The Monmouth herald., January 12, 1923, Image 3

T o Finger-Print
Everyone in U.S.
I
National System of Identification
Is Being Urged for This
Country by Experts.
TO TAKE ALL OVER FiVE YEARS
Pointed Out It Would Result in Re­
turning to Their Families the Thou­
sands of Unidentified Buried
Yearly in Potters' Fields.
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What do you think of this ’
! scheme to take the finger prints t
• of every man, woman and child .
. in the United States/
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Washington, D. C.—A national sys­
tem of identification Is being urged by
Anger print experts. According to the
proposed plan three sets of the prints
of each person in this country over
five years of age would be taken. One
set would be filed at a national bureau
of identification at Washington. The
second copy would go to a bureau at
the capital of the state in which the
individual lived. And the third copy
would be filed with local officials of
his city or county.
With this system. It Is claimed, puz­
zles of Identity would be reduced to a
minimum. Finger prints can now be
so completely classified and filed that
when a pattern Is presented for Identi­
fication, file experts can quickly ascer­
tain whether or not the same print Is
In their collection.
^
Thus, suppose a man suffering from
aphasia were found wandering about
the streets of a southern city. Peo­
ple are singularly careless atxjut carry­
ing marks of Identification and It
might easily happen that a Chicago
shop label In a lint would be the only
clue to his Identity.
The man’s finger prints would be
taken and compared with prints of the
same type in the local city file. If
he were not found there, the Chicago
bureau of Identification would be
asked to compare his prints with simi­
lar exhibits in their file. If he were
not among the residents of Chicago,
the national bureau would search its
records. Once the man was identified,
his next of kin. as named on his finger
print card, would be notified.
Identify the Dead.
By a similar process, the majority of
unidentified dead could he returned to
their families, we are told. Detectives
say that every year 40.000 unidentified
dead are buried in the potters’ fields
In this country. More than 100,000
women are reported missing each year
while kidnaped and lost children and
missing men constitute a serious
problem for every community.
An Identification bureau, of course,
will not make It much easier to locate
a person who has disappeared out of
his normal environment, leaving no
trace. But every such person who
turns up unidentified nt a police head­
quarters or hospital or morgue can be
almost surely traced through a nation­
al finger print system.
Even in cases of drowning and death
caused by burns, where a body is most
d'fflouit to identify, finger prints can
often be of great assistance. Persons
who are overtaken by violent death
are apt to clench the hands, and the
skin of the finger tips is thus pro­
tect ed.
According to II. W. Bennett, print
expert of this city, every citizen should
realize that a complete national finger
printing system would be a valuable
piotectlon to him.
Unfortunately only a few classes of
people—detectives, bankers, insurance
men and police officials, principally—
appreciate the Importance of conclu­
s iv e identification. It is not easy to
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stir up enthusiasm among the public,
Mr. Bennett says, because the average
citizen is not personally Interested
until lie has a specific need for identi­
fication.
Mr. Bennett explains that the Idea of
a national system of finger printing is
not new. France, like the United
States, has been considering the plan,
and Argentina already bus a working
system, though net quite so complete
as that proposed for this country.
To start the system, finger prints
would have to be taken Just as the
census Is.
After that, each year
children attaining six years could be
finger-printed on a fixed date.
Patterns Never Change.
Mr. Bennett says that this uge limit
Is not set because of any change in
prints due to growth. An individual's
finger print patterns do not change
from birth to death, except to become
larger. A baby four weeks old can be
finger-printed, Mr. Bennett explains,
though It Is difficult to keep the fingers
uncurled sufficiently to make a clear
print, and the ridges are so fine that
Because of Location, Hawaiian
City Is in Favorable Position
to Observe Disturbances.
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Machine Ends Problem
for Doubtful Lovers *
No longer need the doubtful
lover remain doubtful. An ap­
paratus being perfected by Dr.
Albert Abrams, physician, of
Son Francisco, Cal., will me­
chanically answer the question
of whet tier love exists in an in­
dividual, und if so, how much.
The machine measures love by
recording the vibration felt by
the “patient" when he concen­
trates his thoughts on the girls
of his acquaintance.
'
Announcement has Just been made of the awarding o f the Va!I medal for
heroism to ten employees of the American Eell Telephone company. Among
those thus recognized is Mr*. Josep^ne Pryor, chief operator of the Mountain
States Telephone company at I*ueblo, C ol, for the "courage, devotion to duty
and resourcefulness in time of danger” she displayed during the terrible flood
of June, 1921. Mrs. Pryor also receives $250.
Mix Religion
and Politics
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Two Are Inextricably Bound Up most pragmatic of all religions. Here-
| tofore If a caliph did not rule he
in Way It Is Hard for West­
wasn’t a caliph. A spiritual ruler up
to now has been incomprehensible to
ern Mind to Conceive.
