Refugio Timely Remarks (Refugio, Tex.), Vol. 33, No. 38, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 22, 1961 Page: 6 of 8
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j*age 6—Refugio Timely Remarks, Thurs., June 22,1961
The Refugio Timely Remarks
Published Each Thursday at Refugio, Refugio County, Texas
Second-class postage paid at Refugio, Texas
Entered at Refugio Post Office November 10,1929
' Consolidated with Refugio County News
Jsniiciry 1* 1919
Consolidated with Woodsboro Weekly Times
February 1, 1937
Carter Snooks -------------------------------------------- Owner-Publisher
Roger B. Shurley ____________________ Mechanical Superintendent
Josephine Moehr -------------------------------------------------— Bookkeeper
Gloria Eckel ______________________________________________-— TTS Perforator
Gus Benavides ______________________________________ Make-up, Pressman
Johnny Lee -----------------------------------------------—— Sterotyper
Barbara Ann Snooks ___________________ Copy Editor-Proofreader
Constance Snooks ------------------------------------------- Society Editor
Charlotte Trojcak ___________________________________________ Feature Editor
Subscription Rates:
In Refugio County ________________________________________ $4.00 per Year
In Texas - ~ ________________________—- $5.00 Per Year
Elsewhere iii United States ________________________ $6.00 Per Year
(Payable in Advance)
Identification and Criminal Records Division
Keeps Eagle Eye on Ever-Increasing Lawbreakers
_ ... ___I- onri r-nn wrifp is a hullets and 1.963 cartridge
REMEMBER FLAG DAY, JUNE 14
(Editor’s note: Following is the
fourth of a series of artiles de-
tailing the evolution and organi-
zation of the Texas Department
of Public Safety and the numer-
ous vital servies this ageny pro-
vides for the people of Texas.)
ARTICLE IV
IDENTIFICATION AND
CRIMINAL RECORDS
DIVISION — A MILLION
FINGERPRINTS, A
MILLION LAWBREAKERS
Texas, like the rest of the Na-
tion, fought a rising crime rate
during the past two years which
was outstripping population in-
creases.
The Identification and Criminal
Records Division, which compiles
and tabulates crime reports from
over the State, reported that ma-
jor crimes in Texas in 1960 in-
creased 13.1 per cent over 1959.
This division plays a vital role
in the battle against crime. It
served the State’s law enforce-
ment officers as a central gather-
ing point of fingerprint and crimi-
nal records, stolen property re-
ports and criminal intelligence as
well a maintaining an up-to-date
criminal laboratory.
IT'S A HISTORICAL FACT/
The first flag of the United States
originated 184 years ago intke
Second Continental Congress,—
8 8 days after it was requested
by an. Indian as an emblem, of
protection for his chiefs!
While Flag Day for 1961 is several days past,
the following “Guest Editorial” takes on added sig-
nificance in view of the “Letter to the Editor” pub-
lished beneath the editorial.
We hear and read that Communist are “zealous”
and “fanatic” in pushing their ideals and beliefs.
Patriots, who advocate strong, loyal support of
American principals with respect for the American
flag, are referred to as “old fashioned” and “moss-
backset
It is time we ... if we are to maintain and keep
our cherished liberties and way of life . . . support
our country—in the face of criticism and ridicule—
as strongly and as bravely as to those of different
view.
THREE STRINGS OF WAMPUM FOR OUR FLAG
It’s true. It’s true that there’s nothing quote so rare
as a day in June. Right now we’re thinking about a day
that’s rare indeed—Thursday, June 14th. It’s Flag Day.
Well, what’s so special about Flag Day? Only one state—
Pennsylvania—designates it a legal holiday. We know many
homes and places of business that don’t even have an Ameri-
can flag to display—particularly not one of the new 50-star
flags.
And we’ve never heard of any law in this land that says
a citizen must fly the flag on Flag Day—or any other time.
So why Flag Day?
We have this special day for several reasons. By dis-
playing the Stars and Stripes, we honor the birth of our
first flag 184 years ago.
