Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-12-26
PARIS UNDERWORLD
HAS, FEAR
Of GREAT CHEMIST
Modern Methods Strike Terror
in Ranks of Clever
Operators.

Paris, Dec. 25.-A chemist, Of re-
cent years has become the best known
detective in France. Edmond Bayle
is a small, dark, quiet man; he works
in a modern equipped laboratory in the
Palais de Justice; he is feared by
criminals of all classes. and today his
ultimate fame promises to surpass
that Of Alphonse Bertillon, the French
finger print expert who died in 1914.
DIR. Bayle is chief of the technical
bureau Of the Paris police department.
Here all the criminal Information Of
the republic is concentrated. classified
and studied. From this bureau the
expert chemist and physicist gives di-
r~ections in the field Of criminal de-
lection. So successful has he been
that the ignorant criminal classes have
come to regard MIN as a worker in
black magic. His unique methods have
been studied by the police department
Of New York city. DR.. Bayie rarely
gives much attention to the personal
ity of criminals or their particular
psychology. He works rather with
material things. His work shop con-
sists of many rooms and passageways,
equipped with all the paraphernalia Of
a big industrial laboratory, and in
cludes Il photograph gallery. He has
spcctroscopes. microscopes and N-ray
machines by the dozen. each fitted for
"a special purpose such as examining
blood spots, forged documents, coun-
ferfeit money. powder burned clothes.
and the wreckage that is picked up on
u criminal trail.
Books on Science
DIR. Bayle's study is lined with books
on science, and catalogue records OF
his work. In the records of his bu-
reau there are registered no less than
5000, 900 m Of persons involved in
crimes, past and present.
The detection of crime today is
something very different from the pop
uIar conception" said DIR. Bayie to
The Associated Press correspondent.
THE Sherlock Holmes and Arsene Luz
pin stories Of great criminals and their
feats are no doubt most entertaining,
but that is all ] can say for them.
From my point Of view there is no
crime that cannot be detected. that
does not leave its trace behind. at least
theoretically. For one thing criminals
as a rule. are not very intelligent. The
uneducated man usually commits
crimes of passion and brutality; the
educated man runs to fraud.
MY methods astound the ignorant
criminals, and they have come to fear
me when / enter the courts. The
so-callcd intelligent professional Grim
inals seem to have begun to try to
,hwart me. in a small way. Nowadays
they %endeavor. by wearing gloves, not
to leave f~ingerprints behind, but we
have reached the point where their
finger prints through gloves can be
detected.
Crime is really not very myster-
ious. The curious point to me is that
the crimes which interest me most 40
not interest the public.
Great Progress
There has been very great progress
made in the detection of. crime during
the past six or eight years, particular
ly through the application Of chemis-
try and photography to detection.
In my opinion we are not yet IN
sight of a crimeless civilization. Crime
is a part of human nature. Much of
# is spontaeaus. The fear of detec-
ton and punishment will not prevent
IT..
Il would like to point out that part
Of our endeavor has been % help to
protect innocence, and prevent the
miscarriage of justice. Science does
not seek to convict. 1t looks for the
truth. no more and no less.
During the war a spy case, that of
a certain Vigo. alias Almereyda, at.
tracted much public attention. The
man was found dead in his cell, and
there were those who claimed he had
been assassinated there. The only evil
dence was two spots on his shoe laces.
By comparative analysis Of these, one
/ found to be mud and he other paint.
off his bed. and | was able to con-
clude he had hanged himself and thus
clear the ~jailers Of guilt.
Another case: During the war a
young captain wrote his mother the
night before o battle in which he was
killed. A postscript to the letter re
yokcd a former will if favor Of his
wife. BY analysis Of the ink and the
handwriting in this postscript. 1t was
shown that the mother had forged his
signature. She confessed it. though
her confession added nothing. TO the
value of the proof.
I'VE are beginning TO eliminate eye
witness proof in crime. We prefer
our own, as eye-witnesses distort the
facts without sometimes wishing to.
Science cannot lie
M|