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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Disputed Handwriting, by Jerome B. Lavay
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Disputed Handwriting
+
+Author: Jerome B. Lavay
+
+Release Date: November 10, 2004  [eBook #14003]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DISPUTED HANDWRITING***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Ted Garvin and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed
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+
+
+DISPUTED HANDWRITING
+
+An Exhaustive, Valuable, and Comprehensive Work upon One of the Most
+Important Subjects of To-day. With Illustrations and Expositions for
+the Detection and Study of Forgery by Handwriting of All Kinds
+
+by
+
+JEROME B. LAVAY
+
+The first work of the kind ever published in the United States.
+For the Protection of America's Banks and Business Houses.
+
+1909
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+"Handwriting is a gesture of the mind"
+
+
+
+
+TO THE AMERICAN BANKERS' ASSOCIATION
+
+
+THAT POWERFUL AGENCY WHICH HAS
+ELEVATED THE STANDARD OF BANKING IN THE UNITED STATES
+AND AN INSTITUTION THAT FOLLOWS ALL WRONGDOERS
+AGAINST MEMBERS OF THE FRATERNITY
+RELENTLESSLY AND SUCCESSFULLY
+THIS WORK IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+HOW TO STUDY FORGED AND DISPUTED SIGNATURES
+
+All Titles Depend Upon the Genuineness of Signatures--Comparing
+Genuine with Disputed Signatures--A Word about Fac-simile
+Signatures--Process of Evolving a Signature--Evidence of
+Experience in Handling or Mishandling a Pen--Signature Most
+Difficult to Read--Simulation of Signature by Expert Penman--Hard
+to Imitate an Untrained Hand--A Well-Known Banker Presents Some
+Valuable Points--Perfectly Imitated Writings and Signatures--Bunglingly
+Executed Forgeries--The Application of Chemical Tests--Rules of
+Courts on Disputed Signatures--Forgers Giving Appearance of Age
+to Paper and Ink--Proving the Falsity of Testimony--Determining
+the Genuineness or Falsity by Anatomy or Skeleton--Making a
+Magnified Copy of a Signature--Effectiveness of the Photograph
+Process--Deception the Eye Will Not Detect--When Pen Strokes
+Cross Each Other--Experimenting With Crossed Lines--Signatures
+Written With Different Inks--Deciding Order of Sequence in
+Writing--An Important and Interesting Subject for Bankers--Determining
+the Genuineness of a Written Document--Ingenuity of Rogues Constantly
+Takes New Forms--A Systematic Analysis Will Detect Disputed Signatures
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+FORGERY BY TRACING
+
+Forgeries Perpetrated by the Aid of Tracing a Common and Dangerous
+Method--Using Transparent Tracing Paper--How the Movements are
+Directed--Formal, Broken and Nervous Lines--Retouched Lines
+and Shades--Tracing Usually Presents a Close Resemblance to the
+Genuine--Traced Forgeries Not Exact Duplicates of Their Originals--The
+Danger of an Exact Duplication--Forgers Usually Unable to Exactly
+Reproduce Tracing--Using Pencil or Carbon-Guided Lines--Retouching
+Revealed under the Microscope--Tracing with Pen and Ink Over a
+Transparency--Making a Practice and Study of Signatures--Forgeries
+and Tracings Made by Skillful Imitators Most Difficult of
+Detection--Free-Hand Forgery and Tracing--A Few Important Matters to
+Observe in Detecting Forgery by Tracing--Photographs a Great Aid in
+Detecting Tracing--How to Compare Imitated and Traced
+Writing--Furrows Traced by Pen Nibs--Tracing Made by an Untrained
+Hand--Tracing with Pen and Ink Over a Transparency--Internal
+Evidence of Forgery by Tracing--Forgeries Made by Skillful
+Imitators--How to Determine Evidences of Forgery by Tracing--Remains
+of Tracings--Examining Paper in Transmitted Light--Freely Written
+Tracings--A Dangerous Method of Forgery
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+HOW FORGERS REPRODUCE SIGNATURES
+
+Characteristics Appearing in Forged Signatures--Conclusions Reached
+by Careful Examinations--Signatures Written with Little Effort to
+Imitate--What a Clever Forger Can Do--Most Common Forgeries of
+Signatures--Reproducing a Signature over a Plate of Glass--A Window
+Frame Scheme for Reproducing Signatures--How the Paper is Held
+and the Ink Applied--How a Genuine Signature is Placed and Used--A
+Forger's Process of Tracing a Signature--How to Detect Earmarks
+of Fraud in a Reproduced Signature--Prominent Features of Signatures
+Reproduced--Method Resorted to by Novices in Forging
+Signatures--Conditions Appearing in All Traced Signatures--Reproduction
+of Signatures Adopted by Expert Forgers--Making a Lead-Pencil Copy of
+a Signature--Erasing Pencil Signatures Always Discoverable by the Aid
+of a Microscope--Appearances and Conditions in Traced Signatures--How
+to Tell a Traced Signature--All the Details Employed to Reproduce a
+Signature Given--Features in Which Forgers are Careless--Handling
+of the Pen Often Leads to Detection--A Noted Characteristic of
+Reproduced Signatures--Want of Proportion in Writing Names Should Be
+Studied--Rules to Be Followed in Examining Signatures--System Employed
+by Experts in Studying Proof of Reproduced Signatures--Bankers and
+Business Men Should Avoid Careless Signatures
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+ERASURES, ALTERATIONS AND ADDITIONS
+
+What Erasure Means--The English Law--What a Fraudulent Alteration
+Means--Altered or Erased Parts Considered--Memoranda of Alterations
+Should Always Accompany Paper Changed--How Added Words Should
+be Treated--How to Erase Words and Lines Without Creating
+Suspicion--Writing Over an Erasure--How to Determine Whether or
+Not Erasures or Alterations Have Been Made--Additions and
+Interlineations--What to Apply to the Suspected Document--The
+Alcohol Test Absolute--How to Tell which of Crossing Ink Lines
+Were Made First--Ink and Pencil Alterations and Erasures--Treating
+Paper to Determine Erasures, Alterations and Additions--Appearance of
+Paper Treated as Directed--Paper That Does Not Reveal Tampering--How
+Removal of Characters From a Paper is Affected--Easy Means of
+Detecting Erasures--Washing with Chemical Reagents--Restoration
+of Original Marks--What Erasure on Paper Exhibits--Erasure in
+Parchments--Identifying Typewritten Matter--Immaterial
+Alterations--Altering Words in an Instrument--Alterations and
+Additions Are Immaterial When Interests of Parties Are Not Changed
+or Affected--Erasure of Words in an Instrument
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+HOW TO WRITE A CHECK TO PREVENT FORGING
+
+How a Paying Teller Determines the Amount of a Check--Written Amount
+and Amount in Figures Conflict--Depositor Protected by Paying
+Teller--Chief Concern of Drawer of a Check--Transposing
+Figures--Writing a Check That Cannot Be Raised--Writers who Are
+Easy Marks for Forgers--Safeguards for Those who Write Checks--An
+Example of Raised Checks--Payable "To Bearer" Is Always a
+Menace--Paying Teller and An Endorsement System Must Be Observed in
+Writing Checks--How a Check Must Be Written to Be Absolutely Safe--A
+Signature that Cannot Be Tampered with Without Detection--Paying
+Tellers Always Vigilant
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+METHODS OF FORGERS, CHECK AND DRAFT RAISERS
+
+Professional Forgers and Their Methods--Using Engravers and
+Lithographers--Their Knowledge of Chemicals--Patching Perforated
+Paper--Difficult Matter to Detect Alterations and Forgeries--Selecting
+Men for the Work--The Middle Man, Presenter, and Shadow--Methods for
+Detecting Forgery--Detailed Explanation of How Forgers
+Work--Altering and Raising Checks and Drafts--A Favorite Trick of
+Forgers--Opening a Bank Account for a Blind--Private Marks on
+Checks no Safeguard--How a Genuine Signature Is Secured--Bankers Can
+Protect Themselves--A Forger the Most Dangerous Criminal--Bankers
+Should Scrutinize Signatures--Sending Photograph with Letter of
+Advice--How to Secure Protection Against Forgers--Manner in Which
+Many Banks Have Been Swindled--Points About Raising Checks and
+Drafts That Should Be Carefully Noted
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE HANDWRITING EXPERT
+
+No Law Regulating Experience and Skill Necessary to Constitute an
+Expert--Expert Held Competent to Testify in Court--Bank Officials
+and Employees Favored--An Expert On Signatures--Methods Experts
+Employ to Identify the Work of the Pen--Where and When an Expert's
+Services Are Needed--Large Field and Growing Demand for
+Experts--Qualifications of a Handwriting Expert--How the Work is
+Done--A Good Expert Continously Employed--The Expert and the
+Charlatan--Qualifying as An Expert--A System Which Produces
+Results--Principal Tests Applied by Handwriting Experts to
+Determine Genuineness--Identification of Individual by His
+Handwriting--How to Tell Kind of Ink and Process Used to Forge a
+Writing--Rules Followed by Experts in Determining Cases--The Testimony
+of a Handwriting Expert--Explaining Methods Employed to Detect
+Forged Handwriting--The Courts and Experts--What an Expert May
+Testify to--Trapping a Witness--Proving Handwriting by Experts--General
+Laws Regulating Experts--The Basework of a HandwritingExpert--Important
+Facts an Expert Begins Examination With--A Few Words of Advice and
+Suggestion About "Pen Scope"--Detection of Forgery Easy--Rules
+Herewith Suggested Should Be Observed--Expert Witnesses, Courts, and
+Jurors
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+HOW TO DETECT FORGED HANDWRITING
+
+Frequency of Litigation Arising over Disputed Handwriting--Forged and
+Fictitious Claims Against the Estates of Deceased People--Forgery
+Certain to Be Detected When Subjected to Skilled Expert Examination--A
+Forger's Tracks Cannot Be Successfully Covered--With Modern Devices
+Fraudulent, Forged and Simulated Writing Can Be Determined Beyond
+the Possibility of a Mistake--Bank Officials and Disputed
+Handwriting--How to Test and Determine Genuine and Forged
+Signatures--Useful Information About Signature Writing--Guard
+Against an Illegible Signature--Avoid Gyrations, Whirls and
+Flourishes--Write Plain, Distinct and Legible--The Signature to
+Adopt--The People Forgers Pass By--How Many Imitate Successfully--How
+an Expert Detects Forged Handwriting--Examples of Signatures Forgers
+Desire to Imitate--Examining and Determining a Forgery--Comparisons
+of Disputed Handwriting--Microscopic Examinations a Great Help in
+Detecting Forged Handwriting--Comparison of Forged Handwriting
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+GREATEST DANGER TO BANKS
+
+Check-Raising Always a Danger--A Scheme Almost Impossible to
+Prevent--The American Banker's Association the Greatest Foe to
+Forgers--It Follows Them Relentlessly and Successfully--Chemically
+Prepared Paper and Watermarks Not Always a Safeguard--Perforating
+Machines and Check Raisers--How Check Perforations Are
+Overcome--How an Ordinary Check Is Raised--How an Expert Alters
+Checks--How Perforations Are Filled--Hasty Examination by Paying
+Tellers Encourages Forgers--The Way Bogus Checks Creep Through a
+Bank Unnoticed--A Celebrated Forgery Case--Forgers Successful for
+a Time Always Caught--Where Forgers Usually Go That Have Made a
+Big Haul--A Professional Crook Is a Person of Large Acquaintance
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THUMB PRINTS NEVER FORGED
+
+Thumb-Print Method of Identification Absolute--Now Brought to a High
+State of Perfection--Will Eventually Be Used in all Banks--Certified
+Checks and Also Drafts with Thumb-Print Signatures--Absolute Accuracy
+of a Thumb-Print Identification Assured--A Thumb-Print in Wax on Sealed
+Packages--Its Use an Advantage on Bankable Paper of All Kinds--How
+Strangers Are Easily Identified--Bankers, Merchants and Business Men
+Protected by This System--Full Particulars as to How Thumb-Prints Are
+Made--Can be Printed by Anyone in a Few Minutes--How and When to Place
+Your Thumb-Print on Bankable Paper--Finger-Prints as Reliable as
+Thumb-Prints--Use to Which This System Could Be Put--Thumb and Finger
+Tips Do Not Change From Birth to Death--Department of Justice at
+Washington Has Established a Bureau of Criminal Registry Using the
+Thumb-Print System--Thumb-Print System Said to Be a Chinese
+Invention--Its Use Spreading Rapidly--How to Secure Thumb-Print
+Impression Without Knowledge of Party--An Interesting and Valuable
+Study
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+DETECTING FORGERY WITH THE MICROSCOPE
+
+Determining Questionable Signatures By the Aid of a Microscope--A
+Magnifying Glass Not Powerful Enough--Character of Ink Easily
+Told--The Microscope and a Knowledge of Its Use--Experience and
+Education of an Examiner of Great Assistance--An Expert's Opinion--The
+Use of the Microscope Recommended--Illustrating a Method of
+Forgery--What a Microscopic Examination Reveals--How to Examine
+Forged Handwriting with a Microscope--Experts and a Jury--What
+the Best Authorities Recommend
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+SIGNATURE EXPERTS THE SAFETY OF THE MODERN BANK
+
+A New Departure in Banks--Examining All Signatures a Sure
+Preventive Against Forgery--The "Filling in" Process--How One
+Forger Operated--Marvelous Accuracy of a Paying Teller--How He
+Attained Perfection--How Signature Clerks Work--A Common Dodge
+of Forgers--Post Dated Checks--A System That Prevents Forged and
+Raised Checks--Not a Forged or Raised Check Paid in Years
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+HOW TO DETERMINE AGE OF ANY WRITING
+
+The Different Kinds of Ink Met With--Inks That Darken by Exposure
+to Sunlight and Air--Introduction of Aniline Colors to Determine
+the Age of Writings--An Almost Infallible Rule to Follow--Determining
+Age of Writing By Ink Used--The Ammonia System a Sure One--A
+Question of Great Interest to Bankers and Bank Employes--Thick and
+Thin Inks--So-Called Safety Inks That Are Not Safe--How to Restore
+Faded Inks--An Infallible Rule--Restoring Faded Writing--Restored
+By the Silk and Cotton System That Anyone Can Arrange--Danger of
+Exposing Restored Writing to the Sun
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+DETECTING FRAUD AND FORGERY IN PAPERS AND DOCUMENTS
+
+Infallible Rules for the Detection of Same--New Methods of
+Research--Changing Wills and Books of Accounts--Judgment of the
+Naked Eye--Using a Microscope or Magnifying Glass--Changeable
+Effects of Ink--How to Detect the Use of Different Inks--Sized
+Papers Not Easily Altered--Inks That Produce Chemical Effects--Inks
+That Destroy Fiber of Paper--How to Test Tampered or Altered
+Documents--Treating Papers Suspected of Forgery--Using Water to
+Detect Fraud--Discovering Scratched Paper--Means Forgers Use to
+Mask Fraudulent Operations--How to Prepare and Handle Test
+Papers--Detecting Paper That Has Been Washed--Various Other
+Valuable Tests to Determine Forgery--A Simple Operation That
+Anyone Can Apply--Iodine Used on Papers and Documents--An Alcohol
+Test That Is Certain--Bringing Out Telltale Spots--Double
+Advantage of Certain Tests--Reappearance of Former Letters or
+Figures--What Genuine Writing Reveals--When an Entire Paper or
+Document is Forged
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+GUIDED HANDWRITING AND METHOD USED
+
+The Most Frequent and Dangerous Method of Forgery--How to Detect
+a Guided Signature--What Guided Handwriting Is and How It Is
+Done--Character of Such Writing--Writing by a Guided Hand--Difficulty
+in Writing--Force Exercised by Joint Hands--A Hand More or Less
+Passive--Work of the Controlling Hand--How Guided Writing
+Appears--Two Writers Acting in Opposition--Distorted Writing--How
+a Legitimate Guided Hand is Directed and Supported--Pen Motion
+Necessary to Produce Same--Influence in Guiding a Stronger
+Hand--Avoiding an Unnatural and Cramped Position--Effect of the
+Brain on Guided Hand--Separating Characteristics from Guided Joint
+Signature--Detecting Writing by a System of Measurement
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+TALES TOLD BY HANDWRITING
+
+Telling the Nationality, Sex and Age of Anyone Who Executes
+Handwriting--Americans and Their Style of Writing--How English, German,
+and French Write--Gobert, the French Expert, and How He Saved
+Dreyfus--Miser Paine and His Millions Saved by an Expert--Writing
+with Invisible Ink--Professor Braylant's Secret Writing Without
+Ink--Professor Gross Discovers a Simple Secret Writing Method With a
+Piece of Pointed Hardwood--A System Extensively Used--Studying the
+Handwriting of Authors--How to Determine a Person's Character and
+Disposition by Handwriting
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+WORKINGS OF THE GOVERNMENT SECRET SERVICE
+
+Officials of This Department Talk About Their Work--How Criminals
+Are Traced, Caught and Punished--Its Work Extending to All
+Departments--Secret Service Districts--Reports Made to the Treasury
+Department--Good Money and Bad--How to Detect the False--System of
+Numbering United States Notes Explained--Counterfeiting on the
+Decrease--Counterfeiting Gold Certificates--Bank Tellers and
+Counterfeits--The Best Secret Service in the World
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+CHARACTER AND TEMPERAMENT INDICATED BY HANDWRITING
+
+A Man's Handwriting a Part of Himself--Handwriting and
+Personality--Cheap Postage and Typewriters Playing Havoc with
+Writing by Hand--Old Time Correspondence Vanishing--Two Divisions
+of Handwriting--Fashion Has Changed Even Writing--Characteristic
+Writing of Different Professions--One's Handwriting a Sure Index to
+Character and Temperament--Personality of Handwriting--Handwriting
+a Voiceless Speaking--A Neglected Science--Interest in Disputed
+Handwriting Rapidly Coming to the Front--Set Writing Copies no
+Longer the Rule--Formal Handwriting--Education's Effect on
+Writing--Handwriting and Personality--The Character and
+Temperament of Writers Easily Told--Honest, Eccentric, and Weak
+People--How to Determine Character by Writing--The Marks of Truth
+and Straightforwardness--How Perseverance and Patience Are
+Indicated in Writing--Economy, Generosity and Liberality Easily
+Shown in Writing--The Character and Temperament of Any Writer
+Easily Shown--Studying Character from Handwriting a Fascinating
+Work--Rules for Its Study--Links in a Chain That Cannot be
+Hidden--A Person's Writing a Surer Index to Character Than His Face
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+HANDWRITING EXPERTS AS WITNESSES
+
+Who May Testify As An Expert--Bank Officials and Bank Employes Always
+Desired--Definition of Expert and Opinion Evidence--Both Witness
+and Advocate--Witness in Cross Examination--Men Who Have Made the
+Science of Disputed Handwriting a Study--Objections to Appear in
+Court--Experts Contradicting Each Other--The Truth or Falsity of
+Handwriting--Sometimes a Mass of Doubtful Speculations--Paid Experts
+and Veracity--Present Method of Dealing with Disputed Handwriting
+Experts--How the Bench and Bar Regard the System--Remedies
+Proposed--Should an Expert Be an Adviser of the Court?--Free
+from Cross-Examination--Opinions of Eminent Judges on Expert
+Testimony--Experts Who Testify Without Experience--What a Bank
+Cashier or Teller Bases His Opinions on--Actions and Deductions of
+the Trained Handwriting Expert--Admitting Evidence of Handwriting
+Experts--Occupation and Theories That Make an Expert--Difference
+Between an Expert and a Witness--Experts and Test Writing--What
+Constitutes An Expert in Handwriting--Present Practice Regarding
+Experts--Assuming to Be a Competent Expert--Testing a Witness with
+Prepared Forged Signatures--Care in Giving Answers--A Writing
+Teacher As an Expert--Familiarity with Signatures--What a Dash,
+Blot, or Distortion of a Letter Shows--What a Handwriting Expert
+Should Confine Himself to--Parts of Writing Which Demand the
+Closest Attention--American and English Laws on Experts in
+Handwriting--Examination of Disputed Handwriting
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+TAMPERED, ERASED AND MANIPULATED PAPER
+
+Sure Rules for the Detection of Forged and Fraudulent Writing of Any
+Kind--European Professor Gives Rules for Detecting Fraud--How to Tell
+Alterations Made on Checks, Drafts, and Business Paper--An Infallible