In the records of the Second Continental Congress for
June 3, 1777, there appears this remarkable statement:
“The President laid before the council three strings of
wampum which have been deliverd to him some time before
by Thomas Green, a nominal Indian of the nation, requesting
that a flag of the United States might be delivered to him
to take to the chiefs of he naion, o be used by them for their
security and protection.”
Eleven days later, Congress adopted a declaration stating
that “the flag of the United States shall be of thirteen stripes
of alternate red and whie wih a union of hirteen stars ^ of
white in a blue field, representing the new constellation.”
On Flag Day, we have the opportunity of honoring the
birth certificate of great events, of a great plan of life
worked out by a great people. We should hoist this stirring
piece of cloth and let it wave because it is a symbol—a sym-
bol of the past, of the men and women who went before us,
and of the records they wrote upon it.
And there’s more than tradition to it, of course. We
hope to see our flags wave up, down and across the nation
as emblems of our power and purpose as a nation TODAY.
That’s why Flag Day can be—SHOULD BE—something
special for all of us.
Letters to
the Editor,
• ••
June 15, 1961
Dear Editor:
Is it legal for someone to dis-
play the U. S. Flag which has
been used for a military funeral,
by flying it 24 hours a day?
On the main road through Bay-
side, a mhn does just that. I don’t
think it proper and consider it a
disgrace to the U. S. that any
human can be that low. I am a
disabled Vet of World War n and
I get sick when I think I fought
for people like him. That flag is
tattered, torn and dirty from dirt,
rain and flopping on the front of
the building to which it flies.
Disabled Vet
(Name whitheld by request
please)
Fingerprints
There are now on file over
1,000,000 individual sets of crimi-
nal fingerprints which are steadily
becoming more valuable to local
law enforcement. Between 16,000
and 18,000 of these individuals are
wanted by some agency some-
where in the United States. Be-
cause criminal activity often is
nationwide, the exchange of infor-
mation throughout the country is
essential in today’s modern en-
forcement effort.
Records Section
During the two year period.
September 1, 1958 through August
31, 1960, the Records Section re-
ceived and processed 274,820 sets
of fingerprintsr—134,580 in 1959 and
140,240 in 1960. This number has
increased over the years and in-
dications are that it will continue
to increase yearly. Officers of
Texas, the other states of the un-
ion, Canada and Mexico received
171,152 copies of the weekly law
enforcement bulletin in 1959 and
188,258 copies during 1960. This
bulletin enjoys the reputation as
being one of the outstanding
. crime bulletins produced any-
where with reference to complete-
ness of information and quality.
Further, the Records Section
during the two years handled 25,-
495 stolen automobile reports, an-
swered 51,903 inquiries of various
nature, and mailed 318,808 copies
of criminal record transcripts.
Modus Operand! Section
This section is the gathering
agency of criminal case reports
— 110,449 received in 1959 and 83,-
668 in 1960. These are carefully
scrutinized for characteristic
trade marks of certain offenders.
If the offense matches the oper-
ation of a known offender, the in-
vestigating agency is notified so
the investigation can be centered
on that one individual or a group
of individuals. The offenses that
are coded and cross - indexed in-
clude burglary, theft (where it ap-
pears a professional is involved),
robbery, sex offenses and fraud.
The MO Section also keeps close
tab on the “Who’s Who” of the
Texas underworld. This is done
by disseminating their names, pho-
tographs, fingerprints associates,
mode of transportation, criminal
speciality and any other pertin-
ent data that may be of value to
the field investigator. This section
also furnishes each Department of
Public Safety radio station with
complete information concerning
these known criminal and their
associates.
Latent Fingerprints Section
Being rapped by fingerprints
has always been a thorn in the
I side of the criminal. He uses every
| conceivable device to protect him-
! self from this technical grip. He
j wears gloves, socks on his hands,
or wipes the area of his illicit
I activities with a cloth before leav-
ing.
