The Washington herald., 1913-01-19

settling the case OF the truth or faisty
OF the document in question.
Another use OF this system for authen-
ucating records Is its employment In
South Africa to differentiate between
negro laborers in the diamond mines
who appear to collect their pay The
mine superintendents found that some
of the more astute negroes were in. the
habit of collecting the salaries Of their
fellow-laborers without fear OF detec-
ton. the difference in features being so
slight that a European was incapable OF
distinguishing between them
When this was discovered every ne
gro was forced to put his thumb print
on record. and when he applied for his
pay the impression of his thumb was
again taken and compared with that on
the pay book" If the impressions
agreed he was allowed to draw his SAL
ary. IL not. he was Jailed on a charge
OF false pretenses. This speedily broke
up the practice, besides giving the en-
ployers the satisfaction of knowing that
no man was drawing more than his fair
share Of the wages.
The same system Is now being used
by the police departments Of nearly all
civilized nations and by the army and
navy OF some of the countries 1t has
also been placed in operation In a num-
bti VI 70 pTtNtHI IOTReTleS or TOT
use In cases of illegible or illiterate
signatures.
Use London System
The system now used by the Navy De-
partment Is the same as that employed
by the police Of London. A small guam
tity of printers ink, thinned with a drop
or two Of alcohol. is placed on a sheet or
plate glass and rolled into a thin, even
film with the aid OF a hard rubber roller
After this is prepared a rolled impression
Of each thumb and the fingers of both
hands are obtained by placing the side of
the thumb and finger on the ink plate
rolling 1t completely over until the entire
palnsr surface is lightly, but thoroughly
linked. and then rolling the finger on a
form prepared TO receive the impression.
II finger is missing, the fact is noted
in the space for that finger, and the
missing digit Is classified the same as
the corresponding finger of the other
hand.
After this Is done, the impression O.
the fingers of the right and left hands are
taken simultaneously in order that 1t
may be certain that the fingers have
been recorded in their proper sequence;
otherwise a clever criminal might place
the impression of his second finger in the
confuse the seacher for his previous prints
by the corresponding change in the nu-
merical record.
All the impressions obtained from the
fingers and thumbs are divisable into four
types-arches, loops, whorls, and COM
posites.
In arches the ridges run from one side
of the pattern to the other. making no
backward turn.
In classifying the patterns referred to
the utmost care and accuracy is neces-
sary to trace and count the ridges. II
a mistake is made in classifying a print
by as much as one ridge 1t will throw
the print anywhere from 100 to 800 num-
bers out of Its proper position, and will
prevent 1t from being recognized when
an attempt Is later made to compare IL
with the true classification. For this
reason the work of sorting the prints is
very tedious and trying on the eyes. To
count and trace the ridges II Is neces-
sary to use a magnifying glass in order
to see the minute details of the print,
and the men who make a practice of the
work have to take turns at the table IN
order not to overstrain their eyes
As soon as the finger prints of would
be recruit are taken at a naval post they
are forwarded to- the department to be
classified. and the files are searched to
see II there is another record there to
correspond with the one Just received.
1t can be ascertained within few mo-
ments after the receipt of q mans finger
prints II a man has ever been in the