+System Discovered--Results Always Satisfactory--Can Be Used by
+Anyone--Vapor of Iodine a Valuable Agent--Paper That Has Been Wet or
+Moistened--Colors That Tampered Paper Assumes--Tracing Written
+Characters with Water--Making Writing Legible--How to Tell Paper
+That Has Been Erased or Rubbed--What a Light Will Disclose--Erasing
+with Bread Crumbs--Hard to Detect--How to Discover Traces of
+Manipulation--Erased Surface Made Legible--Treating Partially
+Erased Paper--Detecting Nature of Substance Used for Erasing--Use
+of Bread Crumbs Colors Papers--Tracing Writing with a Glass
+Rod--Tracing Writing Under Paper--Writing With Glass Tubes Instead
+of Pens--What Physical Examination Reveals--Erasing Substance of
+Paper--Reproducing Pencil Writing in a Letter Press--Kind of Paper
+to Use in Making Experiments--Detecting Fraud in Old Papers--The
+Rubbing and Writing Method
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+FORGERY AS A PROFESSION
+
+How Professional Forgers Work--Valuable Points for Bankers and Business
+Men--Personnel of a Professional Forgery Gang--The Scratcher,
+Layer-down, Presenter and Middleman--How Banks Are Defrauded by
+Raised and Forged Paper--Detailed Method of the Work--Dividing the
+Spoils--Action in Case of Arrest--Employing Attorneys--What "Fall"
+Money Is--Fixing a Jury--Politicians with a Pull--Protecting
+Criminals--Full Description of How Checks and Drafts Are
+Altered--Alterations, Erasures and Chemicals--Raising Any Paper--Alert
+Cashiers and Tellers--Different Methods of Protection
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+A FAMOUS FORGERY
+
+The Morey-Garfield Letter--Attempt to Defeat Mr. Garfield for the
+Presidency--A Clumsy Forgery--Both Letters Reproduced--Evidences of
+Forgery Pointed Out--The Work of an Illiterate Man--Crude Imitations
+Apparent--Undoubtedly the Greatest Forgery of the Age--General
+Garfield's Quick Disclaimer Kills Effect of the Forgery--The Letters
+Compared and Evidences of Forgery Made Complete
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+A WARNING TO BANKS AND BUSINESS HOUSES
+
+Information for Those Who Handle Commercial and Legal
+Documents--Peculiarity of Handwriting--Methods Employed in
+Forgery--Means Employed for Erasing Writing--Care to Be Used in
+Writing--Specimens of Originals and Alterations--Means of Discovering
+and Demonstrating Forgery--Disputed Signatures--Free Hand or Composite
+Signatures--Important Facts for the Banking and Business Public--How
+to Use the Microscope and Photography to Detect Forgery--Applying
+Chemical Tests--How to Handle Documents and Papers to Be
+Preserved--The Value of Expert Testimony--Using Chemical,
+Mechanical and Clerical Preventatives
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+HOW FORGERS ALTER BANK NOTES
+
+Bankers Easily Deceived--How Ten One Hundred Dollar Bills Are Made out
+of Nine--How to Detect Altered Bank Notes--Making a Ten-Dollar Bill
+out of a Five--A Ten Raised to Fifty--How Two-Dollar Bills are Raised
+to a Higher Denomination--Bogus Money in Commercial Colleges--Action
+of the United States Treasury Department--Engraving a Greenback--How
+They Are Printed--Making a Vignette--Beyond the Reach of Rascals--How
+Bank Notes Are Printed, Signed and Issued by the Government--Safeguards
+to Foil Forgers, Counterfeiters and Alterers of Bank Notes--Devices to
+Raise Genuine Bank Notes--Split Notes--Altering Silver Certificates
+
+
+APPENDIX
+
+This follows with many pages of Illustrations and Descriptions of
+Various Kinds of Genuine, Traced, Forged and Simulated Writings and
+Autograph Signatures of Bankers, Statesmen, Jurists, Authors, Writers
+and the Leading Public Characters of the World; Individual Autographs
+of Every President of the United States; Freak Signatures and Curious
+and Complicated Writing; and Scores of Other Interesting and
+Instructive Autographs and Writings of Various Kinds That Will Prove
+of Great Worth and Value
+
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+But few writers in the United States have expended their genius in the
+field of disputed, forged, or fraudulent handwriting. In France and
+Germany the subject has been more studied, and in both languages
+several valuable books have appeared, while in this country it is only
+recently that disputed handwriting has been looked upon as one of the
+sciences.
+
+Up to the time of the publication of this work nothing has appeared in
+the United States on the subject of disputed handwriting, short
+magazine and newspaper articles sufficing.
+
+Interest in disputed handwriting and writing of all kinds is being
+rapidly developed, and is a study and research with which the banker
+and business man of the future must and will be perfectly familiar. A
+place will be made for the science among the permanent, necessary, and
+most helpful studies of the day.
+
+No effort has been spared by the author of this work to make every
+feature of handwriting accurate. This work is the result of years of
+practical study in the field of disputed handwriting, and personal
+application has demonstrated that the facts and suggestions given will
+be found absolutely correct. The aim has been to make this the
+standard work on this subject.
+
+In conclusion, the author wishes to acknowledge a debt to the leading
+handwriting experts of the United States and Europe for many
+suggestions that have materially assisted him in the preparation of
+this work. We trust it will prove a material aid to the bankers,
+business men and professional men of the United States.
+
+THE AUTHOR.
+
+
+
+
+DISPUTED HANDWRITING
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+HOW TO STUDY FORGED AND DISPUTED SIGNATURES
+
+All Titles Depend Upon the Genuineness of Signatures--Comparing Genuine
+With Disputed Signatures--A Word About Fac-simile Signatures--Conditions
+Affecting Production of Signatures--Process of Evolving a
+Signature--Evidence of Experience in Handling or Mishandling a
+Pen--Signatures Most Difficult to Read--Simulation of Signature by
+Expert Penman--Hard to Imitate an Untrained Hand--A Well-known
+Banker Presents Some Valuable Points--Perfectly Imitated Writings
+and Signatures--Bunglingly Executed Forgeries--The Application of
+Chemical Tests--Rules of Courts on Disputed Signatures--Forgers
+Giving Appearance of Age to Paper and Ink--Proving the Falsity of
+Testimony--Determining the Genuineness or Falsity by Anatomy or
+Skeleton--Making a Magnified Copy of a Signature--Effectiveness of
+the Photograph Process--Deception the Eye Will Not Detect--When Pen
+Strokes Cross Each Other--Experimenting With Crossed Lines--Signatures
+Written With Different Inks--Deciding Order of Sequence in
+Writing--An Important and Interesting Subject for Bankers--Determining
+the Genuineness of a Written Document--Ingenuity of Rogues Constantly
+Takes New Forms--A Systematic Analysis Will Detect Disputed
+Signatures.[1]
+
+    [1] Note illustrations of various kinds of forged, simulated, and
+    genuine handwriting in Appendix, with careful descriptions of same.
+
+
+The title to money and property of all kinds depends so lately upon
+the genuineness of signatures that no study or inquiry can be more
+interesting than one relating to the degree of certainty with which
+genuine writings can be distinguished from those which are
+counterfeited.
+
+When comparing a disputed signature with a series of admittedly
+genuine signatures of the same person whose signature is being
+disputed, the general appearance and pictorial effect of the writing
+will suggest, as the measure of resemblances or differences
+predominates, an impression upon the mind of the examiner as to the
+genuine or forged character of the signature in question. When it is
+understood that to make a forgery available for the purposes of its
+production it must resemble in general appearance the writing of the
+person whose signature it purports to represent, it follows as a
+reasonable conclusion that resemblances in general appearances alone
+must be secondary factors in establishing the genuineness of a
+signature by comparison--and the fact that two signatures look alike
+is not always evidence that they were written by the same person.
+
+As an illustration of the uncertainty of an impression produced by the
+general appearances and close resemblance of signatures, even to an
+expert observer, is manifested when the fac-simile signatures of the
+signers of the Declaration of American Independence, as executed by
+different engravers, are examined. On comparing each individual
+fac-simile made by one engraver, with the fac-simile of the same
+signature made by another engraver, they will be found to exactly
+coincide in general appearance as to form and pictorial effect, and so
+much so, that the fac-similes of the same signature made by different
+engravers cannot be told one from the other. On examining them by the
+use of the microscope they may be easily determined as the work of
+different persons. While this is likewise true of the resemblances in
+general appearance which a disputed signature may have when compared
+with a genuine signature of the same person, it is also true that the
+measure of difference occurring in the general appearance of a
+disputed signature, when compared with genuine ones of the same
+person, are not always evidence of forgery.
+
+There are many conditions affecting the production of signatures,
+habitually and uniformly apart from the causes which prevent a person
+from writing signatures twice precisely alike, under the influence of
+normal conditions of execution. The effect of fatigue, excitement,
+haste, or the use of a different pen from that with which the
+standards were written, are well known conditions operating to
+materially affect the general appearance of the writing, and may have
+been, in one form or another, an attendant cause when the questioned
+signature was produced, and thus have given to the latter some
+variation from the signatures of the same person, executed under the
+influence of normal surroundings.
+
+In the process of evolving a signature, which must be again and again
+repeated from an early age till death, new ideas occur from time to
+time, are tried, modified, improved, and finally embodied in the
+design. The idea finally worked out may be merely a short method of
+writing the necessary sequence of characters, or it may present some
+novelty to the eye. Signatures consisting almost exclusively of
+straight up-and-down strokes, looking at a short distance like a row
+of needles with very light hair-lines to indicate the separate
+letters; signatures begun at the beginning or the end and written
+without removing the pen from the paper; signatures which are entirely
+illegible and whose component parts convey only the mutilated
+rudiments of letters, are not uncommon. All such signatures strike the
+eye and arrest the attention, and thus accomplish the object of their
+authors. The French signature frequently runs upward from left to
+right, ending with a strong down nourish in the opposite direction.
+All these, even the most illegible examples, give evidence of
+experience in handling or mishandling the pen. The signature most
+difficult to read is frequently the production of the hand which
+writes most frequently, and it is very much harder to decipher than
+the worst specimens of an untrained hand. The characteristics of the
+latter are usually an evident painstaking desire to imitate faulty
+ideals of the letters one after the other, without any attempt to
+attain a particular effect by the signature as a whole. In very
+extreme cases, the separate letters of the words constituting the
+signature are not even joined together.
+
+A simulation of such a signature by an expert penman will usually
+leave enough traces of his ability in handling the pen to pierce his
+disguise. Even a short, straight stroke, into which he is likely to
+relapse against his will, gives evidence against the pretended
+difficulties of the act which he intends to convey. It is nearly as
+difficult for a master of the pen to imitate an untrained hand as for
+the untrained hand to write like an expert penman. The difference
+between an untrained signature and the trembling tracing of his
+signature by an experienced writer who is ill or feeble, is that in
+the former may be seen abundant instances of ill-directed strength,
+and in the latter equally abundant instances of well-conceived design,
+with a failure of the power to execute it.
+
+Observations such as the preceding are frequently of great value in
+aiding the expert to understand the phenomena which he meets, and they
+belong to a class which does not require the application of standards
+of measure, but only experience and memory of other similar instances
+of which the history was known, and a sound judgment to discern the
+significance of what is seen.
+
+No general rules other than those referred to above can be given to
+guide the student of handwriting in such cases, but the differences
+will become sufficiently apparent with sufficient practice.
+
+A well-known banker, writing to the author of this work, makes some
+points on the subject which are rather disturbing. His fundamental
+proposition is that the judgment of experts is of no value when based
+as it ordinarily is, only upon an inspection of an alleged fraudulent
+signature, either with the naked eye or with the eye aided by
+magnifying glasses, and upon a comparison of its appearance with that
+of a writing or signature, admitted or known to the expert, to be
+genuine, of the same party.
+
+He alleges, in fact, that writing and signatures can be so perfectly
+imitated that ocular inspection cannot determine which is true and
+which is false, and that the persons whose signatures are in
+controversy are quite as unable as anybody to decide that question.
+Nevertheless, the law permits experts to give their opinions to
+juries, who often have nothing except those opinions to control their
+decisions, and who naturally give them in favor of the side which is
+supported by the greatest number of experts, or by experts of the
+highest repute.
+
+Decisions upon such testimony this banker regards as no better than,
+if quite as good as, the result of drawing lots. Of course he cannot
+mean to include under these observations, that class of forgeries
+which are so bunglingly executed as to be readily detected by the eye,
+even of persons not specially expert. He can only mean to say that
+imitations are possible and even common, which are so exact that their
+counterfeit character is not determinable by inspection, even when
+aided by glasses.
+
+At first blush this contention of the banker is extremely a most
+unsatisfactory view of the case, and the more correct it looks likely
+to be, the more unsatisfactory. Courts may go beyond inspection and
+apply chemical on the tests, but such tests cannot be resorted to in
+the innumerable cases of checks and orders for money and property
+which are passed upon every day in the business world, and either
+accepted as genuine or rejected as counterfeit. But the real truth is,
+in fully ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, that no check or order is
+paid merely upon confidence in the genuineness of the signature, and
+without knowledge of the party to whom the payment is made, or some
+accompanying circumstance or circumstances tending to inspire
+confidence in the good faith of the transaction. In that aspect, the
+danger of deception as to the genuineness of signatures loses most of
+its terrors.
+
+It is one of the recognized rules of court to admit as admissible
+testimony, the opinions of experts, whether the whole or any specified
+portion of an instrument was, or was not written by the same hand,
+with the same ink, and at the same time, which question arises when an
+addition to, or alteration of, an instrument is charged. It must be
+recollected that at this time It is a very easy matter for experienced
+forgers and rascals to so prepare ink that it may appear to the eye to
+be of the age required, and it is next to impossible for any expert to
+give any information in regard to the age of a certain writing. In
+many instances experts have easily detected the kind of ink employed,
+and have also successfully shown the falsity of testimony that the
+whole of a writing in controversy was executed at the same time, and
+with the same ink.
+
+James D. Peacock, a London barrister, who has given considerable time
+and study to disputed handwritings, lays great stress upon the ability
+of determining the genuineness or falsity of a writing by what he
+calls its "anatomy" or "skeleton." He says that some persons in making
+successive strokes, make the turn from one to another sharply angular,
+while others make it rounded or looping. Writings produced in both
+ways appear the same to the eye, but under a magnifying glass the
+difference in the mode of executing is shown. As illustrating that
+point, he makes the following statement in respect to a case involving
+the genuineness of the alleged signature of an old man whose
+handwriting was fine and tremulous:
+
+"On making a magnified copy of the signature, I found that the
+tremulous appearance of the letters was due to the fact that they were
+made up of a series of dashes, standing at varying angles with each
+other, and further, that these strokes, thus enlarged, were precisely
+like these constituting the letters in the body of the note, which
+were acknowledged to have been written by the alleged forger of the
+note. Upon the introduction of this testimony the criminal withdrew
+the plea of not guilty and implored the mercy of the court."
+
+As one means of determining whether the whole of a writing was
+executed at the same time, and with the same ink, or at different
+times, and with different inks, Mr. Peacock further says that the
+photographic process is very effective because it not only copies the
+forms of letters but takes notice of differences in the color of two
+inks which are inappreciable by the eye. He states that:
+
+"Where there is the least particle of yellow present in a color, the
+photograph will take notice of the fact by making the picture blacker,
+just in proportion as the yellow predominates, so that a very light
+yellow will take a deep black. So any shade of green, or blue, or red,
+where there is an imperceptible amount of yellow, will pink by the
+photographic process more or less black, while either a red or blue
+varying to a purple, will show more or less paint as the case may be."
+
+As to deception which the eye will not detect, in regard to the age of
+paper, he says:
+
+"I have repeatedly examined papers which have been made to appear old
+by various methods, such as washing with coffee, with tobacco, and by
+being carried in the pocket, near the person, by being smoked or
+partially burned, and in various other ways. I have in my possession a
+paper which has passed the ordeal of many examinations by experts and
+others, which purports to be two hundred years old, and to have been
+saved from the Boston fire. The handwriting is a perfect fac-simile of
+that of Thomas Addington, the town clerk of Boston, two hundred years
+ago, and yet the paper is not over two years old."
+
+The most remarkable case of deception to the eye, even when aided by
+magnifying glasses, is in determining when two pen strokes cross each
+other, which stroke was made first. Mr. Peacock does not explain how
+the deception is possible, but that it occurs as matter of fact, he
+shows by an account of a very decisive experiment. Taking ten
+different kinds of ink, most commonly on sale, he drew lines on a
+piece of paper in such a way as to produce a hundred points of
+crossing and so that a line drawn with each of ink passed both over
+and under all the lines drawn with the other inks. He, of course,
+knew, in respect to each point of crossing, which ink was first
+applied, but the appearance to the eye corresponded with the fact in
+only forty-three cases. In thirty-seven cases the appearance was
+contrary to the fact, and in the remaining cases the eye was unable to
+come to any decision.
