TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14525, 29 November 1912, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

The method of identification Bank by finger prints which has Finger been found so successful in Prints, dealing with criminals, has

been put to a ncvr use, the success of which seems to be equally assured. A number of New York and Chicago banks havo adopted the Bcriillcn system as .a substitute for the signature in the identification of their depositors. According to a writer in "System," the method is operated with enso and simplicity, and little, if any, extra labour or expense. In addition, it is an extremely reliable system, for while tho forging of a signature is a matter of a little care and ingenuity, there aro perhaps not two men or women in tho world with fingermarkings similar enough to be mistaken for each other. Still, allowing for the possibility of a mistake being made through carelessness or haste, an impression is taken of three finger-tips instead of the usual rolling impression of ono or both thumbs. In this way depositors are afforded complete protection against the imitation of thoir "signatures" by forgers. Tho method used by banks for imprinting these "signs manual" is as follows:—The index, middle and third fingers of the right hand aro pressed lightly on a glass plate thinly coated with printer's ink containing a drying solution. Tho fingers are then removed and applied to a card, which is kept by tho bank officials for comparison with future* "signatures." Tho whole process does not occupy much longer time than that employed in writing one's name, the only inconvenience being the soiling of the fingers with printer's ink. It might be thought that women, in particular, would object to this, but officials of banks in which the finger-print system is used, declare that most of them submit to the process readily, and even express themselves delighted with the plan, owing to the added security afforded them. Australian approhenAn sipns about Japanese Australian ambitions aro not likely in to be allayed by tho Japan. articles on the Japanese Army that are being contributed to tho Sydney "Daily Telegraph" by the Major tho Hon. R. A. Crouch, an Australian officer who recently visited Japan. Major Cront;*,, who. as a military man with credentials, mixed freely with Japanese officers, and saw as much of the working of their military system as a foroijjuer is permitted to see, was struck by tho completeness of the Japanese mtengenco system. Officers whom ho mot were thoroughly conversant with thi details of the Australian scheme of ■ defence, and apparently little happens in Australia in this connection that is not reported to Tokio. Tho Japanese Government subsidises three great shipping lines, but insists on the right to requisition all the steamers on its own terms in time of war, and that officers of its intolligonoo corps and secret service department can at any time be placed as part of the crew. It is said that ono military and two naval officers, changed every six months, accompany every ship of tho Nippon Yusen Kaisha lino to Australia, and that promotion in the service depends upon the value of their reports. But with regard to their own defences the Japanese are most secretive. Major Crouch mentions that, while inspecting barracks in Japan ho asked a question about a certain article of equipment. Tho question was ignored. When he repeated it, a command was given to an orderly, as the visitor thought, to get a spocinicn of the article in question, but the orderly did not return. When Major Crouch tried to take a snapshot at Kamamura, an attendant rushed up and held up a card on which was. written:—"No one in this military district allowed to use a camera without official authority." Major Crouch pretended that he did not understand, but the official held his hand in front of tho lens. Even this was never developed, for having been warned that all photographers licensed to develop negatives were compelled to mark out all distant backgrounds, j Major Crouch loft tho developing for j his return. Ho thon found that all I his Japanese negatives had been deliberately spoiled by someone, and suspects the hand of the Jananeso detective, one of whom is attached to all European hotels. Ho knows that after his visit to the British Embassy hie letters were scrutinised, and belongings carefully examined.

"Egyptian darkness" ie one When of tho mildest terms which it is can bo applied to a fullDark, strength London fog of tho "pea~soup M variety. The Sydney 'Sun's" London representative, in describing a particularly bad one experienced early in October, ransacks his vocabulary despairingly to find some term or metaphor capable of conveying to his Australian readers a sense of its utter opaqueness.

Tho Serbonian Bog must been a Palace of Light compared to it. tho Catacombs cf Rome, the underground sewers of Paris, tho caverns beneath tho Pyramids, cannot vie with, it, he declares, adding that it is lighter at the thonsand-foot level m my Australian mine than it is in the best-lit street in London when the fog descends in earnest. '"Pea-soup" is not i a strong enough or picturesque enough term for the "Sun's" representative"Tho quintessence of all the dust and goat of tho city, is deposited in your lungs or. your larynx," he asserts. *'A genuine sandstorm in Sydney in midsummer, coaling at Colombo, or labouring in a municipal dessicating factory, are clean and wholesome compared to tho inescapable impurities which infiltrate a London fog." "Wandering .semewhero near Fleet street, in the midst of tho impenetrable darkness, lie heard a muffled clang of bells, and the panting of a motor approaching him. Ho knew that it was a fire motorengine, and London fire-motors carry tremendously powerful lights, yet not till tho footguard touched him did ho know it was besido him It was crawling along at a snail's pace, with oao man lying on each side of the tonncau trying in vain to probe tho darkness with tho help of an arc-light. A few minutes after a crash announced that tho engine had mounted the footpath, and was trying to enter a shop window. Perhaps no one knows h:s way about London better than a taxicab driver, yet in tho centre of Holborn the "Sun's" representative came across a taxi-cab whose driver was creeping round in widening circles to try to find someone who could tell him where ho was. Within twenty yards of his cab a motor 'bu> was performing similar evolutions, neither in tho least awaro of tho other's existence. Tho fog was omnipresent. It invaded the theatres, where phantom figures moved vaguely in a pale square blurr, which was the stage. When the King visited tho theatro ho was preceded,- surrounded, and followed by torch-bearers, a spectacle which would have been strangely reminiscent of the Middle Ages had anyono been able to sco it. Madame Clara Butt and Mr Kennorley Rumford, returning home after giving a concert at tho Alexandra Hall, were stranded in • their Motor at tho foot of a flight cf steps leading to a privato house. Elsewhere on pavements lost taxis stood all night, while their drivers slept philosophically inside, awaiting the lifting of the fog and a chance of locating their whereabouts and finding their way liome.