In the same country pensioners are compelled to imprint their thumbs upon receipts for pension money, and thus obviate the likelihood of other persons drawing the stipend rightfully belonging to the veteran.
The best test of a system is its practical use and the results derived, and one of the most important matters is uniformity in all branches of work, classification, filing, size of cards, etc., so that, as the system becomes universal, it will be operated on identical lines in all countries. From my observation of the practical workings of the system, I believe that at New Scotland Yard, London, to be the best.
Finger Print System Furnishes Complete Identification.
In Paris a public house or saloon was broken into one morning, and it was found that the owner had been murdered and that apparently there was no clew to the murderer.
On arriving at the saloon they found a table on which drinks had been served, and on which were found a number of glasses. On close investigation finger prints were discovered on each. Finger prints were also found on a knife by the side of the body and on a decanter. On comparison it was found that the prints were made by the same person. On causing the arrest of the different people who had been seen to visit the saloon they were finger-printed and a comparison made, with the result that the murderer was arrested and a confession obtained within ten days, followed by conviction.
At New Scotland Yard, London, a little boy was brought in and two sets of his finger prints taken and filed away in separate steel deposit vaults. The boy was an orphan and an heir to a very large fortune in Africa. His finger prints were taken as a protection, so that if anything happened to him, or he disappeared, or he had to prove his identity to claim his estate, or provided he died and proof of the identity of the body was required, such proof could be shown with absolute certainty.
An interesting case nearer home is that of a recent arrest in Chicago of a man that the authorities were convinced was a professional criminal, and from his accent and other indications they believed him to be an English professional crook.
His Bertillon measurements and finger prints were taken at the Bureau of Identification by Captain M. P. Evans, superintendent of the bureau, and a copy of the photograph and finger prints given to Mr. William A. Pinkerton, of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.
Mr. Pinkerton, who is a personal friend of Frank C. Froest, superintendent of the Criminal Investigation Department of New Scotland Yard, London, mailed the finger prints to him without any other memorandum, data or the picture, simply making the test on the finger prints. He received a reply from Inspector Frank C. Froest, giving the name of the criminal, and a long record of some fourteen arrests and the picture, so as to authenticate the identification, and also a statement from Superintendent Froest that the identification was made inside of three minutes from a collection of over 70,000 records.