+
+By wetting another piece of paper with a liquid compound acting as a
+solvent of ink, and pressing it upon the paper marked with lines, a
+thin layer of ink was transferred to the wet paper, and that shown
+correctly which was the superposed ink at every one of the one hundred
+points of crossing.
+
+Many cases have occurred, in signatures written with different inks,
+where some letters in one cross, some letters in another, in which it
+becomes important to decide the order of sequence in writing. It is
+also frequently important to decide the order of sequence in writing.
+It is also frequently important when the genuineness of an addition,
+as of a date, is the thing in dispute.
+
+No subject can be more important or interesting to the business public
+or especially to bankers than that of the reliability of the lists of
+the genuineness of written papers. While it is true that in most cases
+there is some ear-mark beside the appearance of a signature, whereby
+to determine the genuineness of a document, it is also true that in
+many cases, and frequently in cases of great magnitude, payments are
+made on no other basis than the appearance of a writing. The most
+common class of these last cases is where "A" has been long known to
+be an endorser for "B," and where the connection between the two,
+which leads to the endorsements, is well known. There is nothing in
+the appearance in the market of a note of "B" endorsed by "A," that
+is, in any degree calculated to excite suspicion or to put a
+prospective purchaser upon his inquiry. If the endorsement of "A"
+resembles his usual handwriting, it is almost always accepted as
+genuine and if losses result from its proving to be counterfeit, they
+are set down to the score, not of imprudence, but of unavoidable
+misfortune.
+
+Thus, as the ingenuity of rogues constantly takes new forms, the ways
+and means by which they can be baffled in these enterprises are
+constantly being multiplied. The telegraph and telephone give
+facilities for promptly verifying a signature where one is in doubt.
+
+It happens not infrequently that the desire to get a given number of
+words into a definite space leads to an entirely unusual and foreign
+style of writing, in which the accustomed characteristics are so
+obscured or changed that only a systematic analysis can detect them.
+If there be no apparent reason for this appearance in lack of space,
+the cause may be the physical state of the writer or an attempt at
+simulation. If a sufficient number of genuine signatures are
+available, it can generally be determined which of these two
+explanations is the right one.
+
+Note illustrations of various kinds of handwriting in Appendix at end
+of this book. Particular attention is directed to the descriptions and
+analysis. They should be studied carefully.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+FORGERY BY TRACING
+
+Forgeries Perpetrated by the Aid of Tracing a Common and Dangerous
+Method--Using Transparent Tracing Paper--How the Movements are
+Directed--Formal, Broken and Nervous Lines--Retouched Lines and
+Shades--Tracing Usually Presents a Close Resemblance to the
+Genuine--Traced Forgeries Not Exact Duplicates of Their
+Originals--The Danger of an Exact Duplication--Forgers Usually
+Unable to Exactly Reproduce Tracing--Using Pencil or Carbon-Guided
+Lines--Retouching Revealed under the Microscope--Tracing with Pen
+and Ink Over a Transparency--Making a Practice and Study of
+Signatures--Forgeries and Tracings Made by Skilful Imitators Most
+Difficult of Detection--Free-Hand Forgery and Tracing--A Few
+Important Matters to Observe in Detecting Forgery by
+Tracing--Photographs a Great Aid in Detecting Tracing--How to
+Compare Imitated and Traced Writing--Furrows Traced by Pen Nibs--Tracing
+Made by an Untrained Hand--Tracing with Pen and Ink Over a
+Transparency--Internal Evidence of Forgery by Tracing--Forgeries
+Made by Skilful Imitators--How to Determine Evidences of Forgery by
+Tracing--Remains of Tracings--Examining Paper in Transmitted
+Light--Freely Written Tracings--A Dangerous Method of Forgery.
+
+
+Forgery by tracing is one of the most common and most dangerous
+methods of forgery.
+
+There are two general methods of perpetrating forgeries, one by the
+aid of tracing, the other by free-hand writing. These methods differ
+widely in details, according to the circumstances of each case.
+
+Tracing can only be employed when a signature or writing is present in
+the exact or approximate form of the desired reproduction. It may then
+be done by placing the writing to be forged upon a transparency over a
+strong light, and then superimposing the paper upon which the forgery
+is to be made. The outline of the writing underneath will then appear
+sufficiently plain to enable it to be traced with pen or pencil, so as
+to produce a very accurate copy upon the superimposed paper. If the
+outline is with a pencil, it is afterward marked over with ink.
+
+Again, tracings are made by placing transparent tracing-paper over the
+writing to be copied and then tracing the lines over with a pencil.
+This tracing is then penciled or blackened upon the obverse side. When
+it is placed upon the paper on which the forgery is made, the lines
+upon the tracing are retraced with a stylus or other smooth hard
+point, which impresses upon the paper underneath a faint outline,
+which serves as a guide to the forged imitation.
+
+In forgeries perpetrated by the aid of tracing, the internal evidence
+is more or less conclusive according to the skill of the forger. In
+the perpetration of a forgery the mind, instead of being occupied in
+the usual function of supplying matter to be recorded, devotes its
+special attention to superintendence of the hand, directing its
+movements, so that the hand no longer glides naturally and
+automatically over the paper, but moves slowly with a halting,
+vacillating motion, as the eye passes to and from the copy to the pen,
+moving under the specific control of the will. Evidence of such a
+forgery is manifest in the formal, broken, nervous lines, the uneven
+flow of the ink, and the often retouched lines and shades. These
+evidences are unmistakable when studied with the aid of a microscope.
+Also, further evidence is adduced by a careful comparison of the
+disputed writing, noting the pen-pressure or absence of any of the
+delicate unconscious forms, relations, shades, etc., characteristic of
+the standard writing.
+
+Forgeries by tracings usually present a close resemblance in general
+form to the genuine, and are therefore most sure to deceive the
+unfamiliar or casual observer. It sometimes happens that the original
+writing from which the tracings were made is discovered, in which case
+the closely duplicated forms will be positive evidence of forgery. The
+degree to which one signature of writing duplicates another may be
+readily seen by placing one over the other, and holding them to a
+window or other strong light, or by close comparative measurements.
+
+Traced forgeries, however, are not, as is usually supposed,
+necessarily exact duplicates of their originals, since it is very easy
+to move the paper by accident or design while the tracing is being
+made, or while making the transfer copy from it; so that while it
+serves as a guide to the general features of the original, it will
+not, when tested, be an exact duplication. The danger of an exact
+duplication is quite generally understood by persons having any
+knowledge of forgery, and is therefore avoided. Another difficulty is
+that the very delicate features of the original writing are more or
+less obscured by the opaqueness of two sheets of paper, and are
+therefore changed or omitted from the forged simulation, and their
+absence is usually supplied, through force of habit, by equally
+delicate unconscious characteristics from the writing of the forger.
+Again, the forger rarely possesses the requisite skill to exactly
+reproduce his tracing. Much of the minutiae of the original writing is
+more or less microscopic, and from that reason passes unobserved by
+the forger. Outlines of writing to be forged are sometimes simply
+drawn with a pencil, and then worked up in ink. Such outlines will not
+usually furnish so good an imitation as to form, since they depend
+wholly upon the imitative skill of the forger.
+
+Besides the forementioned evidences of forgery by tracing, where
+pencil or carbon guide-lines are used which must necessarily be
+removed by rubber, there are liable to remain some slight fragments of
+the tracing lines, while the mill finish of the paper will be impaired
+and its fiber more or less torn out, so as to lie loose upon the
+surface. Also the ink will be more or less ground off from the paper,
+thus giving the lines a gray and lifeless appearance. And as
+retouchings are usually made after the guide-lines have been removed,
+the ink, wherever they occur, will have a more black and fresh
+appearance than elsewhere. All these phenomena are plainly manifest
+under the microscope. Where the tracing is made directly with pen and
+ink over a transparency, as is often done, no rubbing is necessary,
+and of course, the phenomena from rubbering does not appear.
+
+Where signatures or other writings have been forged by previously
+making a study and practice of the writing, to be copied until it has
+been to a greater or less degree idealized, the hand must be trained
+to its imitation so that it can be written with a more or less
+approximation as to form and natural freedom.
+
+Forgeries and tracings made by skilful imitators are the most
+difficult of detection, as the internal evidence of forgery by tracing
+is mostly absent. The evidence of free-hand forgery and tracing is
+chiefly in the greater liability of the forger to inject into the
+writing his own unconscious habit and to fail to reproduce with
+sufficient accuracy that of the original writing, so that when
+subjected to rigid analysis and microscopic inspection, the
+spuriousness is made manifest and demonstrable. Specific attention
+should be given to any hesitancy in form or movement in tracing which
+is manifest in angularity or change of direction of lines, changed
+relations and proportions of letters, slant of the writing, its
+mechanical arrangement, disconnected lines, retouched shades, etc.
+
+Photographs, greatly enlarged, of both the signatures in question and
+the exemplars placed side by side for comparison will greatly aid in
+making plain any evidence of forgery.
+
+If practicable, use for comparison as standards both the imitated
+writing and that of the imitator's traced writing. These methods,
+employed by skilled and experienced examiners, will rarely fail of
+establishing the true relationship between any two disputed
+handwritings and more especially where the question of a forged or
+traced signature is under discussion.
+
+Under the microscope tracing by the pen-nibs are usually easily
+visible, and they differ with every variety of pen employed. A stiff,
+fine-pointed pen makes two comparatively deep lines a short distance
+apart, which appear blacker in the writing than the space between
+them, because they fill with ink, which afterwards dries and produces
+a thicker layer of black sediment than those elsewhere. The variations
+of pressure upon the pen can be easily noticed by the alternate
+widening and narrowing of the band between these two furrows. The
+tracing appears knotty and uneven when made by an untrained hand,
+while it appears uniformly thin, and generally tremulous or in zigzags
+when made by a weak but trained hand.
+
+Where the tracing is made directly with pen and ink over a
+transparency, as is often done, no rubbing is necessary, and of course
+the phenomena from rubbering do not appear.
+
+Where signatures or other writings have been forged by previously
+making a study and practice of the writing to be copied until it has
+been to a greater or less degree idealized, the hand must be trained
+to its imitation so that it can be written with a more or less
+approximation as to form and with natural freedom.
+
+Forgeries thus made by skilful imitators are the most difficult of
+detection, as the internal evidence of forgery by tracing is mostly
+absent. The evidence of free-hand forgery is chiefly in the greater
+liability of the forger to inject into the writing his own unconscious
+habit, and to fail to reproduce with sufficient accuracy that of the
+original writing, so that when subjected to rigid analysis and
+microscopic inspection, the spuriousness is made manifest and
+demonstrable. Specific attention should be given to any hesitancy in
+form or movement, manifest in angularity or change of direction of
+lines, changed relations and proportions of letters, slant of the
+writing, its mechanical arrangement, disconnected lines, retouched
+shades, etc.
+
+Photographs, greatly enlarged, of both the signatures in question and
+the exemplars placed side by side for comparison will greatly aid in
+making plain any evidences of forgery by tracing.
+
+It sometimes occurs that the forger, fearful that his attempt to
+imitate another's writing would be too easily detected if made with a
+free hand, sketches in pencil the characters he intends to make in ink
+on the document, or traces them by means of blackened paper at the
+appropriate place. The evidences of this are very likely to appear
+when the document is examined in transmitted light.
+
+It is often asserted in trials that tracings of a genuine signature
+invariably show hesitation and painting. This is not always the fact.
+Tracings proven and subsequently admitted to have been such have shown
+an apparent absence of all constraint, and a careful examination of
+the result revealed no pause of the pen. But, on the other hand, these
+freely written tracings have invariably shown either a deviation from
+some habitual practice of the writer, or, if the model was followed
+with skill, two or three such tracings, when photographed on a
+transparent film and superposed, have shown such exact resemblances as
+to proclaim their character at once.
+
+The natural tendency of man is to introduce some elements of symbolism
+in what he is attempting to trace and to seek some sort of geometrical
+symmetry in what he designs. Wherever he is not restricted by certain
+forms which he must introduce, and which may render a balance of parts
+about a median line unattainable, he tends to evolve symmetrical
+designs, as in the highest and simplest forms of ancient architecture.
+When the parts of the design are prescribed, as in the representation
+of objects in nature, he soon tires of mere mechanical repetition of
+the same things in a given sequence, and strives to convey some
+ulterior idea by the manner of joining these parts. This gives life
+and language to sculpture and painting, and gives character to
+handwriting. Tracing signatures is one of the most common and
+dangerous methods of forgery. Some specimens of traced signatures are
+illustrated and explained in an Appendix at the end of this book.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+HOW FORGERS REPRODUCE SIGNATURES
+
+Characteristics Appearing in Forged Signatures--Conclusions Reached by
+Careful Examinations--Signatures Written with Little Effort to
+Imitate--What a Clever Forger Can Do--Most Common Forgeries of
+Signatures--Reproducing a Signature over a Plate of Glass--A Window
+Frame Scheme for Reproducing Signatures--How the Paper is Held and
+the Ink Applied--How a Genuine Signature is Placed and Used--A
+Forger's Process of Tracing a Signature--How to Detect Ear Marks
+of Fraud in a Reproduced Signature--Prominent Features of
+Signatures Reproduced--Method Resorted to by Novices in Forging
+Signatures--Conditions Appearing in All Traced Signatures--Reproduction
+of Signatures Adopted by Expert Forgers--Making a Lead-Pencil Copy of a
+Signature--Erasing Pencil Signatures Always Discoverable by the Aid of
+a Microscope--Appearances and Conditions in Traced Signatures--How to
+Tell a Traced Signature--All the Details Employed to Reproduce a
+Signature Given--Features in Which Forgers are Careless--Handling of
+the Pen Often Leads to Detection--A Noted Characteristic of Reproduced
+Signatures--Want of Proportion in Writing Names Should Be
+Studied--Rules to Be Followed in Examining Signatures--System Employed
+by Experts in Studying Proof of Reproduced Signatures--Bankers and
+Business Men Should Avoid Careless Signatures.
+
+
+In detailing matters which experience suggests as importantly
+connected with the examination of disputed signatures, there are none
+more essential to a proper consideration of the subject than an
+understanding of those characteristics often appearing in forged
+signatures, and by which they are distinguished as such. When the
+features occurring as a concomitant of most forgeries are understood,
+their appearance may suggest a short and easy route to reach a
+conclusion: yet the careful and conscientious examiner will, even with
+these indications present in a disputed signature, institute a very
+careful and detailed study of the latter by comparison with the
+standard writings; and with as much effort as if the indications of
+forgery were not present. To make these features positive evidence,
+each other developed detail must also tend to the same deduction, and
+each detail must be compatible with every other feature, and all point
+to the same conclusion.
+
+As forgers differ in their capability as to accuracy in simulation,
+all grades of its proficiency come up in the experience of those who,
+as experts, are called upon to make such matters a study. At one
+extreme will be found to occur signatures written with but little
+effort to imitate the genuine signature they purport to represent;
+with all the intermediate grades of imitation extending to the other
+extreme, wherein a skilful forger will, by practice, so simulate the
+signature of a person and with such close resemblance that the very
+individual whose name is imitated cannot, independently of attending
+circumstances, tell the forgery from the signature which he knows he
+has written.
+
+Among the most common forgeries of signatures are those which have
+been traced from genuine ones, and these are produced in various ways;
+the most common method being to place the genuine signature over a
+plate of glass horizontally arranged, with a strong light behind it,
+or against the window frame, and then to place over the signature so
+positioned the paper on which the forgery is to be made. When this has
+been done the papers are held in contact firmly, the pen is dipped-in
+ink and moved over the paper, guided by the lines of the genuine
+signature beneath, which show through the superimposed paper, and by
+means of which the form of the signature is transferred to the paper,
+which is exteriorly placed.
+
+While the process of tracing produces very nearly the proper form of
+the matter thus copied, and if well done by the forger the copy will
+in general appearance and to a certain extent resemble in outline the
+signature thus traced, there are usually apparent in all reproduced
+signatures thus made, peculiarities and ear marks indicating the
+manner in which they were produced and by which they can be identified
+as such.
+
+One of the most prominent features of reproduced signatures is the
+general sameness of the writing as appearing in the uniform width of
+the lines, and the omission of the usual shading emphasis. The cause
+of this appearance is the absence of habitual pen pressure, and the
+necessitated slow movement of the pen held closely in contact with the
+paper and by which a uniform and steady flow of ink is deposited
+thereon; thus making what should be the heavier and lighter lines of
+one width and density as to shading. This method of tracing and
+reproducing signatures is that usually resorted to by novices but is
+seldom employed by expert forgers.
+
+Another condition appearing in all traced signatures is the absence of
+all evidence of pen pressure when examined as a transparency; this
+deficiency occurring as consequent upon the manner of moving the pen
+over the paper. While signatures thus made may resemble the one from
+which they are copied, the only likeness they have is that of
+pictorial resemblance and it will be found to be destitute of all the
+appearances and indications of habitual writing in other respects.
+
+Another method of tracing signatures is frequently resorted to by
+persons adept in the art, and this consists in making a lead-pencil
+copy of the genuine signature holding the paper on which the forgery
+is to be produced; tracing the outline of the signature by means of a
+pencil, and then with ink to write over the pencil copy. But as the
+method necessitates the use of an india rubber to remove the surplus
+black lead where not covered by the ink, evidences of the use of the
+rubber will be found to occur, and traces of the black lead can be
+found by the microscope. While the appearances and conditions are
+common to traced signatures, there are in addition to their presence
+generally found evidences of pauses made in the writing, the effect of
+which will appear not as shading of the lines, but as irregularities
+or excrescences produced thereon by resting the hand in its movement,
+and by which at intervals more ink flowed from the pen than would
+occur when the latter was being moved habitually over the paper. Where
+the signatures of the same person exactly coincide when one is laid
+over the other in parallel arrangement with a strong light behind
+them, this condition of their appearance is very positive evidence
+that one of them was traced from the other and is a forgery, as it is
+a circumstance which cannot possibly occur in the writing of two
+signatures produced habitually.
+
+In considering reproduced signatures and forged writing and in
+detailing some of the most common features which are found to occur in
+it, it must not be understood that all the phenomena attending the
+production of forged signatures can be given. Inasmuch as each person
+has a peculiar muscular co-ordination that is manifested in the
+production of habitually written signatures, so each forger from the
+same cause has an individual habit that must be used when simulating;
+hence there will be as many styles of writing manifested in production
+of forgeries as there are forgers to produce them. No positive rule
+can be laid down for the classification of their peculiarities
+excepting the manner of accuracy with which the simulation appearing
+in them is done. Each case of disputed writing must be examined by
+itself, and while there are certain process steps to be followed which
+experience suggests as facilitating the analysis, yet the examiner
+must wholly depend upon what is seen in the disputed signature that
+is, or is not, found in the admittedly genuine writing of the person
+whose signature is questioned, and the comparison of the one with the
+other.
