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THE ASHBURTON GU.SHERLOCK HOLMES,.VF S EN G H CO ii NTi£ ft F A RTS.ASTONISHING DETECTIVE: WOllK.Botli Shetiock . Holmes and Dr.Thprndyke, the fascinating,. painstaking scientist investigator evolved byMr Austin Freeman,- have*their counterpart now in real life in the person of officials attached to the French detective service at Lyons, France.It is impossible for any criminal to escape the consequences of his or . her crime, provided sufficient science/ acumen and patience are displayed in discovering and following up the clues which invariably exist in the most baf-' fling crimes.These are two of the conclusions that must, inevitably be drawn from -M. Antoino^Dumont’s graphic description of the modern French laboratory work of criminal investigation, which appears in the New York “World.”A murderer (he writes) cannot kill his victim, or a burglar break open a safe, without leaving in the room where his crime was committed a trace, however minute, of his presence, that may lead to his detection. It is on this theory that completely equipped criminal laboratories have been established in several of the largest cities of France. x . • :Within a few hours after the crime has been discovered,. with microscopes, test tubes, chemicals’, and all the resources of science, the traces that the investigator lias brought back with him are under analysis..DIFFICULT FINGER-PRINT WORKThe director of the laboratory of police technique of the city of Lyons,i)r. Edmond Loeard, has described the extraordinary methods .and the success in the detection of criminals of his institution.The finger-print search is, of course, an old 'story. • ’ .A few criminals, however, work with gloves of leather or* of rubber, but it is rather rare, because- professionals working in the dark in unknown placesneed the trained and acute sensibility of their finger-tips. -Even so, the use of the glove does not necessarily save them from detection.Dr. Locard was able to -identify a criminal who. had bandaged his fingersby a comparison of the very minutetraces left on a bottle in a wine shop with his complete finger record in the laboratory.If the trace is too small, enormous raicro-photograpliic enlargements are made to show the differences in the spacing of the. sweat-glands; so that,Plt;diolCC£oleitlmtlbi0Ctiatfijtlt;tIXVfid.cia:a:CO]aiSt]Aw0with a space of only two or three illii■lialt;Lclt;Gr;Bo%square millimetres to study the expert can find ’ his criminal almost as well as' if lie had left, before him the print of an entire finger.The smallest detail of the imprint left by the sole of a criminal’b boot on a country road may be important; a worn spot or even the scratch of a nail, The imprint of a rubber sole on one occasion led to the capture of a smuggler for whom the police had long sought in vain.The formation of the front teeth of a young vagabond, who broke into a pastry shop, was discovered by obtaining a mould of a half-eaten cake, and furnished enough evidence to convicthim.lr•jrCtlt;TJT?clt;PAfsn«wtitisiEItic]tiSEEN UNDER THE MICROSCOPE.The nails of a suspect, previously much neglected in criminal investigation, havo become very important to the laboratory experts. Criminals, as a class, are not exactly patrons of the manicure's art, and the dirt that has collected under their nails often forms a perfect means of accusation. Thenails of a mmderer guard-for a long time specks of dried blood; bits of hair and minute threads torn from a victim’s clothing are sometimes found.Under the microscope a little history of a man may be read from the debris under his nails, a hint of his profession, and whore he lias come from. Not long ago a burglar was identified by particles of grease scraped from a- cable along which -he had slid in a daring attempt to' reach the window-sill r f a goldsmith’s establishment.In the seams of the boot sole of a man accused of robbery near a mill, but who produced an alibi, pleading that he had not been near the scene of the crime, were discovered hits of dried mud containing minute particles of bran and wheat. It was largely thiswhich convicted him.WHAT A BLADE OF GRASS TOLD.aAtlrlt;Le:Pt]kiitlbiCfiG(11cleitI)'jVaimiiSCsscrcscolfcItcSIo:biirqi01aioi01rcIn another affair a man’s skull had! been split by a . sabre blow. The arms of the cavalrymen of the nearby barracks were: examined. No bloodstains could be discovered, nor a characteristic notch -of the bl ades; but on one sword a single blade of grass was found.’ The owner-; of the sabre was questioned, and confessed his crime. It seems that after the murder he hadwiped his blade on the grass to clean it from blood.On the windowsilil of a shop whichhad beeii robbed a ring of eandle-grease was found. As the place was too dark for examination a candle was sought. In the coat-room one was found in the waistcoat of. an employee of the shop. The base of this cand'le indicated that it had been stuck to some object, and a mould taken, from it fitted in every detail the ring of wax on the windowsill. The man was convicted on the evidence.An imprint left -on marble dust byva pi us h waistcoat led to the disco very of the author of an assassination.In another affair the robber fell on his knees after climbing over the wall of a villa. He wore corduroy \ trousers.* One of the knees was patched with a piece of finer material. Titanks to this detail, the discovery of the assassin was. simple.u]dlt;tltihicctloioftltlwmalt;ticlmtlPTwwtjsinotds
Newspaper Details
Ashburton Guardian
Ashburton, Canterbury, NZ
Tue, Nov 09, 1920
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Hayner P.
IL, USA 15 Dec 2018
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Ashburton Guardian
