The Chairman.

of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and as we all know, you are a questioned documents expert of the Department of the Treasury. We desire your testimony for technical assistance to the Commission in connection with the papers used in this hearing concerning the assassination.

Mr. Cole.

I understand.

The Chairman.

Would you raise your right hand and be sworn, please?
Do you solemnly swear the testimony you are about to give before this Commission shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

Mr. Cole.

I do.

The Chairman.

Mr. Eisenberg, you may conduct the examination.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Mr. Cole, could you state your full name, please?

Mr. Cole.

That is Alwyn Cole.

The Chairman.

I am obliged to spend the morning with the Court. We are hearing arguments today and when I leave, in a short time, Congressman Ford will preside at the meeting and conduct it.

Mr. Eisenberg.

What is your position, Mr. Cole?

Mr. Cole.

I am employed as examiner of questioned documents with the U.S. Treasury Department.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Can you state your specific duties in this position?

Mr. Cole.

I am required to examine any document in which the Treasury Department is interested when a question arises about the genuineness of the document or the identity of any of its parts. A good deal of this work includes the identification of handwriting.

Mr. Eisenberg.

From what sources is work referred to your laboratory, Mr. Cole?

Mr. Cole.

From the several divisions of the Office of the Treasury of the United States, and from the various Bureaus of the Treasury Department, including the enforcement agencies: Secret Service, narcotics, customs, internal revenue service.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Mr. Cole, can you tell us how you prepared yourself to carry on this work of questioned documents examination?

Mr. Cole.

I served an apprenticeship of 6 years under Mr. Burt Farrar from 1929 to 1935. Mr. Farrar at that time was the document examiner for the Treasury Department, and at the time of my association with him he had had over 40 years of experience in the work.
Under Mr. Farrar's tutelage I studied the leading textbooks on the subject of questioned documents, which includes handwriting identification, and I received from him cases for practice examination of progressively increasing difficulty, made these examinations, prepared reports for his review, and also during this period I had assignments to other Government laboratories, those of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and the Government Printing Office, and I had close association with other technical workers in the government service.
I succeeded Mr. Farrar in 1935, and I have had daily practical contact with questioned problems from 1929 to the present date.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Mr. Cole, are you a member of any associations of persons engaged in questioned documents examination?

Mr. Cole.

Yes, sir; I am.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Could you state those positions?

Mr. Cole.

I am a member of the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners, of the International Association for Identification, and of the American Academy of Forensic Science.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Do you give instructions to others in this work, Mr. Cole?

Mr. Cole.

I do. I am an instructor at the Treasury Department Law Enforcement Officer Training School.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Have you had occasion to testify in Federal or other courts?

Mr. Cole.

Yes, sir; I have, many times.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Mr. Chairman, I ask that this witness be permitted to give expert testimony on the subject of questioned documents.

The Chairman.

The witness is qualified.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Mr. Cole, I now show you a photograph of an envelope and a purchase order. The envelope is addressed to Klein's, in Chicago, from one