CALIPH "WITHOUT PORTFOLIO"
Radical Departure That 1$ Little Un­
derstood Outside of the Islam
World— Misconceptions About
Faith Add to Confusion.
Two Tidal Waves, Following Recent
Chilean Earthquakes, Sweep Har­
bor Without Causing Damage
or Uneasiness.
Washington.—Ililo, second city of
the liuwaiiau islands, into the harbor
of which tidal waves swept on two oc­
casions following the recent Chilean
earthquakes, is the subject of the fol­
lowing bulletin from the Washington
heudquurters of the Nulionul Geo­
graphic society.
“ Situated on land which rises to­
ward a wonderful background formed
by the highest island mountains in the
world,” says the bulletin, “ ililo is in
little danger from ten or twelve-foot
tidal waves such as those which re­
cently baths'! its shores. But, because
of its location on the southernmost
island of the clialn, faoing eastward,
it was in a most favorable position to
observe the results of this mighty
phenomenon which raised the level
of the earth's greatest ocean seem­
ingly ns easily as a careless bather
can splash water from his tub.
City in Beautiful Setting.
“ Hilonns claim that their city Is the
most beautiful in the islands; and it
would be difficult to find a more ideal
setting. The shores of a broad bay
sweep away on both sides of the town
like the lines of a hyperbola. In the
foreground, as one approaches from
the sea, is on Idyllic tropic islet that
its discoverer might have been forgiven
for naming 'Enchanted Isle,’ but
which. In matter-of-fact English, is
called ‘Coconut Island.’ Back of the
city and its bny, fringed with tropical
verdure, rise the highlands of the In­
terior to their apex In Mauna Kea,
often mow-copped, the highest of is­
land peaks. To the right, numerous
streams rush to the sea.
“One reason why lllloans refused to
become alarmed because of an unusual
phenomenon of the sea is that they
live nest door to two of the world's
The Christie tank, n combined road and cross-country tank weighing 15 tons nnd carrying one six-|M)unilcr and
three machine guns, being examined by officers at Caiup Franklin, Md. This tnnk, tbe lutest built by the United
States, Is manned by a crow of four turn and attains u speed of 12 miles an hour. At the left are a lot of the
baby tanks our unity used during the war, now dismantled und rusting at Camp Franklin.
HE DIDN’T GET AW AY
PRETTIEST CITY OF ISLANDS
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Tidal W a v e N ot
Feared at Hilo
Medal Awarded Heroine of Flood
M
| they are not easy to analyze. For a
, permanent record, therefore, it Is eon-
| sldered udvisuble to wait until the
sixth year.
Each print record placed on file in
national, state, and local bureaus,
would show the name and address and
next of kin of the Individual, if he
changed his address or if the next of
i kin died or left the country, the lo­
cal bureau would expect to be notified
of changes to be made on the three
' records. The efficiency of the system
would thus depend to some extent on
I the cooperation of the public in keep-
! ing ¡he record correct.—Frederic J.
iiaskin in the Chicago Dully News.
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Did you know that if the
Mo-
hammedan world was a religious
unit there would be no urgent
I Near East problem?
l
J. M. Touart of Cleveland, O.
the tarpon which he caught in I
waters the other day.
The
weighed 128 pounds and was 6
Inches long.
greatest land wonders—the active vol­
canoes Kllauen and Mnnnn Loa—and
not only have not suffered from their
nearness, but have profited greatly be­
cause their city Is the gateway through
which thousands of visitors pass to
view these ‘tame volcanoes.’ An ex­
cellent automobile highway leads from
Hilo through a mnjestie forest of tree-
ferns to a hotel on the brink of Kl­
lauen, about thirty miles away; and a
supplemental road actually descends
Into the huge crater, so that motorcars
may be driven to the very brink of tbe
bubbling lake of molten lava in the
smaller. Interior crater.
Beneficiary of Hawaiian “ Magic.”
“Tbe highway continues on to Mntl-
nnn. from which have come the grent
lava flows of prehistoric and historic
times that hnve built up Hawal, young­
est of the Islands of the Hnwiian
group, nnd make It still an Islnnd ‘in
process of manufacture.’ The latest of
these lava flows occurred in lft10,
when a river of molten stone rushed
down the mountain on the opposite
side of the island from Hilo and
plunged hissing Into the sen. For
many days the water bubbled, while
steam clouds rose. Fish, boiled to a
turn, floated nearby nnd could be
picked up by those venturesome
enough to row Into the hot waters near
the fiery cataract.
“ In 1880, when Hilo was still largely
a native town. Its existence was
threatened by one o f the greatest
flows Mauna Loa hns ever sent forth.
