Evening journal., 1911-12-28
A New Detective
Method
BY M. L. PoMERoY
Copyright by American Press Asso-
citation. 1911.

/. as detective. have recently
worked up an entirely new method
OF procedure IN criminal cases. the
sense OF smell True. dogs have track
ed persons by this sense but they
have not. so far as know, distinguish
ed between individuals.
My attention had been drawn to the
matter by reading the following:
Every human being has a specific
odor OF his own. by which he can be
recognized by persons OF sensitive
smell. The case is mentioned Of n
man who. blindfolded. could pick out
each Individual IN a company OF TWEEN
ty by his odor The smell is not born
with us. but develops gradually TN
about the age OF fourteen. after which
It remains unchanged. Members OF
family have a kind OF common odor.
which exists even when they have
lived apart for n long time"
cut out what had read and put Il
in my pocketbook. where It remained
for some time Being a detective it oc-
CURED to me that here was new
field OF criminal demonstration that
had never even been opened. / con-
suited with Psychologists about reduc.
ing the idea to practice. but gained
nothing OF real value from any Of
them. Finally accident put me in a
way to make the first step.
l was called in on the following
case: In 1862 Edward Nolan. a man
with a wife and two children. went to
the civil war After one of those bat
ties In which a large number OF uni
Identified bodies were shoveled into
trenches or buried under headstones
marked Unknown" the soldier. Ed
ward Nolan. disappeared. His name
was reported among the killed. and no
doubt was entertained that he was
dead Since no one was found who
could vouch for his death his widow
declined to marry again for some
years after HIS supposed death.
Nolan's father during the war made
n great deal OF money in army con.
tracts. He died without will and
without issue. and the fortune by the
law OF inheritance descended TO his
two children. both boys and both mi
nors. Ten years after the battle in
which Nolan was understood to have
been killed his widow married again.
Her husband. Thomas Chadwick, took
the management Of the estate belong
ing to the Nolan boys and did what
he liked with it. Then Mrs. Chad
wick died
One day a man appeared who claim
ed TO be the departed Nolan. II he
were what he claimed to be the prop
erty his father had left belonged to
him. One Of his boys had died. The
other was In delicate health and left
the management OF the property in his
stepfather's hands. where II had been
since the death OF Nolan senior.
Chadwick was thrown into an uncom-
Portable state Of mind. for IL Nolan
could establish his claim to the prop
erty Chadwick must not only give up
its management. but render an ac-
counting. Since he was unable to ac-
count satisfactorily, he would be in
trouble.
Nolan put his case-that is. collect
ing proof Of his identity-in my hands.
He refused 10 state why he had not
shown up before. but / inferred that
another woman than his wife was the
cause. The only point of law involv-
ed was his identity with the son OF
the Nolan who died leaving a fortune.
AS is usual in such cases. those who
knew anything about the real younger
Nolan stood on opposite sides Of the
question. Nolan's letters. written
when he was a young man. were pro
duced and compared with his hand
writing at the time Of his reappear
ance. Some experts pronounced them
to have been written by the same per-
son. while others said they had not
Pictures taken when he was a boy
were compared with his face, but
there was little resemblance. though
it was admitted that they might have
been Nolan's likeness.
failed TO dnd any proof that the
man was Nolan. Had he accounted
for himself from the day Of the battle
the dinleulty might have bran sr-V