Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-08-16
TRACING A CRIME,
Clever Detective Work by a Uni.
/ versity Professor.

Nine CUBAN was the wealthy widow
of Jean Howard Guian. former presi-
dent Of the Bank Of France. Nine.
CUBAN was seventy years old. One
night she took a train at Fontaine-
bleau for Paris. She had to herself a
first class compartment When the
train arrived in Paris the porters found
her compartment unoccupied. The door
had been half torn from its hinges.
there was a great pool Of blood on
the floor, and the police picked up from
floor handful of woman's hair. torn
piece of skirt and a FIRST class railroad
ticket from Fontainebleau to Paris,
A search along the railroad tracks re-
suited in the finding Of Nine. Guian's
body beside the rails just outside Fon-
tainebleau. 1t was greatly mangled. A
! little farther on was found the satchel
/ she had carried. There were no rings
/ on her fingers and no money in her
] pockets.
| Mime. Guian's relatives took the
! ground that she had been seized with
! a hemorrhage. TO which she was sub
/ tect. had tried TO open the door of her
compartment to summon aid or to get
air; that she had in her paroxysm
wrenched the door open and had fallen
off the train. killing herself. The po-
lice were not satisfied with this ex-
PLANTATION. particularly after Professor
Reiss. the famous Lausanne university
criminologist. had pointed out that the
cut on the wOman's satchel had been
made by knife and not by a sharp
stone, as had been thought. This. how
ever. was very little evidence. and Pro
fessor Reiss turned his attention to the
compartment which Nine. Guian had
occupied. After he had finished his in
vestigation he went to NJ. Lepine, pre-
feet of Paris, and said to him:
II am sure that Nine. Guian was
murdered, and am equally sure that
her murderer was a soldier In the train
compartment there were n towel and
q stationary washstand. There were
no stains upon the towel visible to the
naked eye. Nevertheless we subjected
every square inch to one OF the most
delicate tests for blood. We at last
discovered an area which gave us the
positive reaction for human blood.
Upon this towel the murderer of
Nine. CUBAN wiped his bloody hands.
He knew that this would be evidence
that the old woman did not meet her
death by accident as he wished it be
lieved, and SO he washed the towel
thoroughly. as he thought. and hung
1t up 10 dry.
The detection then of this micro,
scopic quantity of blood, which can be
removed from fabric only by acids
, revealed TO US that Nine. Guian met
death by the hands OF q murderer.
But | found another piece OF evil
dence. There was, If you remember
q railroad ticket picked up on the
) floor. On its back WAS the imprint OF
r a thumb. l compared II with that OF
2 Nine. Guian; It was not hers. | threw
t its image up enormously on a lantern
j screen. was then struck by the pc
3 culiar indentatiOn OF the little ridges
r on the inner side Of the mark. Care
full analysis of these marked ridges
] showed me that this was the thumt
of man who was actually serving as
soldier. The frequent drills witt
guns result in the pressure upon tn,
ridges Of the inner side OF the thumb
This causes peculiar f1attening, whicl
2 Is visible under a microscope when en-
larged and Is true OF no other occupa
ton except that of a soldier.
"As / reconstruct this crime this sol
der managed to get into Nine. GUAM
compartment after the train had lef
4 Fontainebleau. lie knew that she usu
8 ally carried number Of jewels auC
a large SUM of money. He tried L
n rob the old woman. and, meeting witt
s. unexpected resistance. fought with he
In the compartment. killing her b
beating her head against the registe
4 and then stripped the body Of its jew
q els. He thought!essly wiped his han
upon the towel He knew that thi
s. would be evidence of the presence @
some one else in the compartment, s
q be washes the towel with soap an