Despite these precautions, the
Latent Fingerprint Section re-
mains very busy processing latent
fingerprints. During the years 1959
and 1960, 2,592 latent fingerprints
were checked by this section—1,-
171 in 1959 and 1,421 in 1960. These
were obtained from the process
ing of 5,921 different articles.
This two - man section assisted
officers in 348 field investigations,
ranging from theft and burglary
to bank robbery and murder. So
complete and damaging to the fel-
on is their evidence that mem'
bers of the section have found it
necessary to appear in court as
expert witnesses only 19 times
during the two - year period
Besides laboratory and field
work, this section has conducted
schools on crime scene search for
latent prints, identification of
these prints, and other pertinent
details of assistance to local agen-
cies. This section has lectured or
conducted 36 schools during the
two - year period.
Chemical Laboratory
Identifying an unknown sub-
stance is truly a challenging task
and often requires much time,
equipment and knowledge to un-
fold the .mystery. The Chemical
Laboratory meets this challenge
daily. It is divided into six region-
al labs where the more simple
types of examinations are per-
formed, and the headquarters lab
where the complex examinations
requiring extensive equipment and
techniques are performed.
During fiscal years 1959 and
1960, this section worked on 9,481
cases that required 70,057 indivi-
dual exacting examinations. Some
of the examinations can be com-
pleted in several minutes, where
some take as long as two weeks.
Of the 71 different types of ex-
aminations conducted, the test for
alcoholic content of blood and
urine, identity of suspected narco-
tics and determining the presence
of poison lead the list of
total examinations. During this
same period, the chemists and
toxicologists made 1,023 appear-
ances in court and instructed in 24
police schools.
Polygraph Section
Determining if a suspect is tell-
ing the truth or a lie by utilizing
a scientific instrument is fascinat-
ing and often rewarding. The
Polygraph Section is decentraliz
ed very similar to the chemical
laboratory. There are six examin-
ers in the field and two at head-
quarters.
During the past two fiscal years,
there was a total of 4,033 suspects
tested. In the opinion of the
examiners, 1,622 were untruthful
and of this number 1,052 admitted
their guilt; 2094 were truthful and
277 examinations were inconclu-
sive.
The number of suspects tested
by the polygraph examiners is in-
creasing steadily. In one year
alone, 1960, the examiners cleared
cases concerning 36 different types
of offenses. There were 800 bur-
glaries cleared, 615 thefts, 29 rob-
veries, 14 murders and numerous
other offenses. The examiners lec-
tured at many police schools and
assisted local law enforcement of-
ficers by working up composite
photographs of wanted subjects.
Questioned Documents Section
Any person who has a pen,
blank check and can write is a
potential “Paper Hanger”. Many
members of the criminal elemient
have made forgery their profes-
sion and have become rather pro-
ficient. The equipment, planning
and finesse of some of these pro-
fessionals would shock the lay-
man.
The Questioned Document Sec-
tion, however, has been instrumen-
tal in bringing to justice these of-
fenders who prey on the unsus-
pecting merchant. Of the 7,465
checks submitted to this section
for examination, 65 per cent of
them were identified as being writ-
ten by certain suspects. The mone-
tary value of these checks amount-
ed to a staggering $625,283.41, an
average of approximately $79.00
per check. Also numerous exami-
nations were made of typewritten
documents, printed documents,
check protector impressions and
paper water marks. During the
fiscal years of 1959 and 1960, this
section made 77 court appearances
and lectured in 19 schools.
Photography Section
Photograpnic work in a crime
lab is quite different from any
other phase of photography, for
the technican must be versatile
and master several different tech-
niques. Microphotography, parallel
light and infra-red photography is
common place in the police photo-
graphic laboratory. With the rath-
er rapid advances in color pro-
cesses this lab has increased its
work in this line, with special em-
phasis on photographs used for
presentation in court. During the
past two fiscal years, 11,409 color
transparencies and 3,116 color
prints were made. Also, during the
same period, 369,204 black and
white prints were made. In 44
cases the photo lab assisted other
sections of the laboratory in pro-
cessing different types of evidence
and assisted in actual crime and
accident investigations on 39 oc-
casions. Personnel of this lab lec-
tured in 21 police schools.
bullets and 1,963 cartridge cases
were checked. In addition, 628
examinations were made on arti-
cles in an attempt to develop ob-
literated dates, identify tools as
ones used in some crime and com-
parison of plaster of paris casts.
