The Washington times., 1936-02-01


tographed and circulated through
out the country. A copy was sent
to the Federal Bureau Of InveSti-
cation, Department of Justice. All
1ingerprint employees and special
agents were instructed to impress
the pattern of the fingerprint on
their minds for future reference.
In the meantime, outraged citi-
Gems Of Lamar, Col, insisted on
retribution. Three men with GRIM
tnal records were apprehended in
different parts Of the country and
returned to Lamar.
There they were positively iden-
titled" by several citizens who
caught o brief glimpse of the rob
berS as they made their getaway.
A year passed. The suspects
were indicted and awaiting trial.
Then things began to happen.
An employe in the Fingerprint
Division while verifying current
1ingerprint cards discovered q
replica of the latent impression
taken from the murdered doctors
car.
Traced through several aliases,
the fingerprint turned out to be
that Of one Jake Fleagle, whose
fingerprintS already were in the
divisions files. The Identification
was positive.
Fleagle was at large at the time,
but the news was forwarded to
the Kansas and Colorado author
titles.
FIeagIe Gang
A raid at the Fleagle home
netted the fugitive'S brother, Fred,
and his father.
From Fred police learned where
another brother, Ralph, could bo
found. Ralph, q member Of the
gang which robbed the bank and
committed the murders, was cap
tured in Kanhakee, Ill. He finally
confeSse d his completely and
identified his companions as his
brother Jake, Howard L. RoySton
and George Abshier.
Ralph F1eagle, RoySton and
AbShier were tried and executed
for their parts in the crime. Jake
was located two years later in
Rranson, Miss, and shot while re.
sisting arrest. He died Of his
wounds the following day.
The three originally arrested
and charged with the crime were,
Of course, released.
Thus the fingerprint system
proved useful, not only in appre-
hending criminals, but in clearing
the innocent.
How, when and where did fin
gerprint Identification start?
In ancient times when man
was seeking a method Of personal
Identification he little suspected
he was carrying on the inside Of
the bulb" or nail joint Of each
finger, lines by which positive
Identification could be made.
Just why nature provided these
distinctive formations of ridges
and depressions on the fingertips,
Psychologists have never been able
to agree. But nevertheless these
ridge formations, permanently a
part of the body, are formed
three months before birth and
they remain unchanged during
=. the life of an individual. No two
fingers have ever been found
where the patterns were identical.
The Chinese are credited with
employing the first fingerprint
system when they used finger
and hand impressions for sealing
documents long before the six
teenth century.
Bewick, an English wood en-.
graver, used his finger impreS-
sionS to establish the genuineness
Of his work by engraving the i'm
preston Of his finger on his
woodcutS. That was in the
eighteenth century.
But the first scientific obSer-
vation was made in 1885 by Mar
cello Malpighi, professor Of anat-
on1y at the University Of Bologna,
italy. Signor Malpighi alluded to
the ridges which describe divers
figures"
Two hundred years later Prof.
T. e. Purkinje, of the University
Of Breslau, published a treatise
wherein he cited the diversity of
ridge patterns connected with the
organs Of touch. He even evolved
. differentiation of these patterns
into nine varieties.
But it remained for DR.. Henry
Faults, an English authority on
the subject of dactylography, to
write the first article on the prac-
tical use Of fingerprintS for the
Identification Of criminals.
In 1880 DR.. Faults, who was
connected at that time with the
TSukiji Hospital in Tokyo, con-
Quoted experiments which estab-
hshed the great number and va
r1ety OF fingerprint patterns.
Classification
Sir Francis Gallon, noted Eng
lish scientist, was the next great
name in the history of finger
print Identification.
Galton, who became interested
IN the subject through his study
Of heredity not only established,
hY extended investigation, that no
two fingerprintS were alike, but
devised the first method Of classi.
Hication which was sufficiently
scientific to subdivide large col.
1ections Of fingerprint records.
AS a consequence of his work, o
committee was appointed by the
British government to consider