Mr. Cole.

English. The Russian script on this document has been identified as being that of George Bouhe, an acquaintance of the Oswald's, and the English script as being that of Marina Oswald. Marina herself identified this as her handwriting, and she stated that Bouhe was teaching her English by writing out the Russian and having her translate into English. As far as I know this is the only standard we have of Marina's handwriting in the Latin alphabet. Mr. Cole, I ask you whether you have examined Commission Exhibit 110?

Mr. Cole.

I have.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Have you attempted to compare the signature "A. J. Hidell" on Commission Exhibit 819 with the Latin or English printing, or writing rather, in Exhibit 110, to determine whether they were both written by the same person?

Mr. Cole.

I have.

Mr. Eisenberg.

And what is your conclusion?

Mr. Cole.

My conclusion is that the author of the writing in the Latin alphabet on Exhibit 110 is a possible author of the name "A. J. Hidell" on 819, but I do not offer that as a definite conclusion. I say "possible author" because I observed a similarity in the particular parts where close comparison is possible, namely, with respect to the lowercase letter "d," of which one example is found in the word "day" on the left side of the lower one-third of Exhibit 110. The similarity consists in the degree of roundness of the body of the letter, and the fairly short and thin loop or the upper extension of the letter "d," plus a similarity with respect to the terminal stroke of that letter, the circumstance that it is not joined continuously with the letter following.
Another similarity is observed in the double "l's" of the word "especially," which is on the last line at the right side of 110, and here we have a similarity with respect to the proportion of the height of those letters relative to other small letters.
There is no opportunity for making a more extensive comparison between the name "A. J. Hidell" on 819 with this standard writing. And on that basis I would say only that the author of the standard could be regarded as a possible author of the questioned signature.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Mr. Cole, would the production of Cyrillic writing, that is writing in the Russian language, be useful to you in evaluating the signature on 819?

Mr. Cole.

I believe not.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Can you explain that?

Mr. Cole.

Well, ordinarily a person who--I might say this, that the construction in writing one alphabet and the other would be completely different--that one would develop habits along different lines. It could not be expected that there would be a close translation of habits from one alphabet into another.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Is enough writing present in 819 so that you believe you could make a definite identification if you had a sufficient standard on which to base your comparison?

Mr. Cole.

Yes; I think so.

Mr. Eisenberg.

If we obtained a greater standard, that is, a more voluminous standard, of the handwriting of Marina Oswald or other persons, would you undertake to make the examination and to submit your result, either in the form of testimony or by written communication to us, Mr. Cole?

Mr. Cole.

Yes; I would be quite willing to.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Mr. Chairman, may we state on the record that the Commission is requesting Mr. Cole to do this, if we can obtain a better standard, and that we will attempt to obtain such a standard?

Mr. Mccloy.

Very well.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Mr. Cole, referring to 110 again for a moment, can you characterize the degree of skill with which the writing is produced, that is the English or Latin alphabet present on 110?

Mr. Cole.

I would say it is an average degree of skill, fairly good based upon the perfection of letter forms, regularity of proportions, speed of writing----I would say fairly good.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Would it require much practice in the use of the Latin alphabet to attain the degree of skill evidenced in 110?