip with him, took a pie
! OF guilty and went up the river, TIL
soup ladle he didn't take because II wa