New Britain herald., 1927-07-01
four little CLEWS
UNCOVER SUSPECTS
California Scientist Used Latest
Detective Methods

vsSSSAAV AAVtAAVOA
San Francisco. July IA quiet,
studious instructor in chemistry at
the University Of California-the last
person in the world one would have
picked a. relentless man hunter
stando revealed today as the SUPER
detective whose work brought about
the arrest Of the three D'Autremont
brothers. who bombed 4 mail train
and killed four men in the Oregon
mountains in the fall OF 1928.
The man Is Prof. Edward Oscar
Heinrich. In real life he did work
that rivals the tabled exploits of
Sherlock Holmes.
Hugh, Ray and Roy D'Autremont
fled into Siskiyou mountains after
blowing up mail car and killing
four men. No man had seen them.
Behind them they left only four very
slender clews-a revolver. KNAPP
sack containing overshoes a pair Of
. greasy overalls and q magnetic which
had set off the explosive that wreck
ed the mail car.
Told the Whole Story
! Inspectors of the postal service
took these clcws to Prof. Heinrich.
He examined them minutely-and
then, in true Sherlock Holmes fash
ion, announced: ".
That pne of the killers was brown
haired. left-handed. about rs years
old, s feet 8. inches tall, heavy set,
neat in his personal habits, and q.
former worker in the lumber camps
OF Oregon and Washington.
The overshoes, soaked in creosote.
had been worn to throw bloodhounds
off the track. In the knapsack that
contained them were found several
grains of rock salt. Prof. Heinrich
pointed out that this indicated the
bandits had used cattleman's cabin
as a rendezvous. The inspectors
looked for such a building near the
scene Of the crime.
They found one. five miles away.
In the cabin was towel. Prof. Helm
rich examined this under the micro
scope. He found short bits Of hair
clinging to 1t. The men had used it
after shaving. Examination of the
hair proved that three men had TAX
en- part in the holdup.
What the Overalls Told
He had gained his knowledge Of
the physical aspects Of one OF the
robbers from the size and cut, of the
overalls: pitch from pine trees had
been sticking to part Of this gar
ment, and this had told him the man
had been lumberman. Other marks
on the overalls had shown that the
man stood habitually with his right
side toward the trees. welding his
axe in a left-handed manner. Micro
scopic examination Of bits, Of hair
clinging to the overalls, compared
with a table Of hair conditions at
different ages, indicated his age.
Then, deep in the overall pocket.
was found a crumpled. faded bit of
paper. Prof. Heinrich put this I'M
der the microscope and found 1t was
a postal money order receipt. He
was able to make out Its number.
and postal inspectors. tracing 1t,
found it had been Issued to one OF
the D'Autremonts. ...
With all Of these facts at their
disposal, the postal inspectors had
something to go on in their hunt.
They promptly began to go through
the north woods lumber camps.
questioning foremen and gang bos-
ses.
Presently their search was re-
wardeo. Near Eugene, Ore, they
found a camp from which three
brothers, known as radicals, had dis
appeared shortly before the holdup.
These three were the brothers
D'Autremont. The inspectors were
soon in possession Of photographs
and complete descriptions Of them.
But still the hunt had only started.
Although the inspectors were fairly
sure of the identity OF the slayers,
they had not the faintest idea OF
where they were.
Through Work
Now comes a revelation Of the
thoroughness with which postal IN
spectors run down a fugitive.
Two and a half million circulars
containing photographs and COM
plete descriptions Of the fugitives
were printed and mailed throughout
the world. Every post Office IN the
United States displayed these post
crs. Dentists were sent charts de-
scribing filings in D'Autremonts
teeth: optometrists were sent de-
scriptions OF their glasses; every pub
lie libr;~.J in the country received
a circular and warning that the
mea often went to libraries to read
radical literature.
Hugh D'Autremont was the first
to fall into the net. He had enlisted
infthe army and was serving IN the
Philippines A soldier In his company
saw one Of the posters and noticed
the resemblance. When this soldiers
enlistment expired shortly afterward
he reported his suspicious to postal
authorities. An inspector went to
Manila and arrested Hugh.
Seized in Ohio City
Ray and Roy had located in Steu-
benyille, O., where they were work.
ing In a steel mill. Someone there
saw the posters. became suspicious
and notified the postal men. The IN
snectors came and Investigated
quietly. For weeks they stayed IN
steubenville, watching. At length
they re convinced the the two men
we're the fugitives. Ray and Roy
were arrested.
Hugh was on trial at the time.
The Jury found him guilty and he |
was sentenced to life imprisonment
Raw and Roy, who had been prepar-
mo ia fight for acQuittal, changed |