The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1922-09-25

Doctor locard, Its Brilliant Head, EN-
pIoys Many Extraordinarily Inter
estino Methods, Some Of Recent De
velopment-His Exact System fol
the UnquestionabIe Identification Of
Handwriting 10 ExpIained-chemis
try and Photography Employed In
the Detection of the Work Of the
cIeverest Forgers.
The amending combat between Grim
inals and the defenders Of society has
, In recent years become a real scien
tific war. New discoveries are as.
simulated with amazing rapidity by the
up-tO-date criminal, and the policeman
must keep "at the page" or confess
himself impotent to protect or avenge.
| In most countries there are more or
less serious attempts to help the po-
lice to outdistance in knowledge and
weapons the experts in crime. In
France, especially, police laboratories
| and schools are taken seriously. OF
all the establishments of this sort with
which the country is endowed the most
famous and probably the most efficient
is that of Lyons, where the brilliant
Doctor Locard is in charge. Though
still comparatively young, he is al
ready we'll advanced in his life's am
bition-to lay the bases for a co-ordi-
mated and complete science Of crime
detection. Many Of the extraordinary
interesting methods he uses are known
to criminologists, but few of them
are quite recent and may even be news
to the expert-among them his work
on the fascinating and difficult ques-
tion of 'graphology,' matter which
has been in the public eye much OF
late owing to a series Of sensational
crimes which turned largely on the
Identification Of handwriting.
May Become Exact Science.
I am able to give a sketch OF the
main heads of what is likely In the
near future-at any rate il the hopes
of Doctor Locard be fulfilled-tO be-
come an exact science for the positive
and unQuestiOnable identification of
handwriting, no matter how cleverly
disguised says a Paris correspondent
of the New York World. 1t may be
recalled in this connection that it was
Doctor Locard, by his expert exami-
Tulle in the "Tiger Eye Case" who
finally solved the mystery, which had
already caused death and madness,
and brought the OdiOusly clever and !!
perry erted young woman responsible to |
justice.
The principal classes Of cases which |
the handwriting expert is called on to
solve are:
l. ErasiOn, or scratching.
2. Surcharge.
3. Forgery by tracing.
4. Freehand forgery.
5. Disguised writing.
The first two categories are now
adays largely matters of chemistry.
Doctor Locard's principal work has
been done on the last-class five.
Alteration by Erasion.
When a document has been tam
pered with, either by indiarubber or
with q penknife, the fact is revealed
easily. either in looking through the
page held up to the light or by soak
ng it in benzine. Benzine spreads In a
circular manner in an untouched doc
lment, but when it arrives at point
where the paper fibers are broken and
The "size injured its progress be-
comes irregular both in speed and In
Erection This extremely simple
means shows the spots which have
,een interfered with. 1t is then =
natter of restoring the primitive text.
In the case of pencil writing it Is
Utmost always possible to find out
What was rubbed out by photograph
oil ,f no In
ight The point of a pencil produces
groove which no rubbing can entire
y efface.
In the case of ink 1t is more difficult.
here are three systems. Bertillon's
ystem, which he called carburatiOn,
onsists of making the paper very hot
n an oven. This often works, but
early always incompletely, and at the
anne time the document Gotten a
recfous piece of evidence) is ruined
n case at Annecy-an affair of
ostal frauds-the expert, in using |
his method, entirely destroyed the
My proof Of the innocence of the
ccused.
Chemistry and Photography.
Another method, more up to date,
insists in the use of chemical means. I n
his operation, however, demands
of the chemical nature
{ the ink used, often a difficult mat
II. Analysis Of the ink Of the con-
.xt must first be done-a most diff
cult and delicate operation. The II
1ly technique extant of this operation
that (faulty) of Professor Fraser,
hich only applies to black inks. One Il
; the greatest unsolved problems in II
le field of crime detection is that Of II
proper and satisfactory method of II
;,,1y