+
+Reproduced signatures often show a copying effort that is manifested in
+the details of their production. These evidences generally appear, in
+some instances, as pauses made in the lines connecting the letters of
+the signature, where the pen rested while the eye of the forger was
+directed from the writing being done to the copy, that the writer could
+fix in the mind the form of a succeeding letter. These pauses appear in
+different measure of prominence in different forgeries, and there is no
+rule as to their measure or appearance. With some forgers the pen rests
+with considerable emphasis and with others it is lifted from the paper
+and returned to the paper while the eye of the writer goes back to the
+copy. With others there will appear but little hesitancy. Some forgers,
+well skilled in the art, will, by practicing the simulation until they
+have the form of the genuine signature well fixed in the mind, become
+enabled to produce a forged copy of a genuine signature that will show
+no pauses--hence the absence of pauses is not proof of the genuine
+character of a signature. Another common characteristic of forged and
+reproduced signatures and particularly such of them as are not traced
+and are produced by persons not skilled in the art is found in the
+studied appearance which they have, as if written under restraint, and
+without the apparent freedom consequent upon habitual writing. Another
+characteristic of forged signatures that are not traced from a genuine
+signature is that they are written with greater length in proportion
+to the width and height of the letters, than occurs in the genuine
+signature from which they are copied in imitation. This want of
+proportion occurs generally from making the lines connecting the
+letters of the signature longer than those of the copy.
+
+At the same time, while these characteristics are common to forged
+writing, to make them available in formulating an opinion from an
+analysis they must be substantiated by every other occurring in the
+writing. It must be clearly kept in view that general impressions
+derived from a cursory examination of a disputed or reproduced
+signature should have no weight in the mind of the examiner before
+proceeding with the analysis, as such an impression is apt to lead the
+investigation into a particular line of research and it should be
+understood that the work of the examiner must relate to the comparison
+of the details in each of the writings as to their correspondence or
+difference.
+
+As before stated in this chapter, and a fact that should be remembered
+in studying fraudulent signatures, that one of the commonest and
+easiest means of reproducing a signature is to put the genuine
+signature on a piece of glass, lay another piece of glass on top of it
+and fasten the piece of paper that is to receive the forgery on top of
+that. Then by holding the glass strips to a bright light, the original
+signature casts a shadow through, which may be traced in pencil. From
+this tracing the ink forgery is completed.
+
+But when a forgery done in this way is put under a strong magnifying
+lens it will not bear scrutiny. If the original has a strong down
+stroke on the capital letters the movement will be free and will leave
+the pen lines with smooth edges. The man who is tracing such letters
+cannot trust himself to the same free movement of the pen and the
+result under the glass shows hesitancy and uncertainty. Also if other
+lines in the signature be lighter than the forger naturally uses the
+same hesitancy will be shown. When the lines have passed scrutiny, too,
+there is another "line" test which will show that the impossibility of
+one's writing two signatures alike has been accomplished.
+
+From dotted points made above the genuine signature straight lines are
+drawn radiating from it to certain portions of certain letters in the
+signature that is forged. When the forged signature is replaced in the
+glass and the other on top, as is done in the tracing, these radiating
+lines will fall one upon the other with the exactness of the lines in
+the signatures.
+
+These radiating lines, too, may be used in the few cases where the
+forger is an expert penman depending upon an offhand duplication of a
+signature. This penman will have his inevitable natural slant to his
+letters. This characteristic slant never is the same in two individuals.
+In his free and easy forgery of a name written by another person this
+"Jim, the penman" exposes his acquired slant which disputes the original.
+
+This slant of individual writing shows especially in any attempt to
+write a forged letter or document. When the pen scope of the original
+has been lined out, proving the characteristic common lengths between
+the lifting of the pen from the paper, the lines radiating from the
+points to individual letters in words or groups of words in authentic
+and bogus specimens, these radiations point at once to the fact that
+the same person did not write the matter.
+
+These are some of the things upon which the handwriting expert works
+upon and brings to bear in proof of reproduced signatures and
+handwriting in general. How the more or less inexpert person discovers
+questionable showing in these duplications are many. His intuitions
+may suggest his doubts. Material evidences may have come to bear upon
+him. Likelihood of some one person's having self-interests in the
+matter may induce him to make sure.
+
+In the case of a banker or business man, having large interests and
+required to affix his signature to many papers of moment, he ordinarily
+makes it certain that through adapted whorls and freehand sweeps of the
+pen, the signature will be least careless and inviting to the
+adventurous forger. In much of his personal correspondence with
+strangers, however, this adapted and unusual signature frequently
+becomes a source of loss to himself and irritation to his correspondents.
+In the case of hundreds of such individuals, the writing to a stranger
+in expectation of a reply becomes an absurdity for the reason that
+the person addressed is hopelessly barred from reading the name
+attached to the letter. A plain signature is always the best.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+ERASURES, ALTERATIONS AND ADDITIONS
+
+What Erasure Means--The English Law--What a Fraudulent Alteration
+Means--Altered or Erased Parts Considered--Memoranda of Alterations
+Should Always Accompany Paper Changed--How Added Words Should
+be Treated--How to Erase Words and Lines Without Creating
+Suspicion--Writing Over an Erasure--How to Determine Whether or
+Not Erasures or Alterations Have Been Made--Additions and
+Interlineations--What to Apply to the Suspected Document--The
+Alcohol Test Absolute--How to Tell which of Crossing Ink Lines were
+Made First--Ink and Pencil Alterations and Erasures--Treating Paper
+to Determine Erasures, Alterations and Additions--Appearance of
+Paper Treated as Directed--Paper That Does Not Reveal Tampering--How
+Removal of Characters From a Paper is Effected--Easy Means of
+Detecting Erasures--Washing With Chemical Reagents--Restoration of
+Original Marks--What Erasure on Paper Exhibits--Erasure in
+Parchments--Identifying Typewritten Matter--Immaterial
+Alterations--Altering Words in an Instrument--Alterations and
+Additions Are Immaterial When Interests of Parties Are Not Changed
+or Affected--Erasure of Words in an Instrument.
+
+
+Erasure or erazuer, as it is more commonly called in England, from the
+Latin word "scrape or shave" is the scraping or shaving of a deed,
+note, signature, amount or of any formal writing. In England, except
+in the case of a will, the presumption, in the absence of rebutting
+testimony, is that the erasure was made at or before the execution
+thereof. If an alteration or erasure has been made in any instrument
+subsequent to its execution, that fact ought to be mentioned (in the
+abstract or epitome of the evidence of ownership) together with the
+circumstances under which it is done.
+
+A fraudulent alteration, if made by the person himself, taking under
+it would vitiate his interest altogether. It was formerly considered
+that an alteration, erasure or interlineation would void the
+instrument entirely, even in those cases where it was made by a
+stranger; but the law is now otherwise, as it is clearly settled that
+no alterations made by a stranger will prevent the contents of an
+instrument from retaining its original effect and operation, where it
+can be plainly shown what that effect and operation actually was. To
+accomplish this the mutilated instrument may be given in evidence as
+far as its contents appear and evidence will be admitted to show what
+portions have been altered or erased, and also the words contained in
+such altered or erased parts; but if, for want of such evidence or any
+deficiency or uncertainty arising out of it the original contents of
+the instruments cannot be ascertained, then the old rule would become
+applicable or more correctly speaking, the mutilated instrument would
+become void for uncertainty. If a will contains any alterations or
+erasures, the attention of the witnesses ought to be directed to the
+particular parts in which such alterations occur, and they ought to
+place their initials in the margin opposite, before the will is
+executed, etc., notice this having been done by a memorandum added to
+the attestation clause at the end of the will.
+
+In Scotland the rule as to erasure is somewhat stricter than in
+England and the United States, the legal inferences being that such
+alterations were made after execution. As to necessary or bona-fide
+alterations which may be desired by the parties, corrections or
+clerical errors and the like after a paper is written out but before
+signature, the rule usually followed is that the deed must show that
+they have been advisedly adopted by the party; and this will be
+effected by mentioning them in the body of the writing. Thus if some
+words are erased and others superinduced, you mention that the
+superinduced words were written over an erasure; if words are simply
+delite that fact is noticed, if words are added it ought to be on the
+margin and such additions signed by the party with his Christian name
+on one side and his surname on the other; and such marginal addition
+must be noticed in the body of the work so as to specify the page on
+which it occurs, the writer of it and that it is subscribed by the
+attesting witness.
+
+The Roman rule was that the alterations should be made by the party
+himself and a formal clause was introduced with their deeds to that
+effect.
+
+As a general rule alterations with the pen are in all cases to be
+preferred to erasure; and suspicion will be most effectually removed
+by not obliterating the words altered so completely as to conceal the
+nature of the correction.
+
+The law of the United States follows that of England and Scotland in
+regard to alterations and erasures.
+
+If any one will try the experiment of erasing an ink-mark on ordinary
+writing paper, and then writing over the erasure, he will notice a
+striking difference between the letters on the unaltered surface. The
+latter are broader, and in most cases, to the unaided eye, darker in
+color, while the erased spot, if not further treated to some substitute
+for sizing, may be noticed either when the paper is held between a
+light and the eye, or when viewed obliquely at a certain angle, or in
+both cases.
+
+Very frequently it happens that so much of the size and the
+superficial layer of fibres must be removed that the mark of the ink
+can be distinctly seen on the reverse side of the paper, and the lines
+have a distinct border which makes them broader than in the same
+writing under normal conditions. If a sharp pen be used there is great
+likelihood that a hole will be made in the paper, or a sputter thrown
+over the parts adjacent to the erasure.
+
+The latter effect is produced by the entanglement of the point of the
+pen among the disturbed fibres of the paper and its sudden release
+when sufficient force is used to carry it along in the direction of
+the writing.
+
+It is often of importance to know, in case of a blot, whether the
+erasure it may partially mark was there before the blot, or whether it
+was made with the object of removing the latter.
+
+Inasmuch as an attempt to correct such a disfigurement would in all
+probability not be made until the ink had dried, an inspection of the
+reverse side of the paper will usually furnish satisfactory evidence
+on the point. If the color of the ink be not more distinct on the
+under side of the paper than the color of other writing where there
+was no erasure, it is probable that the erasure was subsequent to the
+blot.
+
+If the reverse be the case, the opposite conclusion may be drawn.
+Blots are sometimes used by ignorant persons to conceal the improper
+manipulation of the paper, but they are not adapted to aid this kind
+of fraud, and least of all to conceal erasures.
+
+The decision as to whether they have been made legitimately and before
+a paper was executed, or subsequently to its execution, and with
+fraudulent intent, must be arrived at by a comparison of the
+handwriting in which the words appear, the ink with which they were
+written, and the local features of each special case which usually are
+not wanting.
+
+To determine whether or not papers contain erasures the suspected
+document should be examined by reflected and transmitted light.
+Examine the surface for rough spots. Forgers after erasures frequently
+endeavor to hide the scratched and roughened surface by applying a
+sizing of alum, sandarach powder, etc., rubbing it to restore the
+finish to the paper.
+
+Distilled water applied to the suspected document at the particular
+points under examination will dissolve the sizing applied by the
+forger. If held to the light the thinning will show. The water may be
+applied with a small brush or a medicine dropper. Water slightly
+warmed may be used with good results at times.
+
+Alcohol, if applied as described for water, will act more promptly and
+show the scratched places. It may be well to use water first and then
+alcohol.
+
+To discover whether or not acids were used to erase, if moistened
+litmus-paper be applied to the writing, the litmus-paper will become
+slightly red if there is any acid remaining on the suspected document.
+If the suspected spots be treated with distilled water, or alcohol, as
+already described, the doctored place will show, when examined in
+strong light.
+
+Which of two inklines crossing each other was made first, is not
+always easy of demonstration. To the inexperienced observer the
+blackest line will always appear to be on top, and unless the examiner
+has given much intelligent observation to the phenomenon and the
+proper methods of observing it mistakes are very liable to be made.
+Owing to the well-known fact that an inked surface presents a stronger
+chemical affinity for ink than does a paper surface, when one ink-line
+crosses another, the ink will flow out from the crossing line upon the
+surface of the line crossed, slightly beyond where it flows upon the
+paper surface on each side, thus causing the crossing line to appear
+broadened upon the line crossed. Also an excess of ink will remain in
+the pen furrows of the crossing line, intensifying them and causing
+them to appear stronger and blacker than the furrows of the line
+crossed.
+
+It is probable that ink and pencil alterations and erasures are more
+frequently made with a sharp steel scraper and ink-erasing sand rubber
+than otherwise. By these methods the evidence--first, the removal of
+the luster or mill-finish from the surface of the paper; second, the
+disturbance of the fibre of the paper, manifest under a microscope;
+third, if written over, the ink will run or spread more or less in the
+paper, presenting a heavier appearance, and the edges of the lines will
+be less sharply defined; fourth, if erasure is made on ruled paper, the
+base line will be broken or destroyed over the scraped or rubbed
+surface; fifth, the paper, since it has been more or less reduced in
+thickness where the erasure has been made, when held to the light will
+show more or less transparency. When erasures have been thus made the
+surface of the paper may be resized and polished, by applying white
+glue, and rubbing it over with a burnisher. When thus treated it may be
+again written over without difficulty. When erasures have been made
+with acids, there is a removal of the gloss, or mill-finish; and there
+is also more or less discoloration of the paper, which will vary
+according to the kind of paper, ink, and acid used, and the skill with
+which it has been applied. If the acid-treated surface is again written
+over, the writing will present a more or less ragged and heavy
+appearance, if the paper has not been first skillfully resized and
+burnished. It is very seldom that writing can be changed by erasure so
+as not to leave sufficient traces to lead to detection and
+demonstration through a skillful examination.
+
+Upon hard uncalendered paper erasures by acid when skillfully made are
+not conspicuously manifest, nor when made upon any hard paper which
+has been "wet down" for printing, since the luster upon the paper
+would be thereby removed, and, so far as the surface of the paper is
+concerned, there would be no further change from the application of
+the acid. This applies to a wide range of printed blank business and
+professional forms.
+
+A forgery consists either in erasing from a document certain marks
+which existed upon it, or in adding others not there originally, or in
+both operations, of which the first mentioned is necessarily
+antecedent to the last; as where one character or series of characters
+is substituted for another.
+
+The removal of characters from a paper is effected either by erasure
+(seldom by pasting some opaque objects over the characters, painting
+over them, or affixing a seal, wafer, etc., to the spot where they
+existed) or by the use of chemical agents with the object of
+dissolving the writing fluid and affecting the underlying paper or
+parchment as little as possible.
+
+If the erasure be effected by scratching or rubbing, this removes also
+the surface of the paper, which consists of some sort of "size" or
+paste with resin soap, which is pressed into the upper pores to give
+the paper a smooth appearance, and to prevent the writing fluid from
+"running," or entering the pores and blurring the edges of the lines.
+
+If the paper were left as it exists when the scratching or rubbing is
+completed, it would be very easy to see that it had been tampered
+with, for not only would the parts thus abrased show the running of
+any fluid which was subsequently laid upon them, but the surface would
+appear rough to the eye in comparison with adjacent parts of the
+paper, and the place would appear thinner by transmitted light. Even
+to the touch the surface would reveal differences from the ordinary
+condition of other parts of the paper.
+
+But the forger usually endeavors to overcome these difficulties by
+applying to the scratched area sandarach, resin, alum, paste, or two
+or three of these together, the effect being to prevent an unusually
+large flow of ink from the pen and its abnormal absorption by the
+paper.
+
+The paper should be placed between the observer and a strong light, by
+which means, either with or without a magnifying-glass, a distinct
+increase in the brightness of the suspected area may be noticed,
+indicating a thinning, and even traces of letters, or marks which have
+escaped the erasing-tool, may be seen.
+
+A close scrutiny may show places where the surface has been partially
+torn, and the fibres of the paper united together into little knobs,
+and almost invariably a magnifying-glass will clearly show the
+disturbance of the superficial fibres, as compared with other and
+normal parts of the paper. If the latter be tinted, the change of
+appearance may extend to color. The color of the paper should always
+be attentively observed.
+
+A change of color over the part which is the subject of investigation
+may indicate the mechanical removal of the paper itself, or a washing
+either with water or with acids, alkalies, or saline solutions. A
+certain spotted character which follows this latter treatment differs
+from the changes of color due to age or soiling.
+
+When the heavier strokes--usually the down strokes--of a writing are
+thicker and more blurred than usual a removal of sizing is indicated,
+or an original imperfect sizing of the paper.
+
+On the contrary, where the strokes are thinner and closer together
+than usual, the cause is generally the application of resin, which has
+been added, in all probability, to conceal a previous scratching of
+the surface.
+
+The spots produced by washing are more like penumbra, or blurred marks
+bordering the tracings of the character, and are generally colored.
+
+In order to bring out any traces of ink-marks which have been so far
+removed as not to be observable by the naked eye, Coulier recommended
+the placing of the document between sheets of white filter paper and
+passing a hot flatiron over it, allowing the latter to remain on the
+spotted parts for a short time. Another method is to wet the suspected
+paper or document with alcohol, wrapped in another piece of paper also
+saturated with alcohol, for the purpose of bringing out as yellow
+rusty marks all the pen strokes which had not been entirely removed by
+erasure.
+
+This treatment fixes the appearance of the spread lines and colored
+spots in the space that has been washed and renders more noticeable
+the stain caused by a partial sizing. In this manner apparently white
+paper on which at first no traces of characters could be found showed
+a yellow tinge, denoting the presence of previous writing, and on the
+application of gallic acid and an infusion of nut-galls became
+sufficiently distinct to permit the erasure and forgery to be
+detected.
+
+When an erasure is made on the surface of such a paper, the mineral
+and organic materials of the sizing and loading are removed, and the
+fibres of the paper which they unite are deranged in form and
+position. Such a surface exhibits invariably the teased-up ends of the
+fibres, and generally shows by the agreement in their direction in
+what way the scratching was done.
+
+Even in cases where a substitute for the sizing has been so
+successfully added that no change in color or surface is observable,
+the fibres will show by their unusual positions that they have been
+disturbed. When an attempt has been made to write over the place
+without sufficiently restoring the sizing, the effects can be seen in
+the running of the ink between the fibres and the staining of the body
+of the paper to a considerable depth from the surface and to a
+considerable distance from the spot.
