The Kanabec County Times

SAYS TEST IS INFALLIBLE

Prominent Chemist Denies That Man's Finger Tips Can Be Permanently Changed by Chemicals.

"The finger print test is practically infallible."

This is what Dr. Charles Glaser, analytical chemist, said recently when asked to comment on a dispatch from New York to the effect that a notorious criminal had discovered a way to eradicate the whirls and loops on his digits, making it difficult to bring out the characteristics necessary in the finger print identification.

The man mentioned in the dispatch was found dead on the streets of New York. In an effort to identify him the police took an impression of his finger tips. They were found as smooth as paper and the infallibility of the finger print system was in doubt. For two weeks the New York police department chemists worked to bring out the lines. They accomplished their purpose, but the marks were only faint.

They were puzzled to know what means had been used to destroy the characteristics.

Doctor Glaser explained that a criminal might eradicate the whorls and loops very easily by means of lye.

"I imagine an application of lye without at all mutilating the finger tips, would take off the top layer of cuticle. To the naked eye, then, the lines would be indistinct. Through a magnifier, however, they would be visible, more particularly on the impression taken.

"There are seven layers of cuticle on the finger tips. A man might remove one or two or even three of these. The more removed, of course, the less possible of detection are the lines. By some process or other though, the lines could be brought out. The finger print test is hard to beat."