Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-16

N the afternoon OF May %,
1928, four men piyoted from
a quiet street into the doors
of the First National Bank
of Lamar, Colo They moved
with a deliberate sureneSs,
With a crispness not at all like four de-
positors who were casually entering. Two
guards nervously tugged at their re-
volvers and crumpled simultaneously uu-
der a volley of pistol shots. Two Of the
intruders dashed into the vaults and
gathered up 5000 900 in cash. Then they
were gone sheriff, who happened to
be passing by, gave chase. Two precisely
placed shots disposed of his interference
forever Then a motor spun noiSily and
some frightened people saw an automo-
bile rushing away.
Thus ended one of the most daring
robberies in the West. 1t consumed barely
so seconds. And when those who stood
on the rim of the scene tried to search
their memory, they found, without ex-
ception, they could not summon up the
precise details detectives wanted. They
remembered only that the robbers looked
like other men. Some were short, some
medium, some were dark, all wore ordi-
nary clothes.
About midnight that same day, In
the border from Denver, two purpoSeful
men appeared at the home of DR..
wineinger, rousing him out Of bed with
peremptory knocking. He was told ne
must accompany them to "a friend, badly
hurt, never mind where" A gun at his
chest was proof of their SoliCitude. DIR.
Wineinger got his automobile, and with
the men directing him drove toward the
mountains, following a back road Finally
he was told to stop. He got out and was
led to a shack where wounded man
lay on the only bed. The doctor treated
him-and when he had finished they
murdered him. Two days later search
ing party found the doctors body. Not
far away was his automobile. The bandits
had gone.
But the sharp eyes Of peace ofhcer
spotted on the left rear mudguard Of the
machine a queer smudge. It was I'm
gerprint. Of single finger, caked IN
blood. 1t was the only clue. The officer
had it photographed, and impressions
were broadcast to police chiefs all over
the country
In June that year copy Of the print
came to the desk Of Albert Ground, q
cIassifier in the ofice OF the national d.
vision of identification, In the Bureau Of
Investigation, the Department of Justice.
washington. D. C. He glanced ut it
fixedly, and then filed It carefully. II
was an unusual pattern, but he needed
more to find its duplicate among the
nearly 2.00o, 900 flngerprint records then
on. file there. He needed at least four
more fingers of that mans hand. for all
his crafty cunning in this art, to flnd the
key Meanwhile, though at least 1000
fingerprints daily passed through his
hands, the singular structure Of this print
never quit his mind.
On March II, 1929, the sheriff of StoC
Calf, arrested two men and q girl who
been living in bungalow ON the outsktI
the town. Detectives had observed that II
their custom to drive from the bungalow
before shutdown and not return, generally
fore dawn. More. one Of the men never
out without a shotgun, wrapped in q news
on the seat beside him. All three were trs
in a raid after a robbery in the city: al
the bungalow the police found much int
ing material-dynamite, sawed-off shot
time fuses and the like.
Quite reasonably, the sheriff concluded