+
+Erasures in parchments produce prominences on the opposite side of the
+sheet. The ink placed upon such erasures has a peculiar bluish tinge.
+It happens at times that a whole page is taken out, either by
+scratching or rubbing with pumice (which was the practice in the
+eleventh century, when a parchment became so valuable that it was
+common to keep up the supply by erasing the writing on old parchments)
+or by washing.
+
+When the latter method was used, the writing as in palimpsests can be
+made to reappear by warming. The parchment can be either laid on a hot
+plate or pressed with a hot flatiron between two sheets of paper.
+
+Where the supposed writer of a document was a bad or careless penman
+the interlineations or additions are generally distinguished from his
+handwriting, which they simulate, by greater clearness and precision,
+as has been said above; for when a man will risk being sent to jail
+for forgery it is not likely that he is willing to lose any
+prospective advantage which his felony will bring him by lack of
+distinctness in the characters by means of which it is perpetrated.
+
+Considering the number of fraudulent additions or interlineations
+which are constantly made, the number of mistakes in spelling or in
+following the method employed by the supposed writer in forming the
+same words is surprisingly great. Several instances are recalled where
+the name of the supposed writer was not only mispelled but spelled in
+two different ways in the same instrument. It occasionally seems as if
+the forger's attention is so earnestly directed to overcoming the
+difficult parts of his task that he neglects the simpler and more
+obvious parts. A forger generally leaves some telltale marks to make
+his detection certain.
+
+Since typewriting has come so generally into use, the question often
+arises as to the identity of typewriting by different operators as
+well as that done on different machines. This may usually be done with
+considerable degree of certainty. Different operators have their own
+peculiar methods, which differ widely in many respects,--in the
+mechanical arrangement, as to location of date, address, margins,
+punctuation, spacing, signing, as well as impression from touch, etc.
+
+The distinctive character of the writing done on different machines is
+usually determined with absolute certainty. With most machines there
+are accidental variations in alignment. Certain letters from use
+become more or less imperfect, or become filled or fouled with ink. It
+is highly improbable that any one even of these accidents should occur
+in precisely the same way upon two machines, and that any two or more
+should do so is well nigh impossible. It is equally certain that all
+the habits and mannerisms of the operators would not be precisely the
+same. A careful comparison of different typewritings in these respects
+cannot fail to determine whether they are written by the same operator
+or upon the same machine. It should be remembered that writing upon
+the same machine will differ in all the respects mentioned at
+different stages of its use and condition.
+
+An immaterial alteration is one which does not change the legal effect
+or significance of an instrument. If what has been written upon or
+erased from the instrument has no tendency to mislead any person to
+the instrument, it will not be an alteration; it is immaterial also
+where the meaning is in no manner varied or changed.
+
+The courts uniformly hold that an immaterial alteration should be
+treated as no alteration and therefore does not avoid the instrument.
+
+Altering words in the instrument without changing the legal sense or
+altering immaterial words is an immaterial alteration.
+
+Retracing a faded name with ink, or tracing a word with ink written
+with pencil, is immaterial.
+
+Alterations and additions in deeds are immaterial where neither the
+rights or duties, interests or obligations, of either of the parties
+to the instrument are in any manner changed or affected.
+
+A promissory note made payable to a partnership under a certain name
+was altered by the maker and the payee without the knowledge of the
+surety so as to be payable to the same parties under another name and
+the court held it to be immaterial.
+
+But the effect of the correction must be that it makes the instrument
+conform to the intention of the parties concerned, nor must they alter
+the legal sense of the instrument. Memoranda made on the margin of the
+note for the convenience of the holder and merely explanatory of some
+circumstances connected with the note are immaterial. The erasure of
+words immaterial to the legal sense of the instrument or inserted by
+mistake, is also immaterial.
+
+Where an alteration is in itself immaterial it will not void an
+instrument even though made with fraudulent intent.
+
+In Missouri it has been held that any alteration material or
+immaterial, made fraudulently or innocently, avoids a note in the
+hands of one who made the alteration. But in a later Missouri case, it
+is held, that the addition of the signature of a married woman without
+a separate estate to a note already issued was a nullity and without
+legal effect and therefore to be considered as no alteration and not
+to discharge the original parties.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+HOW TO WRITE A CHECK TO PREVENT FORGING
+
+How a Paying Teller Determines the Amount of a Check--Written Amount
+and Amount in Figures Conflict--Depositor Protected by Paying
+Teller--Chief Concern of Drawer of a Check--Transposing
+Figures--Writing a Check That Cannot Be Raised--Writers Who Are
+Easy Marks for Forgers--Safeguards for Those Who Write Checks--An
+Example of Raised Checks--Payable "To Bearer" is Always a
+Menace--Paying Teller and an Endorsement System Must Be Observed in
+Writing Checks--How a Check Must Be Written to Be Absolutely Safe--A
+Signature that Cannot Be Tampered with Without Detection--Paying
+Tellers Always Vigilant.
+
+
+Among the casual patrons of the average bank there is a superstition
+that in presenting a check at a teller's window the amount of the
+check shall be determined by the amount spelled out in the body of the
+check, without regard to the figures written at the top or bottom of
+the slip.
+
+Nothing could be farther from the facts as they are accepted at the
+bank window. As a matter of fact, when a check made out in this
+erroneous way comes to a teller's window he is most likely to refuse
+to pay either amount. There is no law, written or unwritten, to
+justify the paying of the amount spelled out in the body of the check,
+regardless of the group of figures on its face. This figure group is
+designed merely to check and justify the written amount, but if there
+is a discrepancy between the two amounts there is nothing to indicate
+that it is not the written amount that is wrong and the figure group
+that is right.
+
+Under such circumstances the chief duty of the teller is to protect
+the depositor who has drawn the check on his bank. The person who
+presents the check for payment manifestly has been a party to the
+mistake in not having read over the check carefully before receiving
+it. If the payee is unknown to the teller and if the discrepancy is at
+all material, the teller turns the check back with the advice that the
+payee look up the drawer and have the error corrected.
+
+In many cases of discrepancy between the two amounts on the face of a
+check the sum involved is the fractional part of the dollar at the end
+of the chief figures. This comes about through the drawer's concern
+over the main figures in the check. He is likely to write the amount
+in letters on the center line of the body of the check, affixing the
+fractional part of a dollar in the form of 100th parts of that unit.
+In writing the checking group in figures at the upper or lower corner
+of the slip, his chief concern is with the dollars and in his care he
+is likely to overlook the odd cents first entered on the face of the
+paper. Or if he attempts to write the figures "74" cents in repetition
+it is likely that they may be transposed to "47" cents in the
+operation.
+
+How to write this check in order that it may not be tampered with and
+"raised" is something that has held the attentions and invited the
+inventive talents of many people, in and out of business. Even when
+the best of the chemical papers are used in the bank check the drawer
+of the paper may have not the slightest protection from "raising" at
+the hands of an expert. The manner in which the written and figure
+amounts on the face of the check are placed makes the material
+alteration of the amount easy beyond question.
+
+For instance, the man who writes with a free, flowing, rounded hand
+and leaves roomy spaces everywhere between words and figures becomes
+an easy mark for a forger. This man is called upon to draw his check
+for $4, even. He takes his check book and in the dollar line writes
+the word "four" in his rounded hand, simply filling the rest of the
+lined space with the plain flourish of his pen. Then in the upper
+corner of the check he writes the attesting figure $4, with a dash
+after it. That makes it a cinch for an expert check raiser to make it
+$40 or $400 or $4,000.
+
+Manifestly the only safeguard for such a check as this, even if it be
+drawn upon chemical paper, is for the drawer to follow close upon the
+written "four" with the blocking "No-100th" dollars, using the same
+fraction as closely after the figure "4" in the corner of the check.
+To leave no possible room after a final written or figure amount on a
+check is the best possible precaution against raising it. For with
+many checks the printed warning "Not good if drawn for more than one
+hundred dollars," is a worthless precaution. In the above example it
+is so, for the reason that raised as it is the amount still is within
+the limit. Had the check been drawn in the same style for "six"
+dollars, it would have been more easily and profitably raised to
+"sixty." In the same general manner a slovenly "two" may be raised to
+"twenty," "three" may be "thirty," "five" is made "fifty," "seven"
+becomes "seventy," "eight" becomes "eighty," and "nine" is transformed
+into "ninety"--all without erasures and without leaving telltale marks
+upon a chemical paper.
+
+In this way the average check which is made payable "to bearer" may be
+a potential menace in a slow course through a dozen hands. While a
+bank may require the holder of a "bearer" check to indorse his name
+upon the back, that indorsement means nothing to him. The check is
+payable to the bearer and the teller must pay it if it appears all
+right and he is certain of the signature at the bottom.
+
+For the average man who may write his checks at a desk, and who may be
+willing to observe some system in the writing, perhaps the safest and
+cheapest protection for his paper is to repeat in red-ink figures the
+amount for which the check is drawn, placing those figures on the
+signature line at the bottom in such a manner that the black-ink
+signature will be woven through the red-ink group. Virtually there is
+no way of getting around this form of duplicated amount. The red
+figures show plainly through the signature and cannot be changed
+without affecting the form and character of the signature itself. To
+affect a signature in this way is to call attention to the fraud
+instantly. A man may make a shaky mismove of the pen somewhere in the
+body of the check, and if it is not too prominent a teller may take a
+chance and pass it; but he will shy at a signature which isn't what it
+ought to be--that subtle sixth sense of the old teller prompts him to
+it before he knows why, and a paying teller is always vigilant.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+METHODS OF FORGERS, CHECK AND DRAFT RAISERS
+
+Professional Forgers and Their Methods--Using Engravers and
+Lithographers--Their Knowledge of Chemicals--Patching Perforated
+Paper--Difficult Matter to Detect Alterations and Forgeries--Selecting
+Men for the Work--The Middle Man, Presenter, and Shadow--Methods
+for Detecting Forgery--Detail Explanation of How Forgers
+Work--Altering and Raising Checks and Drafts--A Favorite Trick of
+Forgers--Opening a Bank Account for a Blind--Private Marks on Checks
+no Safeguard--How a Genuine Signature Is Secured--Bankers Can
+Protect Themselves--A Forger the Most Dangerous Criminal--Bankers
+Should Scrutinize Signatures--Sending Photograph with Letter of
+Advice--How to Secure Protection Against Forgers--Manner in Which
+Many Banks Have Been Swindled--Points About Raising Checks and
+Drafts That Should Be Carefully Noted.
+
+
+A professional forgery band consists of first, a capitalist or backer;
+second, the actual forger, known among his associates as the
+"scratcher"; third, the man who acts as confidential agent for the
+forger, known as the "middle man"; fourth, the man who presents the
+forged paper at the bank for payment, known as the "layer down" or
+presenter.
+
+When it is necessary to have a capitalist or backer connected with a
+band he furnishes the funds for the organization, frequently lays out
+the plans for work and obtains the genuine paper from which forgeries
+are made. He will, when necessary, find the engraver, the lithographer
+and most important of all, the "professional forger," who will do the
+actual forgery work.
+
+The professional forger has, as a rule, considerable knowledge of
+chemicals, which enables him to alter checks, drafts, bills of
+exchange, letters of credit, or to change the names on registered
+bonds. He is something of an artist, too, for with a fine camel's hair
+brush he can restore the most delicate tints in bank safety paper,
+which tints have been destroyed by the use of acids. In fact no bank
+safety paper is a protection against him.
+
+When the amount of the genuine draft or check is perforated in the
+paper, certain forgers have reached such perfection in their work as
+to enable them to cut out the perforation, put in a patch about the
+same as a shoemaker does with a shoe and then skilfully color the
+patch to agree with the original, so that it becomes a very difficult
+matter to detect the alterations even with the use of a microscope.
+This done and the writing cleaned off the face of the draft, check,
+letter of credit, or bill of exchange, with only the genuine signature
+left and the tints on the paper restored, the forger is prepared to
+fill up the paper for any amount decided upon.
+
+The backer or capitalist is rarely known to any member of the band
+outside the "go-between," whom he makes use of to find the forger. He
+very rarely allows himself to become known to the men who "present"
+the forged paper at the banks. If the forgery scheme is successful,
+the backer receives back the money paid out for the preparation of the
+work as well as any amount he may have lent the "band" to enable them
+to open accounts at banks where they propose placing the forged paper.
+He is also allowed a certain percentage on all successful forgeries,
+this percentage running from 20 to 30 per cent; but where the backer
+and forger are working together, their joint percentage is never less
+than 50 per cent.
+
+It is an invariable rule followed by the backer and forger that in
+selecting a middle man they select one who not only has the reputation
+of being a "stanch" man, but he must also be a man who has at least
+one record of conviction standing against him. This is for the
+additional protection of the backer and forger, as they know that in
+law the testimony of an accomplice who is also a former convict must
+be strongly corroborated to be believed.
+
+Out of their first successful forgeries a certain sum from each man's
+share is held by the middle man to be used in the defense of any
+member of the band who may be arrested on the trip. This money is
+called "fall money" and is used to employ counsel for the men under
+arrest or to do anything for them that may be for their interest.
+
+When a "middle man" is exceedingly cautious and not entirely satisfied
+with the "presenters" he will sometimes have an assistant. This is
+where the "shadow" comes in. This shadow will under the direction of
+the "middle man" follow the "presenter" into the bank and report fully
+on his actions. He sometimes catches the "presenter" in an attempt to
+swindle his companions by claiming that he did not get the money, but
+had to get out of the bank in a hurry and leave the check or draft, as
+the paying teller was suspicious.
+
+A "presenter" caught at this trick is sometimes sent into a bank to
+present a forged check where the bank has been previously warned of
+his coming by an anonymous letter. This is done as a punishment for
+his dishonesty and as a warning to others against treachery.
+
+That the professional forger eventually profits but little by his
+ill-gotten gains is well illustrated by the fate of the most of them,
+who end their days in prison.
+
+In the case of a forgery there are a dozen methods for detecting
+it--in the quality of the ink, in the quality of paper, in microscopic
+examination of the irregularities in penmanship, in "labored" tracings
+that show exaggerated tracings, in composite photography, and by a
+dozen little common-sense observations that scarcely can be
+controverted.
+
+Some forgeries have been detected by the mere water-mark in the paper.
+Sittl of Munich is quoted as having had referred to him a possible
+forgery of a document dated 1868. Holding the paper to the light, he
+found as a water-mark in it the figure of the eagle of the German
+Empire--a symbol which had not been adopted at all until after the
+French war of 1870.
+
+The magnifying glass is depended upon for many disclosures of
+forgeries. The unduly serrated edges of the ink lines are quickly
+marked in a forgery, though under certain circumstances a situation
+may be such as to force a person into this laborious writing; he may
+be cramped up in bed, writing on a book held in his lap, or he may be
+in a mental strain that produces it.
+
+There are minds so easily impressed with a sense of responsibility
+that the writing or signing of any paper important in its bearing on
+the writer or his property will cause him to disguise his hand to some
+extent involuntarily, as many persons disguise their features
+involuntarily when being photographed.
+
+As to signatures especially, attention is called to the "tremor of
+fraud," which is to be detected by the microscope, and stress is laid
+upon the necessity of observing just where this tremor falls. If it is
+in a difficult flourish of the signature and not elsewhere it indicates
+fraud; or if it be tremulous to the eye, in imitation of the signature
+of an aged person, a smooth, curved line may be the index of "the
+difficulty experienced by a good penman in feigning to be a bad one."
+
+The microscope is useful and valuable in determining whether erasures
+have been made on paper. Also it will discover which of two crossed
+lines was last written. It may determine whether the ragged edges of
+the ink lines are those of fraud, illiteracy, or old age.
+
+The practice of forging the names of depositors in banks to checks,
+drafts, notes, and in fact to all papers representing a money value,
+has been practiced, probably, since the creation of man. Of course the
+law recognizes forgery as a serious crime, and everywhere the
+punishment is severe. In the seventeenth century it was a capital
+offense in England, and there were more persons executed for that
+crime than there were for murder. Notwithstanding the rigorous penalty
+prescribed in every state in the Union, forgery is carried on to an
+alarming extent, sometimes by trusted employees, as well as
+professionals.
+
+The raising of checks and drafts is the principal method employed by
+the men who make a business of defrauding the unwary. The simplest way
+of explaining the operation of raising a draft or check is as follows:
+
+Two men are necessary for success at any given point, and hence they
+are not so liable to detection as if a number of confederates were
+engaged. It is the business of one of these men to enter a bank, and
+purchase a draft on New York City, for a certain amount of money,
+usually about fifteen hundred dollars, and a short time after this
+another draft would be procured from the same bank for a small amount,
+seldom over ten dollars. These drafts procured, they are handed to the
+"raiser," or the man who is to alter the paper for their dishonest
+purposes. In a short time the small draft is raised to be a perfect
+duplicate of the large one, in every sense of the word, both as
+regards number, amount, place of presentation, etc.
+
+This work of alteration being fully completed, one of the men would
+then remove to another city, and forward the "raised" draft to New
+York, by express, for collection, or else would go to that city
+himself, and have it cashed through some respectable person.
+Immediately on receiving the money he would telegraph his companion,
+in words previously agreed upon, informing him of the successful
+result of the first move. The other confederate, upon the receipt of
+this information, would at once go to the bank where the drafts had
+been procured, and presenting the genuine draft for the large amount
+of money, would request that the money be refunded, giving as an
+excuse for not using it, either that he could not be identified in the
+New York bank, and for that reason could not collect it, or that the
+business he had procured it for had not been consummated. The bank
+officials would recognize him as the person who purchased the draft,
+and would unhesitatingly hand him back the money which he had paid. Of
+course he would quickly disappear from the locality, never to be seen
+in it again--and the forgery would not be discovered until, in the
+due course of ordinary business, when the other draft for the same
+amount would be returned for payment.
+
+A favorite trick of forgers, and check and draft raisers, who operate
+on an extensive scale, is for one of them to open an office in a city,
+and represent himself as a cattle dealer, lumber merchant, or one
+looking about for favorable real-estate investments. His first move is
+to open a bank account, and then works to get on friendly terms with
+the cashier. He always keeps a good balance--sometimes way up in the
+thousands--and deports himself in such a manner as to lead to the
+belief that he is a highly honorable gentleman, and the bank officials
+are led to the belief that he will eventually become a very profitable
+customer.
