The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-07-21
JUDGE RULES
TRUTH-METER
OUT OFCOURT
Machine Not Expert
Witness, He De-
clares.
BY ROBERT TOMPKINs.

D1 hVDLh1 lVmI A1N0o
Consolidated Press Correspondent.
Copyright, 1922, by The Argus.)
Washington, D. c., July 21.-
Washington oficialdom is greatly
disappointed that the sphygmoman-
ometer- place the accent where you
will-has been denied its day In
the federal court here. For Wash
ington, of all places in the world.
can see the inestimable value of .
properly tested, sealed and approx
ed ie-detector.
The attempt was made to intro
duce the lie-detector as a witness
for the defense in the case Of James
Alphonso Frye, a young negro
charged with murder. Chief JUS
tice Mccoy Of the supreme court
ruled the machine out and Frye
was convicted. The defense wanted
to prove by the truth-meter that
Frye was telling the truth when he
denied making a confession. JUS
tice Mccoy asserted the lie-meter
had not been developed to the point
where it could be accorded the priv
ileges and authority of an expert
witness in court. Attorneys for the
defense commended that the same
sort of skepticism at first greeted
finger-print testimony; that all de-
N, rturoc fror, conventional noth
DDS had to start somewhere and
they saw no reason why the truth
meter should not be tested at this
time. The court ruled that when
the new instrument had reached
the perfection of the telephone or
telegraph its conclusions might be
considered in court.
Congress Needs One.
Despite this setback for the
~sphyg," Washington is hoping for
the best. The suggestion waa
! heard today that the sergeant-at-
arms of the senate and house soon
should be equipped with heavy
powered meters to use in the con-
gressional debates. The lie is often
hurled at the capitol and as often
sent back into the hurler's teeth.
All such controversies as to ver-
acity might easily be settled in the
future by sending for the lie-detec-
tor and applying it alike to the
warning statesmen.
Veteran members of the Ananias
club still residents in Washington
are regretting today that the
"sphyg" wa snOt in existence dur.
ing the reign of T. R. They vow
they would have been able to OBJ
tain writs of habeas corpus and
been released from confinement in
that most populous club of its day
if they could have had jury test
with the lie-detector lashed to their
beating pulse. OF course, the
colonel would have replied to this
that some of the club members
were so STEPPED. SO callous in ly-
ing that untruths made not the
slightest difference in their blood
pressure.
Husbands Are Alarmed.
The husbands protective society
on the other hand, is viewing the
advent OF the truth-detector will
real alarm. How will the old time
tested and faithful yarns get BY
when friend wife, in no friendly
wood at a. M, applies the screws
Of the "sphyg" to the main artery
and demands where have vol
been?"
Sitting up with a sick friend,
the lodge" "lightwork at the Of
fice," missed the last train" all tn,
old stand-bys of the days agons ma,
have to fly into the discard whei
the "sphyg" takes its place along
side the rolling pin in the cirricu
lum Of domestic science and hom,
economics.
1t is all very well to say that Jus
tice Mccoy has given the "sphyg
q body blow by ruling out its evi
dence in court. but the day of tn
detector is coming and woe with Il
for many Of our deepest thinker
have asserted that a truth-tellin,
world would be . most disagree
able place in which to live.
GIRL CONFESSES MURDER
Montgomery. Ala, July 21.-A Is
yeaf-old girl was being held in DO