Evening star., 1923-07-22

identifications were made last year
for the federal government, for state.
county and municipal authorities OF
the country. The records which have
been compiled here In Washington are
the result OF years of contribution
from various authorities all over the
country, and they are still coming in
at the rate Of about $4,000 finger
prints and $4,000 Bertillon measure
ments each year.
The records have outgrown their
quarters by far, and are in need of
the larger place which no doubt will
be afforded later through amalgama-
tion with the Department of Justice
bureau.
Here in Mr. Van Buskirk's office are
about a million Bertillon and a mill
lion flnger-print records of criminals,
some OF which duplicate.
If all Of these hundreds OF thousands
Of records of finger prints are on file.
asks the curious average Mr.. Citizen,
and a finger print from some bank
vault door that has been cracked in
Des Moines, Iowa. say, is sent in for
Identification. how Is any one able
print records on file 1t represents?
Do you have to search the whole mil
lion?
There's the secret Of the finger
print expert. And Mr.. Van Buskirk,
who has examined thousands of
criminals himself, in a long and varied
career in connection with penal insti-
tutions, is said by officials TO be one
OF the best in America.
The finger prints Of all the crimi-
nais on file are catalogued. 1t was ex-
planned by Mr.. Van Buskirk, accord
ing to their classifications. They have
been classified, he explained. under
the method worked out by the Eng
lishman, Sir Z. X. Henry of Scotland
Yard, London. who Is credited with
having developed the best means of
classifying finger prints.
1t is technical and difficult system
used by the expert, which the anna
teur cannot understand. much less
operate, but it all relates to the
curious differences in the lines of the
fingers and thumbs. a mathematical
and alphabetical formula having been
worked out, by which the prints are
classified and catalogued in their
right place, according to the type Of
finger print.
X !. X X
WHEN the print from the Des
w Moines cracked bank vault comes
in, Mr.. Van Buskirk sits down at his
desk, puts the new finger print under
his strong magnifying glass, and be-
gins to read it. To him 1t is as easy
as reading English. He examines the
lines, he looks to the arches, the
tented arches, the loops, the whorls,
the twin loops, lateral pocket loops,
central pockets, accidentals,. islands.
bifurcations. spurs, dots, staples and
other peculiarities of the print. These
he Classics according to his formula,
and, finding 1t falls in a certain class
according to its configuration, he goes
to his file and pulls out all his cards
OF that class.
There may be several identified by
the same figures and letters in the
classification. Then the expert sits
down to discover If he has that same
finger print in his files.
There may be many men Of exactly
the same measurements Of their bony
structure, 1t is admitted by experts,
but there are no two men in the
world, it is said, who have the same
finger prints.
So Mr.. Van Buskirk looks through
his cards. Here Is one very nearly
like the one turned in. No, there is
little dissimilarity. He looks
further. Adhere is one strangely
like the newcomer. He examines all
the peculiarities. The further he goes
into details under the magnifying
glass. the more he finds the similar
ity. At last he Is convinced he has
identified the finger print. There may
be slight differences, caused by diff
ferent applications OF ink in the two
prints. or different pressure applied
by the operator, but all the lines con-
form. He has identified the print.
1t is the hand Of a well-known crimi-
nal.
Looking further, Mr.. Van Buskirk
finds that he has cross-references
showing that the criminal went by
several different names in different
cities. He may have pictures and
cards Of that criminal from three or
four cities, all under different names,
for different crimes, but-lwith- the