+
+Occasionally he has a note, for a small amount to begin with, always
+first-class, two-name paper, and he never objects--usually insists--in
+paying a trifle more than the regular discount. At first the bank
+officials closely examine the paper offered, and of course find that
+the endorsers are men of high standing, and then their confidence in
+the "cattle king" is unbounded. Gradually the notes increase in amount,
+from a thousand to fifteen hundred dollars, and from fifteen hundred to
+two or three thousand. The notes are promptly paid at maturity. After
+the confidence of the bank people has been completely gained, the
+swindler makes a strike for his greatest effort. He comes in the bank
+in a hurry, presents a sixty-day note, endorsed by first-class men, for
+a larger amount than he has ever before requested, and it generally
+happens that he gets the money without the slightest difficulty. Then
+he has a sudden call to attend to important business elsewhere. When
+the note or notes mature, it is discovered to be a clever forgery. This
+has been done time and again, and it is rare that the forger has been
+apprehended.
+
+The forgery of checks is a common offense. It takes more than one man
+to successfully perform this operation. The forger himself is known as
+the "scratcher," or the expert penman of the party. The "middle man"
+is the fellow who conducts the business negotiations, ostensibly as a
+merchant, and the "layer-down" is the man who presents the check to
+the bank and secures the cash. The middle man must have a pleasing
+address, and be thoroughly posted on the commercial news of the day,
+and it is requisite that the layer-down be well dressed, quick witted,
+and possessed of an unlimited amount of polite assurance, a cheek that
+never pales and an eye that never droops. In selecting a person to
+fill this important position, the forger prefers to have a man who
+has, at some time or other, been convicted of crime, so that in case
+of discovery, and the turning of state's evidence by the layer-down
+(who is always the man caught) his evidence will not have weight with
+a jury. The latest mode is for the forger to imitate a private check
+by the photo-lithographic method, after having obtained a signed
+check.
+
+The signature, after being photographed, is carefully traced over with
+ink, and the body of the check is filled up for whatever amount is
+desired. The maker of the check is requested to identify the person
+who holds it, and as a general thing he does not wait to see the money
+paid. The moment his back is turned, the layer-down palms the small
+check and presents the large one. This way of obtaining money is
+without the assistance of a middle man. Private marks on a check are
+no safeguards at all, although a great many merchants believe they can
+prevent forgery by making certain dots, or seeming slips of the pen,
+which are known only to the paying teller and themselves. This
+precaution becomes useless when the forger uses the camera. Safe
+breakers are often called upon by forgers and asked to secure a sheet
+of checks out of a checkbook. When this is accomplished a few canceled
+checks are taken at the same time. These are given to the forger and
+he fills them up for large amounts, after tracing or copying the
+signature. The safe burglars receive a percentage on the amount
+realized. If your safe vault or desk is broken open, where your
+check-book is kept, carefully count the leaves in your check-book,
+also your canceled checks. If any are missing, notify the banks, and
+begin using a different style of check immediately. The sneak thief,
+while plying his trade, often secures unsigned bonds of some
+corporation which has put the signed bonds in circulation, leaving the
+rest unsigned until the next meeting of the directors.
+
+Frequently unsigned bonds are left in the bank vault for safe keeping.
+These are stolen and sent to the penman or "scratcher." Then a genuine
+signed bond is purchased, from which the signatures are copied and
+then forged. The same trick has been played on unsigned bank notes,
+but on the bank notes almost any name will do, as no person looks at
+the signature, as long as the note appears genuine.
+
+The ingenuity of a countless army of sharpers is constantly at work in
+this country, devising plans to obtain funds dishonestly, without
+work, but, in fact, they often expend more time, skill, and labor in
+carrying out their nefarious schemes than would serve to earn the sum
+they finally secure, by honest labor. Every banker must, therefore, be
+on his guard, and should acquaint himself with the most approved means
+of detecting and avoiding the most common swindlers. This is just as
+necessary as it is to lock his books and cash in his safe before going
+home.
+
+Next to the counterfeiter, the forger is the most dangerous criminal
+in business life. Transactions involving the largest sums of money are
+completed on the faith in the genuineness of a signature. Hence every
+effort should be made to acquire the art of detecting an imitation at
+a glance. This can be done only by considerable practice. It is
+asserted that every signature has character about it which cannot be
+perfectly copied, and which can always be detected by an experienced
+eye. This is problematical, but certainly a skilful bank teller can
+hardly be deceived by the forgery of a name of a well-known depositor.
+
+A banker should accustom himself to scrutinize closely the signatures
+of those with whom he deals. He should cut off their names from the
+backs of checks and notes, and paste them in alphabetical order in an
+autograph book devoted to that purpose, and compare any suspicious
+signature with the genuine one.
+
+In consequence of the numerous frauds committed by forged checks, some
+of the European bankers have adopted the custom of sending with their
+letter of advice a photograph of the person in whose favor the credit
+has been issued, and to stop the payment when the person who presents
+himself at the bank does not resemble the picture. If this practice
+were to become universal, the object of preventing frauds could be
+well attained.
+
+Instead of the signature being forged, the amount of a check, etc.,
+may be altered. This is done either by changing the letters and
+figures, or by the use of an erasive fluid. The perfection with which
+the latter alteration can be performed is so complete that the most
+skilful eye cannot detect the imposture. A person may deposit a
+hundred dollars with a house in New York, and obtain their draft for
+that amount on Philadelphia; he then alters the one hundred to one
+thousand by erasing a portion of the letters and figures and cashes
+the draft at a broker's. The latter recognizes the signature, and has
+no suspicion of the fraud until too late.
+
+The means to secure entire protection against this is by using an ink
+which cannot be erased by chemicals, or at least such chemicals as are
+familiarly known to the class of criminals who make this a specialty.
+Every well-regulated bank now uses a machine for punching or
+perforating a series of small holes in the check, so that any increase
+or decrease of the number of letters written is immediately detected.
+
+Many banks have been swindled in the following manner: A check, say
+for ten dollars, is obtained from a depositor of a bank, and a blank
+check exactly like the filled-in check is secured. The two checks are
+laid one upon the other, so that the edges are exactly even. Both
+checks are then torn irregularly across, and in such a way that the
+signature on the filled check appears on one piece and the amount and
+name of the payee on the other. The checks having been held together
+while being torn, of course one piece of blank check will exactly fit
+the other piece of the filled check. The swindler then fills in one
+piece of the blank check with the name of the payee and an amount to
+suit himself, takes it with the piece of the genuine check containing
+the signature to the bank, and explains that the check was accidently
+torn. The teller can put the pieces together, and as they will fit
+exactly, the chances are that he will think that the pieces are parts
+of the same check, and becomes a victim of the swindle. The trick, of
+course, suggests its own remedy.
+
+It is a well-known fact that there are banks in the country that have
+paid thousands of dollars on raised checks, and decided that it was
+cheaper for them to pocket the loss than to have the facts become
+known.
+
+The New York Court of Appeals holds that the maker of a check is
+obliged to use all due diligence in protecting it, and the omission to
+use the most effectual protection against alterations is regarded as
+an evidence of neglect.
+
+Here are a few points about raising checks and drafts that should be
+carefully noted: To successfully raise a check or draft requires so
+much less skill or art than to accomplish a forgery that it has of
+late become alarmingly prevalent. Often where a check or draft is
+printed on ordinary paper the original figures are removed by some
+chemical process so skilfully that no alteration can be detected, even
+with a strong magnifying glass.
+
+It is not uncommon, when filling up checks or drafts, to take another
+pen, and with red ink write the amount across the face of the paper,
+and again make the figures in and through the signature. All these
+precautions may make tampering with the amount more difficult for a
+clumsy novice, but it only imposes a few moments' more work upon the
+accomplished manipulator. He takes his strong solution of chloride of
+lime and rain water, or other prepared chemicals, and with a pen
+suited to the purpose, by neutralizing and abstracting the coloring
+properties of the ink, he carefully obliterates such portions of the
+lines in the figures and written amounts as suits his purpose, then
+easily makes the alteration he desires, the red ink coming out as
+readily as black. And if the tint or coloring of the paper should have
+been affected by his cautious touch, he takes the proper shade of
+crayon or water-color, and carefully replaces the original shade.
+
+Now, the signature not being touched, but remaining genuine, and the
+payer not being supposed to know who wrote the check, but only who
+signed it, he pays the amount specified, and the law holds the "maker
+of the check responsible when there is nothing in its appearance to
+excite suspicion, and the signature is proven genuine."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE HANDWRITING EXPERT
+
+No Law Regulating Experience and Skill Necessary to Constitute An
+Expert--Experts Held Competent to Testify in Court--Bank Officials
+and Employes Favored--An Expert On Signatures--Methods Experts Employ
+to Identify the Work of the Pen--Where and When an Expert's Services
+Are Needed--Large Field and Growing Demand for Experts--Qualifications
+of a Handwriting Expert--How the Work Is Done--A Good Expert
+Continuously Employed--The Expert and the Charlatan--Qualifying as
+an Expert--A System Which Produces Results--Principal Tests Applied
+by Handwriting Experts to Determine Genuineness--Identification of
+Individual by His Handwriting--How to Tell Kind of Ink and Process
+Used to Forge a Writing--Rules Followed by Experts in Determining
+Cases--The Testimony of a Handwriting Expert--Explaining Methods
+Employed to Detect Forged Handwriting--The Courts and Experts--What
+an Expert May Testify to--Trapping a Witness--Proving Handwriting
+by Experts--General Laws Regulating Experts--The Base Work of a
+Handwriting Expert--Important Facts an Expert Begins Examination
+With--A Few Words of Advice and Suggestion About "Pen Scope"--Detection
+of Forgery Easy If Rules Suggested Are Observed--Expert Witnesses,
+Courts, and Jurors.
+
+
+There is no rule of law fixing the precise amount of experience or
+degree of skill necessary to constitute a handwriting expert. The
+witness need not be engaged in any particular business or claim to be
+a professional expert. He must, however, claim to have experience.
+With that limitation, cashiers, paying tellers, other bank officers,
+attorneys, bookkeepers, business men, conveyancers, county officials,
+photographers, treasurers and clerks of railroads, etc., and writing
+teachers have in various cases been held competent to testify as an
+expert. And it has been held that experience with handwriting
+generally or specially will enable the witness to testify specially or
+generally thereto. Bank officials, and especially cashiers, tellers,
+and book-keepers, are usually regarded as competent by most courts to
+pass authoritatively upon handwriting.
+
+Generally speaking, the witness must claim to be an expert, or at
+least show that he had the means of gaining experience. He need not
+claim to be an expert, but he must claim to have had such experience
+as will make him feel competent to express an opinion.
+
+He may always give the reasons for his opinion, but he must confine
+his testimony to his opinion based on the handwriting itself, and not
+as affected by the facts of the case. He cannot state any inferences
+deduced from the facts. He must also testify himself. Evidence of what
+an expert has said with reference to a writing is inadmissible for the
+purpose of bringing that opinion before the court.
+
+An expert may be tested with other papers in the case, but not with
+irrelevant papers, and the whole of the test paper must be shown him.
+He is entitled to see it all.
+
+Letter-press copies and duplicates made by writing machines are not
+originals and therefore cannot be used as a standard of comparison.
+
+An expert cannot give an opinion as to the genuineness of a signature
+based upon a comparison thereof with signatures not before the court.
+
+The standard of comparison used by the expert must be produced in
+court. Photographic copies are admissible when accompanied by the
+originals. When original writings are in evidence and the genuineness
+thereof disputed, magnified photographic copies of the writing and of
+admitted genuine writings are admissible in evidence, for comparison
+by jury or expert when accompanied by competent preliminary proof that
+the copies are accurate in all respects except as to size and color.
+
+The services of the expert are required in a wide range of civil and
+criminal cases. Where handwriting is questioned on notes, checks,
+drafts, receipts, wills, deeds, mortgages, bonds, anonymous letters,
+money orders, registered letter receipts, letters, pension papers, and
+in smuggling, and in short, on any kind of document where it becomes
+necessary to establish the identity of the writer, the expert is
+called in. Life, liberty, honor, and property are frequently balanced
+on a pen point--a few marks of the pen being the determining feature
+of many a case.
+
+The handwriting of the schoolboy and schoolgirl, though crude, is
+conventional and idealized. It has but few characteristics so long as
+the school model or copy-book hand is the goal. The pupil gives
+constant attention to the handwriting as well as to the thought. A
+number of students of about the same grade, under the same teacher,
+will write much alike. Fifteen or twenty of these students could each
+write a line on a page and it might baffle a layman, and perhaps
+puzzle an expert, to tell whether or not more than one person wrote
+the page. This constant striving after one ideal, and putting thought
+on the handwriting, had drawn them all toward that ideal and away from
+individuality.
+
+The employment of professional handwriting experts as witnesses in
+court cases that often involve enormous sums of money, or the liberty
+or even the lives of suspected malefactors, has awakened widespread
+interest in the methods of this class of experts, their resources and
+capabilities in conserving the ends of justice.
+
+Many uninformed people appear to look on the handwriting expert as one
+who, by intuition or the possession of some mysterious occult power,
+is enabled to distinguish at a glance the true and the spurious in any
+questioned handwriting. Nothing could be further from the fact.
+
+The secret of his power--as in any other line of scientific
+research--lies wholly in his intimate familiarity with the innumerable
+physical details which comprise the written line or word or
+letter--sometimes so slight a matter as the dotting of an _i_ or the
+placing of a comma. It is precisely the same specialized sense, born
+of acute observation and minute scrutiny that enables an expert
+chemist to take two powders of like weight and color, identical in
+appearance to the common eye and perhaps in taste to the common
+palate, and say: This drug is harmless, wholesome; that is a deadly
+poison--and to specify not only their various individual constituents
+but the exact proportion of each. The trained eye of the handwriting
+expert (as in another case could that of the expert chemist) can often
+detect at a glance certain distinguishing earmarks of submitted
+writing that enable him to fix the identity of the writer almost
+off-hand. In the the great majority of cases, however, the cunning of
+the forger calls for deliberate, painstaking study and investigation
+before the conscientious expert is willing to announce with absolute
+surety an opinion so often fraught with tremendous possibilities for
+good or for evil.
+
+Nothing else that a person does is so characteristic as the
+handwriting, and the identification of the individual can be
+established by it better than by portraits or almost any other means.
+As lawyers and laymen and courts are finding this out, the handwriting
+expert is more and more called upon to untangle snarled questions and
+to right wrongs.
+
+It is only when attention is directed to this interesting science by
+the wide publicity given to some great case in which handwriting plays
+an important part that the notice of the general public is drawn to
+it. The average person would be surprised to know of the great number
+of cases that find their way to the office of the handwriting expert.
+The man who has made a success in this line is constantly in demand,
+and makes frequent trips to distant points to appear as witness in
+courts.
+
+Though nearly every large town has some one who devotes some attention
+to handwriting, there are but five or six men in this country who give
+to it practically all of their time, and who have gone very deeply
+into the subject.
+
+To allow any person to qualify as an "expert" and to testify as such
+is a matter wholly within the discretion of the court. Unfortunately,
+courts frequently are lax in determining this question. Almost any one
+who can write is permitted to give alleged "expert" testimony
+regarding handwriting. In one well-known case, a case, too, involving
+life and death--the court unwittingly accepted the "expert" testimony
+of a witness who, it was afterward proven, was unable to write even so
+much as his own name. In the litigation attending the disposal of
+large mining interests held at Butte, Montana, the court permitted
+testimony in regard to the handwriting of the testator from a witness
+who admitted that he had seen the testator write but once, and that in
+lead pencil over twenty years before.
+
+Any one accustomed to writing is usually allowed to qualify as an
+"expert." To the lay mind it is natural to confound experts who have
+studied the subject deeply in all its various phases with those who
+have had occasion to examine it casually, or who may possess uncommon
+facility with the pen without ever having had occasion to investigate
+scientifically just those little illusive points upon which the
+professional expert places his reliance.
+
+Hence, when we read of "experts" being mistaken, or of an equal number
+of them appearing on opposite sides of the same case, it will nearly
+always be found upon investigation that they are of the class
+described above, whose lack of thorough special training and
+specialized experience really should have disqualified them from
+giving testimony. Though any one may call himself an "expert," or a
+"professional expert," for that matter, thus opening the door to
+charlatanism in exactly the same manner that it is opened more or less
+in all vocations, yet, as a matter of fact, it is very rare that
+professional handwriting experts testify to a contrary state of facts,
+and the cases in which they have been proven mistaken are remarkably
+few.
+
+Experts who have a natural aptitude coupled with experience that
+produces skill are able, by a system which they have reduced to a
+science, to detect the spurious from the genuine handwriting with
+almost unvarying success. But their conclusions are not reached by
+second sight or sleight-of-hand methods, but rather by painstaking,
+scientific investigation.
+
+Some of the principal tests applied to determine the genuineness of
+handwriting are these: The actual and relative slant of the letters or
+the angles between their stems and the base; the constancy and
+accuracy with which a straight line is followed as a base; the amount
+of pressure used on the pen and the part of the stroke where it is
+applied, and the positions of the line as a whole relative to the
+edges of the paper. The simplest punctuation mark under the microscope
+has its own individuality. It would be difficult to find two writers
+whose semicolons and quotation marks cannot be distinguished at a
+glance. The dotting of the _i_ and crossing of the _t_ afford an
+infinite number of relations between points and lines, and in both of
+these the time element and the freedom of muscular movement play
+important parts. Even the health and self-control of the penman, as
+well as the physical circumstances, show their influence on these
+little strokes.
+
+The identification of the individual by means of his handwriting is of
+great value in legal trials and outside of courts. Its use cannot be
+dispensed with any more than can the knowledge obtained in any other
+line of science.
+
+One often hears a man boast of his ability to successfully duplicate
+another person's signature or handwriting, and to the casual observer
+the counterfeit really will bear a striking resemblance to the
+original. However, let the two be placed in the hands of an expert on
+disputed handwriting and he will pretty quickly determine which is the
+original and which the forgery. Furthermore, he will tell you what
+process was used to make the duplicate, for there are several methods
+in use among forgers, and can even tell the composition of the ink.
+
+In the determination of any handwriting there is no actual rule to
+guide an expert, as each case must be a law unto itself. The time of
+day that the signature was made and the condition for the moment of
+the individual have considerable bearing on the case, as has also the
+writer's general physical condition. Whether he was standing or
+sitting when the signature was made is a matter of importance. The
+quality of the paper and the make of the pen also have to be taken
+into consideration. In the case of forgery, where the forger has
+employed a finger movement writing with the muscles and apparently
+without education, there is scarcely any difficulty in arriving at a
+conclusion. The long flowing hand is easy to detect. When, however,
+the writing is finical a large mass of material has to be examined
+before a decision can be reached.
