Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-12-06

~ u mean8 of identification that IL
would seem as II everyone must know
scmc,hing about the subject. Detec-
tive~. however, say that general
knowledge cf finger print science in
vague, and that a good deal of what
people believe about II 10 inaccurate.
This ir sa.d to be true even of po-
lice officials who regularly deal with
identification problems. The question
Of anger prints arises In almost every
hg crime myutery and we might
think that every Official and employee
engaged in ferreung out criminals
would he keenly aware of the import
sncc OF rrfnts. But are they? Far from
a.
". X. Wilder and Bert Wentworth.
In an elaborate exposition on the sub
iect Of identifcat!on.-point out a prac-
rcaily 'dcal situation which obtains
IN Lyons. France. When a report is
made ,o police headquarters there
thN n murder or robbery has been
committed. inetant orders go out that
ro'hing in the place where the deed
occurred is TO be touched. Then finger
print experts are sent out NJ once 10
study the premises for prints left on
windows. door knobs. weapons. walls.
In contrast to this these experts give
story OF this country. A prose-
cutting attorney picked up razor used
An crime. rubbed his hand along
th. handle TO brush on the dust. and
asked a finger print expert In all eeri'
cu~ness r he could find any significant
prin'e on ~.
These contrasting stories show
fundametal Indifference in attitude
towards a crime. The police chief AT
Lyons takes IL for granted that every
crime may become troublesome mys-
terry and he approaches IL as such. His
carcfulnees about finger prints and
removal Of objects may turn out 10
he altogether unnecessary. The criminal
may he quickly discovered. But he be-
h.vce IN preparedness.
only too often the American attitude
seems 20 he 20 regard a crime as no
mystery AZ all until IL actually proves
Itself such. Then skilled detectives are
set feverishly 10 work on stale clues
and there is generally a great deal Of
fuss made over the fact that innum-
cradle people have touched every
thing about the scene of the crime. II
is practically impossible then TO do
much with finger prints. and vet sud
WHY n'lSsf DFlntS NTtnfne tne iflb>l
sought after clue. But in the next
mystery the same sequence OF events
occurs
This is all the harder 20 understand
when you consider that finger prints
are authoritativcly regarded as the
nnai rrc6f Of identity. Experienced
detectives admit that they are some
times deceived by likeness between
two individuals. and that on the other
hand n Disguise or the lapse Of time
may 80 change n persons appearance
that he - not recognized by his own
friends. But finger prints do not
change. and that two persons should
have Identical nnRer prints is said 10
be virtually impossible Even the
prints on twins can readily be dis
tinculshed.
No Duplicates In Millions.
GU, Of the 5000. 900 pr.nts fled by
,he Army and the 100000 filed by the
Navy. no duplicates have ever been
found Nor IL there any record from
other eources 81 any discovery OF
duplicates. This Is possible because
not only Is there wide variety in the
general designs. but also in the ridges
Of which the pattern is made up
These ridges. which appear smooth
and regular 10 the naked eye, show
distinct characteristics when A print
Il "; under a microscope. Lines are
shown 20 be broken and forked in
individual ways. Ridges vary in
depth and dis,inctness.
The importance Of all this variation
j. obvious when difficult questions
% IDENTITY arise. The most famou:
example - that OF two offenders IL
tn. penltsntiary at Leavenworth
Kansas When one OF these men wa:
brought In officials were instantly
struck with the idea tina; n prisoner
had escaped. The prisoner was fount
in his cell. however. and brought on
10 be compared with the new inmate
They were as much alike as The
proverblal twins. Though they wer'
not related both had the same famil,
name and similar Christian names
But their finger prints were entirel!
different
Cation who was a pioneer studen
OF nnser printing. estimated that ther'
are ss 00o 900 900 possible patterns
Compare this with the number Of peo
ple In the world less than 1900 900 90
and you get an idea OF The in'init'
variety o. the designs. Since Gal
toms time progress has been made il
analyzing prints. and modern expert
give the chances Of two people havini
identical prints a. one in an un
readable number containing si digits
Forgery Practically Impossible.
The suggestion that prints might b
forged has been met with the answe
that this is practically impossible
Under powerful lens a. patched Vi
prin, would not deceive an expert.
The other suggested means o
cheating the finger print system--de
atroying prints--ls also dismissed b.
Air. Wilder as unlikely 10 be trie
often. in a classified collection o
prints all the fingers are recorded
Thus 20 lose ones finger print identit
all the fingers would have 10 be dis
ngured. because one print left wOul
b. a significant clue. And not onl
would all the fingers have TO
burned. but they would have 20 b
burned 20 deeply that the ridge
would not form again. This wOul
mean n good deal OF pain. Burns $
dcen would also mean that the delicat
sense of touch would be PRACTICAL
destroyed. And finally, a person 5
dshgurcd would be conspicuousl.
marked a situation strictly avoide
by the fugitive from the law.
The processes OF taking prints {
individuals and photographing print