So necessary is this evidence in
criminal prosecution, this section
appeared in court on 66 occasions.
Value of this evidence has been
explained to law enforcement offi-
cers in 61 different schools.
Firearms Section
Just like a fingerprint, each
firearm and tool is an individual—
when used, it leaves a character-
istic mark that will identify it
from any other. The Firearms
Section received during the past
two fiscal years 1,126 firearms to
be examined to determine if they
were connected with some crime.
Along with this examination, 2,988
Examples of Identification
Science
‘On August 31, 1959, the Chemi-
cal Laboratory received by Air
Express the clothing of a man who
had been killed by a hit and run
driver on a country road near
Brownsville.
In a matter of hours, the in-
vestigating highway patrolman
and deputy sheriff were advised
by teletype that orange colored
paint was present on the victim’s
trousers and on a broken key
chain attached to a belt loop.
With this information, the patrol-
man noted an orange truck in the
back yard of a nearby residence.
The owner was removing the hood,
the grill and the right front fen-
der. These were brought to the
laboratory in Austin where it was
found that the paint on them was
identical to the paint particles on
the trousers and key chain. Furth-
er examination revealed a series
of scratches which matched the
key chain.
This evidence was used in the
suspect’s trial, which resulted in
a conviction for Failure to Stop
and Render Aid.
The personal effects, clothing,
false teeth, and both hands of an
unknown deceased male were sub-
mitted to the division with the re-
quest that an effort be made to
establish identity.
Examination of the false teeth
lower plate revealed a name and
a Veterans Administration num-
ber. Since the hands were in a
mumrmified condition the fingers
were removed and placed in sep-
arate beakers according to the
finger’s number, in order that they
would be kept in the proper se-
quence. Then the figers were
dipped in liquid latex several
times.
After the latex dried it was roll-
ed from the finger. Each latex
cast was then placed on the oper-
ator’s finger, inked and rolled on
a fingerprint card. The inked im-
Mining Ghost Town
Head for them, thar hills men,
they've found silver.
Matter of fact, they’re mining it
at Shafter, Texas, right now.
(Most interesting however, is the
ghost town of Shafter itself. It’s
located in Presidio County in far
west Texas, near the Mexican
border.
You can wander along the river
gulch and find old mining mach-
inery in the deserted homes of the
former silver miners. Seeing it is
just like reading an historical
book or western novel.
Cattlemen Organized
Forty men organized the Cattle
Raisers Association of Texas in
1877 under an oak tree that still
stands in Graham, Texas, north-
west of Fort Worth.
A stone monument now stands
by that Young County tree, com-
memorating the site as the be-
ginning of this great organization.
On the monument are the names
of the association’s first officers.
Ye Ole Franklin
Ever been to Franklin, Texas,
at the western tip of the state?
No, we don’t have our directions
confused. We mean west, not east.
The Franklin of West Texas is
a wonderful town with most every
thing that a town of over 130,000
population should have.
It’s on the Mexican border too,
for an added attraction.
Never heard of this Franklin?
Well, that’s probably because they
now call it El Paso! But it was
named Franklin way hack when
it was first settled.
pression made with latex was
compared with the inked im-
pression on a fingerprint card
on file which established positive
identification.
The officer submitting the evi-
dence in this case was then noti-
fied as to the identity of the de-
eased, his next of kin, and where
they could be contacted so that
disposition of the body could be
made.
(Next: Inspection and Planning
Division — new horizons ia pub-
lic protection.)
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Refugio Timely Remarks (Refugio, Tex.), Vol. 33, No. 38, Ed. 1 Thursday, June 22, 1961, newspaper, June 22, 1961; Refugio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth601676/m1/6/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Dennis M. O’Connor Public Library.