Slowly the white-hot steam advanced
straight for the town, until it was less
than two miles away. The people wefe
panic-stricken and, as a last resort, ap­
pealed to the only surviving princess
and priestess of their greatest royal
line. She took her stand a mile from
the town and declared the flow would
stop there. If did. There nre Hnwaii-
ans who maintain still that Hilo was
saved from destruction njily be. a-.-.
Pele, goddess of the volcano, stopped
her fires when her daughter Interced­
ed.”
Depth Bombs Used to Destroy Liquor.
Tacoma, Wash.—Federal prohibition
agents exploded
dynamite
depth
bombs In Puget sound, near here, to
foil an attempt to recover from the
water a quantity of liqoor that had
been dumped overboard during the
pursuit of a liquor smuggler’* boat
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tlie Moslem mind. Naturally, then,
caliphs have sought to rule by the
sword.
“ Ideas are potent factors In goog-
rnphy. Not only docs the Mohamme­
dan conceive It difficult to pray ‘Thy
Kingdom Come' nnd then fight for a
different kind of kingdom, but, in
peace time, his religion and ills law
go hand In band. Mohammed was n
law giver, not only in tlie Mosaic hut
also In the Justinian sense. There
are ns many codes of law among Mo-
hammeilans as there a re'sects; and
as many kinds of lawyers as there arc
codes. Among the Sunnites, the or­
thodox mnjor division of Islam, there
nre four schools of law. A Hannflte
would as soon engage a Mulaklto law­
yer ns a Presbyterian congregation
would he likely to employ a Unitarian
preacher.
“The very word ‘caliph’ has nn al­
lurement which dates hack to child­
hood days when yor lived among
those fantastic Arabian nights at tlie
court of Caliph Harun al Itasldd.
ltushld was a bona fide caliph, anil
In your later years n reading of the
historical facts about the cutlphnte
furnjsh no fewer thrills tliun the im­
mortal tales.
The Early “ Successors.”
"When Mohammed died his coun­
selor, Abu Bekr, tlie companion of
Ids flight, or liegira, became caliph,
meaning, literally, successor, Aliu
Hvkr means ‘father of tlie virgin.' lie
was Mohammed's father-in-law. The
second cullpli, or successor, wns
Omar, another father-in-law of the
prophet,
who
started
organizing
armies nnd began spreading Islam
over the mnp in a very literal sense.
Omar was the first to hear of the
title Endr nl Moumenin, ‘Prince of
the Faithful.’
“ From (lie first. All, husband of
Mohammed's daughter, Fatima, con­
sidered himself the logical successor
to tlie caliphate. Not until Abu Bekr
und Omar had ruled, und another
caliph, Othman, had ids (lay and lind
been murdered ns was Omar before
ldm, did All become caliph.
"Certainly Mohammedanism can be
termed emphatically n ‘ man’s relig­
ion.’ Vet, nt this OHrly date, two wom­
en were the moving spirits in split­
ting It Into the Sunnite and Shiite di­
visions which have prevailed ever
since. Ayesha, favorite wife of the
prophet, always had been Jealous of
his daughter, Futlinn, and the soccm -
sion of Fatima'B husband directed all
her efforts upon nn antl-AII party.
Meantime tlie group which, all along,
hud regarded All as the legitimate
successor, gained strength during Ida
rule but were kept busy hghting to
hold the away Omar hud established.
“ When All's son and successor,
Hnssnn, wns murdered, probably by
tlie hand of his wife at the behest of
Monwiynh, this Moawlyah assumed
the caliphate, removed its seat to
Damascus, anil began the scries of
rulers known as Ommiades. Hence­
forth the Shiites were alienated from
the Sunnites, or Orthodox Mohamme­
dans, because of their reverence for
All nnd Hnssnn. nnd their belief that
the first of the Ommiades and his suc­
cessors were usurpers nnd pretenders.
Arabian and Persian Mohammedans
inclined toward the Shiite faction.
An Earlier Rebellion of Irak.
“ Away* hack In the days of the suc­
cessor to Monwiynh the Inhabitants
of Irak rebelled—the same Irak which
only last year launched out again on
Its nntlonnl course after electing
Endr Felsal as king. Feisal is the
tldrd son of the grand sheriff of
Mecca.
“ It wns during another series of
caliphates, that of the Ahhasld mnn-
archs, that Harun nl Ilashld ruled.
And It was after his reign thnt the
division of the caliphate among his
three sons made the caliphate Into a
sort of commission form of govern­
ment.
One son was to hold sway
over Arabia and Syria; another In
Persln nnd Turkestan; nnd u tldrd In
Asia Minor and tlie Black sen region.
“ At another time, toward the end
of the Tenth century, Bagdad, Cntro
nnd Cordova, Spain, all were the
seats of separate ruling caliphs;
though this was no ntnlnlde division.
