Mr. McCLOY. Does it correspond to the one he used in New Orleans?
Mr. EISENBERG. I am about to introduce an exhibit which shows Post
Office Box 30061, that is, the last two figures reversed, and I imagine
his spelling accounts for that.
Mr. Cole, I now show you an item consisting of a part of an application
for Post Office Box 30061 in New Orleans, dated June 11, 1963, with a
postmark, signed "L. H. Oswald," and in the part of the box captioned
"Names of persons entitled to receive mail through box" and so forth,
the words are written "A. J. Hidell, Marina Oswald," and I ask you
whether you have examined that item?
Mr. COLE. I have.
Mr. EISENBERG. May I have this item admitted, Mr. Chairman, as 817?
Mr. McCLOY. Let it be admitted.
(The item referred to was marked Commission Exhibit No. 817, and
received in evidence.)
Mr. EISENBERG. Did you compare this with the standards to determine
who wrote the writing on that exhibit, or more accurately, whether the
printing and writing was produced by the same person who produced the
printing and writing on the standards?
Mr. COLE. I did.
Mr. EISENBERG. What was your conclusion?
Mr. COLE. It is my conclusion that the author of the standard writing
is the author of the writing on Commission Exhibit 817.
Mr. EISENBERG. Did you take a photograph of Commission 817?
Mr. COLE. I did.
Mr. EISENBERG. This was taken by you or under your supervision?
Mr. COLE. Yes, sir.
Mr. EISENBERG. And it is a true and accurate reproduction of 817?
Mr. COLE. It is.
Mr. EISENBERG. This is an 8 by 10 photograph. Mr. Chairman, may this be
admitted as 818?
Mr. McCLOY. It may be admitted.
(Commission Exhibit No. 818 was marked and received in evidence.)
Mr. EISENBERG. By reference to this photograph and by reference to your
charts of standards, Mr. Cole, can you explain to us how you came to
this conclusion?
Mr. COLE. Yes, sir; with respect to the handprinting of the name "A. J.
Hidell," I direct attention to the formation of the letter "d" in the
same manner as that previously described in the standard writing, chart
C, item 6, first line--a close correspondence as to the construction,
writing movement, in forming those letters.
The letter "e" compares favorably not only as to form but the
circumstance that here again the lowercase letter is mixed in with
capital letters. Of course, that applies to the three letters "ide"
associated with the other capital letter of that name, and that is a
habit shown in many places in the standard writing.
The "L's" have the compound curve across the base, which has previously
been observed in the standard writing.
In the name "Marina," the form of the capital letter "M" compares
closely with the capital letter "M" shown on chart C, item 6, second
line, the name "Mercedes."
That same name shows the form of letter "A" with the retraced stroke on
the left side which exists in many places in the standard writing.
The name "Oswald" again shows this mixture of uppercase and lowercase
letters, namely the circumstance that the "l" and "d" are lower-case
forms, whereas the previous, the other four letters are upper case.
The signature "L. H. Oswald," agrees with other signatures that I have
examined, some of which are shown on the charts, chart A, item 15,
chart B, item 15, and chart C, item 6, next to the last line, a close
correspondence in all details, except that there is some confusion or
overriding in the second letter of the last name in the area of the
"s," which may be only an accidental imperfection in that particular
area. Otherwise, there is a fairly clear showing of all the letters,
and they agree with the standards.
Mr. EISENBERG. Does that "s" that you refer to appear to be two "s's,"
one printed and one written?
Mr. COLE. Yes; it could be that. They are somewhat intertwined there,
and we have got this name just following an instance of making
handprinting, so that could be an explanation of it.
Mr. EISENBERG. Next, I show you a photograph of a card reading "Fair
Play for Cuba Committee. New Orleans Chapter, L. H. Oswald," signature,
"L. H. Oswald," dated June 15, 1963, signed "Chapter President--A. J.
Hidell," and I ask you whether you have examined that photograph?
Mr. COLE. I have.
Mr. EISENBERG. May this be admitted as 819, Mr. Chairman?
Mr. McCLOY. It may be admitted.
(Commission Exhibit No. 819 was marked and received in evidence.)
Mr. EISENBERG. For the record, this is a photograph of a card that was
found in Oswald's wallet at the time of his apprehension.
I now show you a card, a paper card, which appears to be the same as
Exhibit 819, except that there is no visible marking where the words
"Chapter"--where the signature "Chapter President--A. J. Hidell" is
written on Exhibit 819, and the card is seriously discolored with a
dark brown discoloration, and I ask you whether you have examined this
card I now hand you?
Mr. COLE. I have.
Mr. EISENBERG. May I have that admitted as 820, Mr. Chairman?
Mr. McCLOY. It may be admitted.
(Commission Exhibit No. 820 was marked and received in evidence.)
Mr. EISENBERG. In your opinion, is 819 a photograph of the card, 820?
Mr. COLE. Yes; it is.
Mr. EISENBERG. Can you account in any way for the discoloration of the
card 820?
Mr. COLE. The discoloration is characteristic of that which has
previously been observed as resulting from treating a document with a
solution of silver nitrate. Such treatment is sometimes done in the
hope of developing latent fingerprints, and this treatment could be,
and probably is, the explanation for the elimination of a line of
writing on the line for signature above the title "Chapter President."
Mr. EISENBERG. Were you able to make out whether any writing had
appeared in the space which is now blank on Exhibit 820, making
provision for the----