Mr. Day.

Yes, sir; it was taken by Detective J. B. Hicks in Captain Fritz' office on November 22, 1963.

Mr. Belin.

Did you take more than one right palmprint on that day, if you know?

Mr. Day.

Yes, sir; we took two, actually we took three. Two of them were taken in Captain Fritz' office, and one set which I witnessed taking myself in the identification bureau.

Mr. Belin.

Any particular reason why you took more than one?

Mr. Day.

In most cases, when making comparisons, we will take at least two to insure we have a good clear print of the entire palm.

Mr. Belin.

Now, based----

Mr. Day.

One might be smeared where the other would not.

Mr. Belin.

Based on your experience, I will ask you now for a definitive statement as to whether or not you can positively identify the print shown on Commission Exhibit 637 as being from the right palm of Lee Harvey Oswald as shown on Commission Exhibit 629?

Mr. Day.

Maybe I shouldn't absolutely make a positive statement without further checking that. I think it is his, but I would have to sit down and take two glasses to make an additional comparison before I would say absolutely, excluding all possibility, it is. I think it is, but I would have to do some more work on that.

Mr. Belin.

Could you do that here in Washington before you go back, sir, or would this necessitate going back to Dallas?

Mr. Day.

If I had the proper equipment I think I could do it here. I don't have very good equipment for making comparisons here. I need two fingerprint glasses.
It was my understanding-the prints had been identified by the FBI. I don't have official word on it.

Mr. Belin.

Is there any other thing that you did with regard to the rifle that you haven't discussed this far that you can remember right now?

Mr. Day.

No, sir; I released it to the FBI then, and they took possession of it.

Mr. Belin.

Did you ever hear this rifle referred to as a 7.65 Mauser or as any type of a Mauser?

Mr. Day.

Yes, sir; it wasn't referred to as that. Some of the newsmen, when I first carried the rifle out, asked me if it was a .3006, and at another time they asked me if it was a Mauser. I did not give them an answer.

Mr. Belin.

Were there newsmen on the sixth floor at the time the rifle was found, if you know?

Mr. Day.

I think there was.

Mr. Belin.

Did you ever describe the rifle as anything but a 6.5-caliber with regard to the rifle itself?

Mr. Day.

I didn't describe the rifle to anyone other than police officers.

Mr. Belin.

Is the description that you used with the police officers the same that you dictated here into the record from your notes?

Mr. Day.

Yes, sir.

Mr. Belin.

Anything else with regard to the rifle?

Mr. Day.

I can't think of anything else that I did with it at the time.
I don't know whether you are interested in this or not, but about, it must have been about 8:30 I was processing the gun on the fourth floor----

Mr. Belin.

Of the police department there?

Mr. Day.

Of the police department where my office is. The identification bureau. And Captain Fritz came up and said he had Mrs. Oswald in his office on the third floor, but the place was so jammed with news cameramen and newsmen he did not want to bring her out into it.

Mr. Belin.

Was this the wife or the mother of Lee Harvey Oswald?

Mr. Day.

That was Marina, Oswald's wife. She had her baby with her, or babies, and there was an interpreter down there. He wanted her to look at the gun to see if she could identify it, didn't want to bring her in through the crowd, and wanted to know if we could carry it down. He said, "There is an awful mob down there."