+
+The testimony of an expert is without doubt the most dangerous kind of
+evidence when not supported by additional testimony; but, on the other
+hand, if the known facts fit in well, it is the strongest kind of
+testimony that can be submitted, and is usually known as "opinioned
+evidence." There probably is no class of professional witnesses which
+is subjected to such severe cross-examination as experts in
+handwriting, and, considering the great importance of their testimony,
+they should be ever ready and willing to explain the methods employed
+by them in arriving at their decision, which, of course, is the result
+of a comparison of the analyses of several pieces of writing, taking
+account of all exaggerations, idiosyncrasies and unusual
+peculiarities.
+
+All evidence of handwriting, except where the witness has seen the
+writing in question written, is derived from four sources: First, from
+comparison; second, from the internal evidence of the writing itself;
+third, from the knowledge of the writing, from having frequently seen
+a person write; fourth, where one has received letters whose
+authorship has been subsequently verified by admission, or acted upon
+in such manner as to receive the approval of the writer. Comparison is
+made between the writing in question and other writing admitted by the
+writer to be genuine, or otherwise proved to be so to the satisfaction
+of the court.
+
+The evidence adduced from comparison is more or less certain according
+to the skill of the expert and the circumstances of the case. Internal
+evidence is such as is presented by the peculiar quality of lines when
+drawn or worked up by slowly following traced lines, retouched shades,
+rubbered surface of the paper, and every indication of an artificial
+or mechanical process of producing writing.
+
+Testimony based upon a knowledge of writing gained from having at some
+time seen a person write is the most fallacious of all testimony
+respecting handwriting; it can be only a mental comparison of writing
+in question with such a vague idea or mental picture as may remain
+from a casual view of the writing at some time more or less remote;
+and besides, one may perceive another in the act of writing and yet
+have little or no opportunity of forming any mental conception of it,
+even at the time of writing.
+
+In some cases where the courts will permit it the expert witness may
+fully explain upon what he bases his opinion but it oftener occurs that
+the trial judge will limit the evidence down to the very narrow scope
+and the mere relation of such facts as the jury can see. Where a
+forgery is well executed the difference in general appearance between
+it and the genuine writing of the person whose signature is questioned,
+when compared, is very small. The limit put upon expert evidence by the
+trial judge takes from the effect of the testimony all the benefit of
+an explanation of the facts upon which the opinion is founded.
+
+Juries are generally allowed to examine enlarged photographs of the
+writing, and sometimes to see it under the microscope, but even when
+so doing what they see unexplained cannot be appreciated intelligently
+and unless taken for granted as meaning something which the experience
+of the expert who gives the opinion understands, and which they
+without such an education, could not be expected to understand that
+which the photographs show and the microscope makes visible is just as
+likely to be misleading as otherwise.
+
+An expert may testify as to the characteristics of the handwriting in
+question; as to whether the writing is natural or feigned, or was or
+was not written at the same time, with the same pen and ink, and by
+the same person, and as to alterations or erasures therein; and as to
+the age of the writing and obscurities therein; the result of his
+examination of the writing under a magnifying glass; and to prove in
+some cases the standard of comparison.
+
+In the United States a witness may be asked to write on cross-examination,
+but not in direct.
+
+Before a paper can be accepted as a standard of comparison it must be
+proved to be genuine to the satisfaction of the judge. His decision on
+this question is final if supported by proper evidence. In some states
+the question of genuineness is for the jury.
+
+A party denying his handwriting may be asked on cross-examination, if
+his signature to another instrument is genuine. This is the test which
+may be successfully applied to ascertain if the signature is genuine.
+A plaintiff, on one occasion, denied most positively that a receipt
+produced was in his handwriting. It was thus worded, "Received the
+Hole of the above." On being asked to write a sentence in which the
+word "whole" was introduced, he took evident pains to disguise his
+handwriting, but he adopted the phonetic style of spelling, and also
+persisted in using the capital _H_.
+
+The practice of thus testing a witness is vindicated by one of the
+most sagacious of German jurists, Mittermaier, on grounds not only of
+expediency, but of authority.
+
+Comparison of handwriting, either by jury or witness, is uniformly
+allowed to prove writings which are not old enough to prove
+themselves, but are too old to admit of direct proof of their
+genuineness.
+
+Handwriting, considered under the law of evidence, includes not only
+the ordinary writing of one able to write, but also writing done in a
+disguised hand, or in cipher, and a mark made by one able or unable to
+write.
+
+The principles regulating the proof of handwriting apply equally to
+civil and criminal cases.
+
+The paper the handwriting of which is sought to be proved by experts
+must ordinarily be produced in court, but such production will be
+excused when the paper has been lost or destroyed and when it is a
+public record, which cannot be brought into court.
+
+Genuineness may be proved in all cases, except where paper is required
+to be identified by an official seal, and except as controlled by law
+applicable to attested instruments.
+
+It may be proved by his own admissions; by witnesses who saw the party
+write; by witnesses who corresponded with the party; by witnesses who
+had seen papers acknowledged by the party; by witnesses having
+personal relations with the party.
+
+Comparison of handwriting, technically called _presumptio ex scripto
+nunv viso_, is where a paper or papers are proved or admitted to be in
+a party's handwriting, and a witness entirely unacquainted with the
+party's handwriting, or the jury, is allowed to make a comparison by
+juxtaposition of the writing so proved or admitted, and the writing
+disputed.
+
+All evidence of handwriting, except where the witness sees the
+documents written, is in its nature comparison. It is the belief which
+a witness entertains upon comparing the writing in question with an
+exemplar in his mind derived from some previous writing.
+
+In all the states of the Union the laws are uniform on the proposition
+that experts may testify as to comparisons made and the results based
+on such comparisons, except that the paper admitted to be genuine
+shall not contain matter of a frivolous nature, etc.
+
+In a broad, general way the element of common sense is the basework of
+an expert's success in the business. He cannot depend upon anything
+suggesting intuition. Where two signatures or two specimens of writing
+are in question and one exhibit is a forgery and the other is genuine,
+or where both are genuine, yet in question, the expert is in the
+position of making his proofs and demonstrations convincing to the
+layman--the hard headed citizen who insists that "you show me."
+Frequently this citizen is on a jury where he has had to admit that he
+is not particularly intelligent before he would be accepted for the
+place.
+
+As a first proposition to such a man, however, the expert in
+chirography may put him to the proof that out of a dozen signatures of
+his own name no two will be alike in general form. Then he may turn to
+the authentic and forged signatures in almost any case and show to the
+layman that the first question of forgery arose from the fact that
+these two signatures at a first glance are identically alike to almost
+the minutest detail. With all the skill which the forger has put into
+his crooked work, he keeps to the old principle of copying the
+authentic signature which he has in hand, and the more nearly he can
+reproduce this signature in every proportion the more readily the
+forgery can be proved.
+
+One of the most important facts from which the expert may begin his
+investigations of possible forgery is that every man using a pen in
+writing has his "pen scope." This technical term describes the average
+stretch of paper which a man may cover without lifting the pen from
+the paper and shifting his hand to continue the line. In even the
+freest, swinging movements of a pen where the hand follows the pen
+fingers, there are occasional breaks in the lettering or undue stretch
+of space between the words which will indicate a characteristic scope
+of the pen if the specimens under investigation cover an ordinary
+paragraph in length.
+
+As applied to the signatures of the ordinary individual, this pen
+scope will appear in some form in the signature. The writer may lift
+his pen before he has spelled out a long Christian or surname, he may
+indicate it in the placing of a middle initial or in the space which
+lies between the initial and the last name. In the case of the
+signature of one's name, too, it should be one of the easiest and
+lest-studied group of words which he is called on to put upon paper.
+In writing a letter, for example, the pen scope through it may show an
+average stretch of one inch for the text of the letter, while in the
+signature the whole length of the signature twice as long, may be
+covered. But if the writer covers this full stretch of his name in
+this way the expert may prove by the necessary short pen scope of the
+copyist that the studied copy is a forgery on its face. For however
+free of pen stroke the forger may be naturally, his attempts to
+produce a facsimile of the signature shortens it beyond the scope of
+the original signer.
+
+If a search be made through a series of undisputedly genuine
+signatures, it will be found that one characteristic fails in one and
+another in another. Here is where the handwriting expert makes his
+service valuable. He studies all these important points, and is not
+long in arriving at a successful conclusion.
+
+The introduction of the experimental method into all modern
+investigation has led to the hope that in this difficult subject means
+will be found to introduce simpler forms of determining regular or
+irregular handwriting.
+
+As long as the steps by which experts reach their conclusions are so
+intricate or recondite that only the results may be stated to the
+jury, just so long will the character of expert testimony suffer in
+the opinion of the public, and the insulting charge against it be
+repeated that any side can hire an expert to support its case.
+
+If a single competent expert could be selected by the court to take up
+questions of this kind and lay his results before it, the present
+system would be less objectionable than it is. Nevertheless, this
+solution is probably not the best, because no man is capable of always
+observing and judging correctly, and the most careful man may be led
+astray by elements in the problem before him of which he does not
+suspect the existence. It would seem, therefore, to be fairer and less
+open to objection if a plan of investigation were followed which can
+be clearly explained to those who are to decide a case and the
+resulting data left in their hands to assist them in their decision.
+
+In such a manner of presentation, if any important data have been
+omitted, or if the premises do not warrant the conclusion, the errors
+can be detected without accusing the expert of lack of good faith or
+ignorance of his subject. The fact that he has testified in hundreds
+of cases and in every court in the world should not be allowed to
+influence the jury against a logical conclusion drawn from
+uncontroverted facts.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+HOW TO DETECT FORGED HANDWRITING
+
+Frequency of Litigation Arising Over Disputed Handwriting--Forged and
+Fictitious Claims Against the Estates of Deceased People--Forgery
+Certain to Be Detected When Subjected to Skilled Expert Examination--A
+Forger's Tracks Cannot Be Successfully Covered--With Modern Devices
+Fraudulent, Forged and Simulated Writing Can Be Determined beyond
+the Possibility of a Mistake--Bank Officials and Disputed
+Handwriting--How to Test and Determine Genuine and Forged
+Signatures--Useful Information About Signature Writing--Guard
+Against An Illegible Signature--Avoid Gyrations, Whirls and
+Flourishes--Write Plain, Distinct and Legible--The Signature to
+Adopt--The People Forgers Pass By--How to Imitate Successfully--How an
+Expert Detects Forged Handwriting--Examples of Signatures Forgers
+Desire to Imitate--Examining and Determining a Forgery--Comparisons
+of Disputed Handwriting--Microscopic Examinations a Great Help in
+Detecting Forged Handwriting--Comparison of Forged Handwriting.
+
+
+Few persons outside of the banking and legal fraternity are aware of
+the frequency with which litigations arise from one or another of the
+many phases of disputed handwriting; doubtless most frequently from
+that of signatures to the various forms of commercial obligations or
+other instruments conveying title to property, such as notes, checks,
+drafts, deeds, wills, etc. To a less extent the disputed portions
+involve alterations of books of account and other writings, by erasure,
+addition, interlineation, etc., while sometimes the trouble comes in
+the form of disguised or simulated writings. A disproportionately large
+number of these cases arise from forged and fictitious claims against
+the estates of deceased people. This results, first, from the fact that
+such claims are more easily established, as there is usually no one by
+whom they can be directly contradicted; and, secondly, for the reason
+that administrators are less liable to exercise the highest degree of
+caution than are persons who pay out their own money.
+
+In all instances where a forgery extends to the manufacturing of any
+considerable piece of writing, it is certain of being detected and
+demonstrated when subjected to a skilled expert examination; but where
+forgery is confined to a single signature, and that perhaps of such a
+character as to be easily simulated, detection is ofttimes difficult,
+and expert demonstrations less certain or convincing. Yet instances
+are rare in which the forger of even a signature does not leave some
+unconscious traces that will betray him to the ordinary expert, while
+in most instances forgery will be at once so apparent to an expert as
+to admit of a demonstration more trustworthy and convincing to court
+and jury than is the testimony of witnesses to alleged facts, who may
+be deceived, or even lie. The unconscious tracks of the forger,
+however, cannot be bribed or made to lie, and they often speak in a
+language so unmistakable as to utterly defy controversion.
+
+Note illustrations of forged handwriting in Appendix at end of this
+book.
+
+With the present-day knowledge of writing in its various phases, the
+identity of forged, fraudulent or simulated writing can be determined
+beyond the possibility of a mistake. Every year sees an increase in
+the number of important civil and criminal cases that turn on
+questions of disputed handwriting.
+
+There is not a day in the year but what bank officials are at sea over
+a disputed signature and a knowledge of how to test and determine
+genuine and forged signatures will prove of inestimable value to the
+banking and business world.
+
+Forgery is easy. Detection is difficult. As the rewards for the
+successful forgers are great, thousands upon thousands of forged
+checks, notes, drafts, wills, deeds, receipts and all kinds of
+commercial papers are produced in the United States every year. Many
+are litigated, but many more are never discovered.
+
+Practical and useful information about signature writing and how to
+safeguard one's signature against forgery is something that will be
+welcomed by those who are constantly attaching their names to valuable
+papers.
+
+Every man should guard against an illegible signature--for example, a
+series of meaningless pen tracks with outlandish flourishes, such as
+are assumed by many people with the feeling that because no one can
+read them, they cannot be successfully imitated. Experience has
+demonstrated that the easiest signatures to successfully forge are
+those that are illegible, either from design or accident. The banker
+or business man who sends his pen through a series of gyrations,
+whirls, flourishes and twists and calls it a signature is making it
+easy for a forger to reproduce his signature, for it is a jumble of
+letters and ink absolutely illegible and easy of simulation. Every man
+should learn to write plain, distinct and legible.
+
+The only signature to adopt is one that is perfectly legible, clear
+and written rapidly with the forearm or muscular movement. One of the
+best preventatives of forgery is to write the initials of the
+name--that is, write them in combination--without lifting the pen. It
+will help if the small letters are all connected with each other and
+with the capitals. Select a style of capital letters and always use
+them; study out a plain combination of them; practice writing until it
+can be written easily and rapidly and stick to it. Don't confuse your
+banker by changing the form of a letter or adding flourishes.
+Countless repetitions will give a facility in writing it that will
+lend a grace and charm and will stamp it with your peculiar
+characteristics in such a way that the forger will pass you by when
+looking for an "easy mark." Plain signatures of the character noted
+above are not the ones usually selected by forgers for simulation.
+Forgers are always hunting for the illegible as in it they can best
+hide their identity.
+
+It is said to be an utter impossibility for one person to imitate
+successfully a page of writing of another. The person attempting the
+forgery should be able to accomplish the following: First, he must
+know all the characteristics of his own hand; second, he must be able
+to kill all the characteristics of his own hand; third, he must know
+all of the characteristics in the hand he is imitating; fourth, he
+must be able to assume characteristics of the other's hand at will.
+These four points are insuperable obstacles, and the forger does not
+live who has surmounted or can surmount them.
+
+To understand the principles on which an expert in handwriting bases
+his work, consider for a moment how a person's style of writing is
+developed. He begins by copying the forms set for him by a teacher. He
+approximates more or less closely to these forms. His handwriting is
+set, formal, and without character. As soon as he leaves off following
+the copy book, however, his writing begins to take on individual
+characteristics. These are for the most part unconscious. He thinks of
+what he is writing, not how. In time these peculiarities, which creep
+gradually into a man's writing, become fixed habits. By the time he
+is, say, twenty-five years old, his writing is settled. After that it
+may vary, may grow better or worse, but is certain to retain those
+distinguishing marks which, in the man himself, we call personality.
+This personality remains. He cannot disguise it, except in a
+superficial way, any more than he can change his own character.
+
+It follows that no two persons write exactly the same hands. It is
+easy to illustrate this. Suppose, for example, that among 10,000
+persons there is one hunchback, one minus his right leg, one with an
+eye missing, one bereft of a left arm, one with a broken nose. To find
+a person with two of these would require, probably, 100,000 people;
+three of them, 1,000,000; four of them, 100,000,000. One possessing
+all of them might not be found in the entire 14,000,000,000 people on
+earth. Precisely the same with different handwritings--the peculiar
+and distinguishing characteristics of one would no more be present in
+others than would the personal counterparts of the authors be found in
+other individuals.
+
+It is more surprising, at first thought, to be told that no person
+ever signs his name even twice alike. Of course, theoretically, it
+cannot be said that it is impossible for a person to write his name
+twice in exactly the same manner. A person casting dice might throw
+double aces a hundred times consecutively. But who would not act on
+the practical certainty that the dice were loaded long before the
+hundredth throw was reached in such a case? The same reasoning applies
+to the matter of handwriting with added force, because the chance of
+two signatures being exactly alike is incomparably less than the
+chance of the supposed throws of the dice.
+
+Probably many persons will not believe that it is impossible for them
+to write their own name twice alike. For them it will be an interesting
+experiment to repeat their signatures, say, a hundred times, writing
+them on various occasions and under different circumstances, and then
+to compare the result. It is safe to say that they will hardly find two
+of these which do not present some differences, even to their eyes, and
+under the examination of a trained observer aided by the microscope,
+these divergencies stand out tenfold more plainly.
+
+Many cases of forgery hinge on this point, the forger having copied
+another person's signature by tracing one in his possession, but such
+attempts are always more easy to detect than those in which the forger
+carefully imitates another's hand. The latter is the usual procedure.
+The forger secures examples of the signature or writing which he
+desires to imitate. Then he practices on it, trying to reproduce all
+its striking peculiarities. In this way he sometimes arrives at a
+resemblance so close as to deceive even his victim. Still there is
+always present some internal evidence to prove that the writing is not
+the work of the person to whom it is attributed. Likewise it will
+reveal the identity of the person who actully wrote it, if specimens
+of his natural hand are to be had for comparison.
+
+It is impossible for a man to carry in his mind and to reproduce on
+paper all the peculiar characteristics of another man's writing and at
+the same time to conceal all his own. At some point there is certain
+to come a slip when the habit of years asserts itself and gives the
+testimony which may fix the whole production on the forger beyond the
+shadow of a doubt.
+
+The little things are the ones that count most in making examination
+and determining a forgery for the reason that they are no less
+characteristic than the more prominent peculiarities and are more
+likely to be overlooked by the person who tries to disguise his hand.
+The crossing of _t's_ and the dotting of _i's_ become matters of large
+moment in making comparisons of disputed handwritings. There is
+probably no matter in conjunction with a man's ordinary writing to
+which he gives less thought than the way he makes these crosses and
+dots. For that reason they are in the highest degree characteristic.
+And it is precisely because of their apparently slight importance that
+the person who sets out to imitate another's handwriting or to
+disguise his own is likely to be careless about these little marks and
+to make slips which will be sufficient to prove his identity.
