The Washington herald., 1913-09-26
FISGER PRinI TESTS
MAY PROVE USELESS
San Francisco handwriting Expert
Stnrtlcs Detective Burns by
TrnnsTerrins His Impression.

1t has taken Theodore Kytka. the hand
writing expert of San Francisco. to
shake the faith OF Detective William ].
Burns in Identification by finger prints
| and TO prove the possibility Of using them
| 70 railroad a man to prison or the gal
lows. says the San Francisco Chronicle.
Burns has a startling exhibit of kyt-
ka's skill and of the danger in which an
Innocent man might be placed.
This exhibit is an ordinary electric light
globe bearing the imprint in human blood
Of Detective Burns own thumb. although
Burns never touched II.
The explanation is method that
Eytka has discovered by which he can
transfer a finger print to any object,
such as window glass. writing paper, me
tsllic or wood surfaces.
Photography or tracing is not involved.
Kytka lifts the finger print itself and
puts it where he wants IL.
The thumb print OF an innocent man
could be transferred TO a bloody knife
or revolver. picked up at the scene of a
murder. and used as evidence that would
convince the ordinary expert. In fact.
one of the greatest experts in the world,
for whom Eytka has so much respect
that he will not tell his name in this
connection. was fooled into choosing the
transferred Burns print for an original
impression.
Burns always calls on Kytka when he
is in San Francisco. He sends many
clients TO him from Eastern cities, and
when Robert HiIliard impersonated
Burns in The Argyle Case on Broad
way last year, Burns urged him to call
one of the characters prof. Kytka"
and TO use some of the incidents in Kyt-
ks's San Francisco career for the play.
When Burns was here last Kytka told
him of his discovery. Burns scoffed at
it. and said it couldn't be done. But be-
fore the detective left Kytka had his
finger print, left on a piece Of paper that
Burns had handled.
BY the use of a chemically treated
sensitive paper and other chemicals
Kytka lifted the finger print from the
paper and transferred it with the use
Of human blood to the incandescent light
globe. He sent the globe to Burns in
New York. and the detective acknowl-
edged that IT was enough like the orig
inal TO deceive an expert.
The transfer could just as well have
been made in sweat or ink as in blood.
Il would not disclose my secret
method for any consideration" said
Kytka. my wife is the only person
who knows how I did It, It would be
too dangerous If the process were gen.
orally known. Innocent men would be
sent to the -gallows on what would seem
unanswerable evidence. even although
they had not been within ten miles Of
the scene OF the tragedy"
Finger prints made ten or twenty
years ago can be developed and counter
feited by Kytka's process. He now is
developing finger prints left on govern
ment documents just a score of years
ago by men whom the United States
Secret Service is after. These prints are
invisible to the eye. but they have been
brought out distinctly by Kytkas chemi-
Gals
Kytka could himself detect the differ
ence between a genuine and a counter
felt procured by the use OF his method
And so long as the secret remains with
him, there is little danger that the in
nocent man viii be unjustly accused
through its use.
Kytka Is writing a book about his
famous cases that will be full of inter
esting crime stories.