◆ SpookStack

4 ale get chat Fn er ee eee t a “hoa. ase Ey tere FinenPai. RUSE FAILS - SURGEONS? OPERATIONS * ‘Useo: ‘by GOME CRIMINALG GET: BAD RESULTS . . Original Markings Show Up Again . . * ss Unless the Sweat Glands Are - _ [3 Destroyed, In Which Case”. ~ Finger Crack Open. . 7 ; ‘Can a crlininal: have his finger- prints changed to such an extent his identity cannot be determined? - . The difficulty encountered, - yet ae : a “overcome, in the ‘case of “Handsome |- ee, “ae Pata slain Chicago gang- ater, further substantiates the theory ° of Bertillon experts that it cannot “be done. Although i ,was plainly |. , Vielble Klutas had altered his ‘prints, - his trve identity ‘was determined. ; * | SURGEONS CHARGE HIGH FEES. Among surgeons who have started & Practice of changing the tell-tale whorls and toons of the finger tips to confuse police, charging the crim- {neal a high fee for the operation, one has been feported operating In Kan- eas City. Their method, painful .to the crimina!, both financially and physically, ts to graft the skin from one finger to that of another. “There je no way to change the fingerprints of a man,” Lieut. Wil- am Gordon, head of the bureau of identification at police headquarters, asserta. “The oniy way to avold that kind of identification is to'cut off the tingers.”. Many cases have ‘come before’ au- thorities of criminals who have’ -at- tempted te beat Nature’s method) of identificattcn: In many cases the classifications have not developed so -yapidly under the magnifying glase of the Bertilon expert as he counts the whorls and loops. , “But the original markings will i ‘ laials % SA coer 1 t me es tie ee we Copan a oS. “Sey ~ ‘putictured and battered body was | Tound at the end of o 1-way gangster ” Lieutenant Gordon said. _ PAINFUL SESULTS. | “To obliterate the markings ‘come pletely 1¢ is necessary to cut so deep-1 - ly that the sweat glands. are de-}- stroyed. When these glands are de- etroyed the surface of the finger tips become smooth, with no marks. of Sdentification at all. Within a short time the fingers become dry and erack, to the extreme and constant pain of the crimped,” the expert ex: The question has been raised con- cerning the identity of the man found ‘recently outside of Detrolt where his rile, His face was beaten beyond recognition, but authorities said it was Verne G. Miller, the machine gunner in the union station massacre. How- ever, there seems to be a doubt. |. Considerable confusion Was encoun: tered because the gangsters who com-, mitted the crime burned the fingers. of thelr victim. Some of the finger ‘were said to have been burned to the bone, The others were scarred, the flesh vielble with the absence of skin. Miller's own father failed to recognize the man as bls son, but accepted the! - word of the authorities. . se _ GOULD Bk MILLER’s GCHEME, ‘Perhaps it was a scheme of Miller himself, One of the most hunted and desperate criminals and knowing | it Was a matter of time before -he ,would be unsuccessful in running the gauntlet of firearms again, as he: had done in the past, be may have des; vieed ‘this hoax to end the zearch for him. Impressions taken from the burned fingers of the man in the ditch just outside of Detroit are not quite convincing, some officers hn OE sete oe f