Each caliph declared the other n
heretic ..ml held himself the lone head
of nil Islam.
"llow Abul Abbas, first of the Ah­
hasld moimrchs had every living male
of the Ommiades thrown Into prison,
killed them all, nnd then gave a bnn-
quet on n grent cloth thrown over
their hones Is hut one exnmple of the
fantastic cruelty of the centurles-
long struggle to be caliph.
"The story of the cnltphnte would
fill—hns filled—volumes. The assump­
tion of the title by the sultans of Tur­
key Is a modern and perhaps a minor
chapter In the struggle to he “The
Successor’ and thus to hold sway over
this mighty force of Islnm. Points
of special Interest are that force
often hns played n mhjor part In as­
sumption of the rnn>, thnt there have
been several caliphs both by mutual
agreement and also by rivalry, and
thnt nrqtilrlng tlie title of caliph hy
no means guarantees Its recognition
by the Moslem world.”
Washington.—Near East polities nre
Inextricably bound up with religion
In ways It Is hard for us to conceive.
And some prevalent misconceptions
about the Mohammedan faith seem to
add confusion tq many discussions
about Moslem problems.
"A caliph without temporal power
is a more radical departure in the
Islam world than the western mind
at first can grasp,” says a bulletin
from the Washington headquarters of
tlie National Geographic society.
"The easiest wny to dispel some
of these lllusliftis Is by pointing to
several striking likenesses between
the world's two newest among the
major religions. The term ’Moham­
medan,' like tlie term ’Christian,’ Is a
nickname. Both names w eft given,
with contemptuous intent, by enemies
of the religions.
Both Religions Nicknamed.
“The term •Christian* was quickly
adopted by followers of the Naxareue.
The term ’Mohammedan’ never lias
been adopted by tlie followers of the
prophet. He sought to avoid the em­
ployment of his own name by supply­
ing one—the name of Islam—by which
he hoped Mohammedanism would be
known. He further sought to mnko
this word, meaning resignation. Imply
the five cardinal points of the new
faith. The first of these points was
the brief creed, ‘There is no God but
Allah, and Mohnmtnrd is his prophet.’
The other four enjoined prayer, giv­
Valve Taken From Boy's Brain.
ing of alms, the fast of Itnmodan ami
Buffalo.—I.ouls Strauss, twelve years
pilgrimage to Mecca.
old, of Gowanda, Is recovering In the
“ Another significant parallel be­
Hoincopnthlc hospital after having
tween Christianity and Mohammedan­
hnd removed from his head the valve
ism Is that both are tlie religions of
of an automobile inner tube.
millions of people of races nllon to
Tbe valve of the tube penetrated
that of their founders. Christ was a
the bpy's scalp and skull white
Jew; Mohammed wns an Aram. It Is
he and some companions were play­
the Mohammedanism modified by the
ing. The valve cut a clean hole
Turkish temperament and nationality
through the bone benenth the temple
that hns clashed with Western civili­
and burled a piece of bone, tho size
zation In recent centuries.
of u dime, In tlie boy’s brain.
Islam Not a Religious Unit.
“ Most misleading of all tin* illusions
about Mohammedanism, however, Is
the tnelt assumption thnt the Mo­
hammedan world Is a religions unit.
Seen a long way off the sects and |
groups fade away. In reality there 1
are two great branches of Mohamme- j
danism, the Sunnites and the Shiites. I
Among both these branches, an?) also
outside them, there are sharply drawn j
cleavages.
“ Itecent caliphs, who have been the ]
sultans of Turkey, hnve claimed «plr- ;
Itnal supremacy over the Mohamme­
dan world of some 300.00fl.il0l> souls.
But In actual fact the sultan of Tur­
key had little more spiritual ascen­
dancy over the Mohammedan* outside
Turkey than the king of England has
over the Episcopalians In tho United j
States. In fact there wonld he no (
urgent Near East problem at this
moment had his leadership been rec­
ognized on the other side of the Bos- 1
poms In Asia Minor.
Caliphs Have Always Ruled.
"A very Important difference be- I
tween the Western mind and the Mo- i
hammedan viewpoint has, hitherto,
precluded a spiritual ascendancy of
With the new airplane carrier, the U. 8. 8. Langley, completed, elaborate
the latter which would cut across all ! experiments and demonstrations were conducted at Hampton Roaila showing
lines of temporal power and Include how easily planes may take off and land on the deck of the Idiaglcy. The
even warring nations. The Moham- j photograph show* how an airplane or seaplane can he stowed away under the
medan has no priests. Islam la the [ deck of the carrier. Inset Is Capt. S. II. K. Doyle, commander of the Langley.
Langley, Plane Carrier, Completed