The fibers on the rest of the gun were either adhering to a greasy, oily deposit or jammed into a crevice and were very dirty and apparently very old.
You can look at a fiber and tell whether it has been beaten around or exposed much. These appeared to be fairly fresh.
Mr. Eisenberg. "These" being the ones that you found in the butt plate crevice?
Mr. Stombaugh. Yes; adhering to this small jagged edge.
Mr. Eisenberg. Before we get to those, were there any other fibers of value on the rest of the Exhibit 139?
Mr. Stombaugh. No; the other fibers I cleaned up, removed the grease and examined them but they were of no value. They were pretty well fragmented.
Mr. Eisenberg. You could not make a determination as to their nature?
Mr. Stombaugh. I could tell what type they were.
Mr. Eisenberg. Meaning textile type?
Mr. Stombaugh. Yes; such as wool, cotton, what-have-you, but the grease and the dirt had changed the colors which ruined the characteristics for comparison purposes.