+
+Imitations of signatures are usually written in a laborious and
+painstaking manner. They are, therefore, decidedly unlike a man's
+natural signature, which is usually written in an easy fashion. The
+imitations show frequent pauses, irregularities in pen pressure and in
+the distribution of ink, and contain other evidences of hesitation.
+Not infrequently the forger tries to improve on his work by retouching
+some of the letters after he has completed a word. Microscopic
+examination brings out all of these things and makes them tell-tale
+witnesses.
+
+Comparison of handwriting is competent but is not itself conclusive
+evidence of forgery. Identification of handwriting is, if possible,
+more difficult than identification of the person which so often forms
+the chief difficulty in criminal trials. As illness, strange dress,
+unusual attitude, and the like, cause mistakes in identifying the
+individual, so a bad pen or rough paper, a shaky hand and many other
+things change the appearance of a person's handwriting.
+
+This kind of evidence ought never, therefore, to be regarded as full
+proof in trials where a handwriting is in dispute. Generally the best
+witness in a handwriting case is one who often sees the party write,
+through whose hands his writing has been continually passing, and
+whose opinion is not the result of an inspection made on a particular
+occasion for a special purpose.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+GREATEST DANGER TO BANKS
+
+Check-Raising Always a Danger--A Scheme Almost Impossible to
+Prevent--The American Bankers' Association the Greatest Foe to
+Forgers--It Follows Them Relentlessly and Successfully--Chemically
+Prepared Paper and Watermarks Not Always a Safeguard--Perforating
+Machines and Check Raisers--How Check Perforations Are Overcome--How an
+Ordinary Check Is Raised--How an Expert Alters Checks--How Perforations
+Are Filled--Hasty Examination by Paying Tellers Encourages
+Forgers--The Way Bogus Checks Creep Through a Bank Unnoticed--A
+Celebrated Forgery Case--Forgers Successful for a Time Always
+Caught--Where Forgers Usually Go That Have Made a Big Haul--A
+Professional Crook Is a Person of Large Acquaintance.
+
+
+Raising checks has become the greatest danger to the banks. There is
+no comparison between raising checks with a genuine signature and
+forging the signature itself, so far as ease of execution is
+concerned. After many years of arduous work and after great
+expenditures of money the banks have to admit sorrowfully that if a
+man wants to raise a check he can do it; and the detection, while, of
+course, inevitable when the paid check returns to the depositor, is
+not immediate enough to prevent the swindler from getting away with
+the money.
+
+That is why the most implacable enemy of the men who dare raise or
+falsify a check is the American Bankers' Association. This great
+concern in reality is a protective association, and it relentlessly
+hunts down all forgers first, last, and all the time. It never lets
+up, absolutely never, no matter time, money, or trouble. It bitterly
+pursues defaulters for the sake of justice, but it has still another
+object in its deadly trailing of forgers and check tampereus. That is
+because the whole banking structure hangs on signed paper. When it can
+be altered with impunity, away goes the financial system of to-day.
+Hence the unrelenting hunting-down of forgers who trifle with men's
+names. On the books of more than one large detective agency of the
+country are cases more than ten years old. The forgers never have been
+found, but the hunt still goes on. Reports of the chase come in
+regularly and the books will not be closed until the hunt stops at
+prison doors or beside a grave.
+
+Yet with all this remorseless hunting, check-raising flourishes so
+well all over the United States that the banks fear to give even a
+hint as to the sums of which they or their depositors are robbed each
+year. The magnitude of the amount would frighten too many persons.
+
+For a time it was thought that the use of chemically prepared paper
+would prove a safeguard, because any erasure or alteration would show
+immediately. The chemicals used in its composition would make the ink
+run if acids were used to change the figures. But among the
+check-raisers there were chemists just as clever as the chemists who
+devised the prepared paper.
+
+Then paper with watermarks woven through it was used. But it, too,
+became an easy mark for the chemists who had gone wrong.
+
+Finally, and until recently, the banking world thought that it had
+struck the absolute safeguard by using a machine to stamp on the check
+the exact amount for which it was drawn, the machine perforating the
+paper as it stamped it. Certainly it does seem that when the paper is
+cut right out of the check, leaving nothing but holes, no change is
+humanly possible. But the completeness of this supposed safeguard has
+offered a tempting field for the check-raiser.
+
+A special detective in the employ of the American Bankers'
+Association, who has spent half the years of his mature life in
+running down forgers and check-raisers, said that it was "too easy" to
+raise checks, and that a good many more men than try it now would do
+it were it not for the well-known relentlessness of the association in
+running down offenders against any single one of its constituent
+members.
+
+"Write me a check for any sum you want," said the sleuth, "and I'll
+show you."
+
+A check for $200 was written and passed over to him. In less than two
+minutes, without an erasure of any kind, the check called for $500,
+and the work was done so well even in that short time that the writer
+would have been tempted to believe that he had made an error and
+really drawn the check for that amount had he not been sure to the
+contrary.
+
+"That kind of raising is easy," said the expert. "You see it demands
+no interlining or extending of words. The check-raiser simply knows
+how well certain characters lend themselves to changes that cannot be
+detected. The capital _T_ in almost every man's handwriting can be
+changed to a capital _F_ without any trouble by even an unskilled
+crook."
+
+A check for $2,000 was raised to $50,000 almost in the wink of an eye.
+"This is the easy and safer part of the business," said he. "But when
+a check is to be raised from a sum like $10 to, say, $10,000, and the
+drawer has written it so that there is no room between the word 'ten'
+and 'dollars,' chemicals must be used. There is always more danger of
+detection in that. In the mere alteration of a check there is little.
+Look here. I'll change your checks as fast as you can write them, and
+I bet a lot of my alterations will pass muster."
+
+A pad was hauled out and the writer filled the sheets out with
+carefully written amounts. The expert was as good as his word. He
+altered them almost as fast as they were written. Some, to be sure,
+were crude and would have betrayed the fact of alteration to the eye
+of any careful banker. But many were almost perfect, and all were
+wonderfully deceptive and showed what could be done by a crook who had
+plenty of time.
+
+"But how about the perforations?" he was asked. "How could a crook
+change them?"
+
+"Nothing easier," was the reply. "The fact that checks stamped with
+the amount in perforated characters are considered safe aids the
+swindler. Really, to beat the perforations is so easy that it will
+make you smile. All the outfit that is needed is a common little punch
+with assorted small cutting tubes and a bottle of an invisible glue
+that every crook can make or that he can buy in certain places that
+every crook knows. Now, here is a check stamped in perforated
+characters $300$. I take my little punch and fit into it a cutter that
+will punch holes of the same size as the holes in the perforations.
+
+"Now I punch out of the edge of the check a few tiny disks. I moisten
+the tip of a needle and press them carefully into the holes that make
+the upper part of the figure 3. See, even in my haste and without
+glue, they fill the perforations completely and I can shake and pull
+the check without disturbing them."
+
+It was true. The little plugs fitted perfectly, and even with the
+knowledge that they were there it was almost impossible to see where
+they had been inserted.
+
+"Now," continued the expert, "I merely take my punch and carefully
+punch enough holes to the right of the upper part of the figure 3 to
+make it a 5. And there you are. If I wanted to pass this check through
+the bank I would only have to complete the job by smearing a drop of
+the invisible glue over the back where I have plugged the original
+holes. This glue is wonderfully tenacious and will actually hold the
+edges of paper together. It needs only the smallest surface in order
+to get hold. After it is on not even the microscope could detect it
+readily. And no amount of pulling or shaking of the check will disturb
+it.
+
+"You may suppose that a check that is stamped this way, for
+instance--$600$--would be hard to change into one of four figures. But
+it is almost equally easy. The crook simply punches out enough disks
+from the edge to fill up the last dollar mark completely, and after he
+has plugged it and the glue is dry he punches a cipher into the place
+and then punches a dollar mark after it. Of course, after punching the
+little disks out of the edge of the check it is necessary to trim that
+part of the paper, but that is done readily, for checks always have
+ample margin.
+
+"The check-raiser does not depend on the fact that the scrutiny of
+checks in a large bank is bound to be hasty, but he knows that he need
+not fear if his work is at all well done, for the paying teller simply
+cannot spend much time in examining the many checks that are passed
+in.
+
+"One New York City bank sends through the clearing-house daily an
+average of 3,100 checks, and as there are about sixty-five such banks
+in the clearinghouse the total number of checks handled in the few
+hours of business in a day is something enormous.
+
+"It is this haste--which, by the way, is absolutely necessary in order
+to keep the books posted to date--that is responsible for the passing
+of one of the most peculiar checks that ever came under the notice of
+the detectives of America. In this case the check was neither
+falsified nor was the signature forged, but it was bogus just the
+same.
+
+"It was a check made up of the parts of two checks, and all the
+implements necessary for falsification were a pair of scissors and
+that invisible glue. The clever swindler had got hold of two genuine
+checks from the same bank. One was for $1,000 and the other for $70.
+Placing these two checks together, one on top of the other, he cut
+them through neatly with the scissors. Then he pasted that portion
+bearing the word 'seventy' on the one check to that part bearing the
+word 'thousand' on the other. So the composite check read to pay to
+the holder 'seventy thousand' dollars. As the cutting was made through
+both checks in exactly the same place, the edges fitted perfectly.
+They were glued together and the check readily passed the bank
+cashier. The man was caught and made restitution without publicity,
+but the case gave bankers a shock. Other somewhat similar cases are
+known, but none involving such a large amount.
+
+"A famous case was the celebrated Seaver fraud. He bought a draft for
+$12 from the Bank of Woodland (Cal.), and, although it was written on
+chemical 'safety' paper and perforated in two places with a check
+punch, he raised it to $12,000, and it was passed successfully and
+paid.
+
+"But however successful they may be for a time, it is the fatal hoodoo
+of this 'most gentlemanly' way of making a living without earning it
+that a forgery is always discovered and the forger generally caught.
+That is because the forged check remains in existence and must be paid
+by some one, and sooner or later there will be an outcry. The best the
+raiser can hope for is to escape before the crime is discovered.
+
+"Once the false check is passed and he has the money, his first idea
+is as to where he shall hide. Another fatality attaching to his
+peculiar business is that the same place that he thinks of flying to
+is the place that suggests itself to the mind of the thief-chaser. In
+other words, knowing their man, the man-hunters can guess well where
+to find him.
+
+"If a forger wants to bury himself, he thinks of South America,
+because it is easy to get there, and apparently out of the world.
+Then, of South America, he probably only thinks of Venezuela, or
+closer home--of Guatemala or Panama. So the South American hunt is
+simplicity itself, as there are not so many large ports that strange
+Americans can pass through unnoticed.
+
+"If a forger wants to continue in his crooked business he thinks of
+London, Paris, Berlin, and maybe Vienna. We guess at his calibre and
+whether he wants more money, and know where he probably will go to get
+it, for the professional crook has an international acquaintance, and
+he only goes among friends. So we follow him.
+
+"If a forger is an adventurous spirit and committed the crime on
+impulse, and we could learn absolutely nothing more about him, we
+would look in that Mecca of adventurers, South Africa, for him. In
+fact, our first business is to learn what kind of a man he is, then
+shut our eyes and guess which one of a few places he will fly to. The
+guess often is so good that our men await him when the steamer lands
+there. If not, we don't forget the sailing vessels."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THUMB-PRINTS NEVER FORGED
+
+Thumb-Print Method of Identification Absolute--Now Brought to a High
+State of Perfection--Will Eventually Be Used in All Banks--Certified
+Checks and Also Drafts with Thumb-Print Signatures--Absolute Accuracy
+of a Thumb-Print Identification Assured--A Thumb-Print in Wax on
+Sealed Packages--Its Use an Advantage on Bankable Paper of All
+Kinds--How Strangers Are Easily Identified--Bankers, Merchants and
+Business Men Protected by This System--Full Particulars as to How
+Thumb-Prints Are Made--Can be Printed by Anyone in a Few Minutes--How
+and When to Place Your Thumb-Print on Bankable Paper--Finger-Prints as
+Reliable as Thumb-Prints--Use to Which This System Could Be Put--Thumb
+and Finger Tips Do Not Change From Birth to Death--Department of
+Justice at Washington Has Established a Bureau of Criminal Registry
+Using the Thumb-Print System--Thumb-Print System Said to Be a Chinese
+Invention--Its Use Spreading Rapidly--How to Secure Thumb-Print
+Impression Without Knowledge of Party--An Interesting and Valuable
+Study.
+
+
+How to detect the forger as one of the cleverest of operating criminals
+has been solved by the "thumb-print" method of identification, now
+spreading throughout the banks, business houses and public offices of
+the world.
+
+It is quite as interesting as the suggestion that through the same
+thumb-print method in commercial and banking houses the forger is
+likely to become a creature without occupation and chirographical means
+of support. R.W. McClaughry, chief of the bureau of identification in
+the federal prison at Leavenworth, Kan., is one of the most expert in
+the thumb-print method of identification in this country, having been
+schooled at Scotland Yards in London, where the method first was
+brought to its present state of perfection. Mr. McClaughry sees for the
+system not only a great aid in preventing the forgeries of commercial
+brigands but the easiest of all means for a person in a strange city to
+identify himself as the lawful possessor of check, or note, or bank
+draft which he may wish to turn into cash at a banker's window.
+
+Thumb-print signatures will eventually be used in all banks as a means
+of identification. It will be a sure preventative of forgery. For
+instance: A maker of a check desiring to take a trip around the world
+shall draw a check for the needed sum and, in the presence of the
+cashier of his bank, place one thumb-print in ink somewhere in one
+spot on the check--perhaps over the amount of the check as written in
+figures. Thereupon the cashier of the bank will accept the check as
+certified by his institution. With this paper in his possession the
+drawer of the check may go from his home in New York to San Francisco,
+a stranger to every person in the city. But at the window of any bank
+in that city, presenting his certified check to a teller who has a
+reading glass at his hand, the stranger may satisfy the most careful
+of banks by a mere imprint of his thumb somewhere else upon the face
+of the check.
+
+With the ink thumb-print of the cashier of a bank placed on a bank
+draft over his signature and over the written amount of the draft,
+chemical papers and the dangers of "raising" or counterfeiting the
+draft would have no further consideration. The thumb-print of the
+secretary of the United States treasury, reproduced on the face of
+greenback, silver certificate and bank note of any series would
+discourage counterfeiting as nothing else ever has done.
+
+But this thumb-print possibility in commercial papers has its greatest
+future in the positive identification which either thumb or finger
+print carries with it. Criminologists all over the world have
+satisfied themselves of the absolute accuracy of the fingerprint
+identification.
+
+At the present time traveling salesmen, who spend much money and who
+wish to carry as little as possible of cash with them, have an
+organized system by which their bankable paper may be cashed at hotels
+and business houses over the country. But with the thumb-print in use,
+as it might be, such an organization would be unnecessary.
+
+As between bank and bank, this use of the fingerprint in bank papers
+of large face value is especially applicable. A draft for $100,000 or
+$1,000,000 may be worth more consideration of the banks concerned than
+the penmanship of signer and countersigner of the paper.
+
+In the shipment of currency where there may be question of either
+honesty or correctness in the persons sealing the package, a
+thumb-print in wax will determine absolutely whether the wax has been
+unbroken in transit, as well as establishing the identity of the
+person putting on the first seal. As to the protective value of such a
+thumb-seal, a case has been cited in which train robbers, discovering
+a chance seal of the kind in wax of such a package, left that package
+untouched when the express safe had been blown open; it was too
+suggestive of danger to be risked.
+
+In the ordinary usage of the thumb-print on bankable paper the city
+bank having its country correspondents everywhere often is called upon
+to cash a draft drawn by the country bank in favor of that bank's
+customer, who may be a stranger in the city. The city bank desires to
+accommodate the country correspondent as a first proposition. The
+unidentified bearer of the draft in the city may have no acquaintance
+able to identify him. If he presents the draft at the windows of the
+big bank, hoping to satisfy the institution, and is turned away, he
+feels hurt. By the thumb-print method he might have his money in a
+moment.
+
+In the first place, even the signature of the cashier of the country
+bank will be enough to satisfy its correspondent in the city of the
+genuineness of the draft. Before the country purchaser of the draft
+has left the bank issuing the paper he will be required to make the
+ink thumb-print in a space for that purpose. Without this imprint the
+draft will have no value. If the system should be in use, the cashier
+signing the draft will not affix his signature to the paper until this
+imprint has been made in his presence.
+
+Then, with his attested finger-print on the face of the draft, the
+stranger in the city may go to the city bank, appearing at the window
+of the newest teller, if need be. This teller will have at hand his
+inked pad, faced with a sheet of smooth tin. He never may have seen
+the customer before. He never may see him again. But under the
+magnifying influences of an ordinary reading glass he may know past
+the possibility of doubt that in the hands of the proper person named
+in the draft the imprint which is made before him has been made by the
+first purchaser of the draft.
+
+In the more important and complicated transactions in bank paper one
+bank may forward from the bank itself the finger-print proofs of
+identity. The whole field of such necessities is open to adapted uses
+of the method. Notes given by one bank to another in high figures may
+be protected in every way by these imprints. Stock issues and
+institution bonds would be worthy of the thumb-print precautions, as
+would be every other form of paper which might tempt either the forger
+or the counterfeiter. In any case where the authenticity of the paper
+might be questioned, the finger-print would serve as absolute
+guarantee. In stenographic correspondence, where there might be
+inducements to write unauthorized letters on the part of some person
+with wrong intent, the imprint of finger or thumb would make the
+possibility of fraud too remote for fears. For, in addition to the
+security of signatures in real documents, the danger in attempting
+frauds of this kind is increased.
+
+As to the physical necessaries in registering fingerprints, they are
+simple and inexpensive. A block of wood faced with smooth tin or zinc
+the size of an octavo volume, a small ink roller, and a tube of black
+ink are all that are required. For removing the ink on thumb or finger
+a towel and alcohol cleanser are sufficient. A tip impression or a
+"rolled" finger signature may be used. Only a few seconds are required
+for the operation.
+
+In giving big checks merchants and bankers would be protected by the
+thumb-print system. A merchant could place the print of his right
+index finger to the left of his signature on a check. The bank would
+have a print, together with the merchant's signature on file. Only a
+few seconds would be necessary to convince the paying teller as to its
+genuineness. The merchant, also, if necessary, could place a light
+print of the index finger over the amount of the check where written
+in figures. Any attempt to erase the figures would destroy the
+finger-print. If the figures were raised, the one doing so would be
+unable to place a finger-print in the same space that would correspond
+with the one at the bottom of the check beside the signature, and the
+raising of the check would immediately be discovered in the bank where
+the check was presented.
+
+The finger-prints could be used also in all manner of documents filed
+for record, such as deeds to lands, mortgages, leases, and the like.
+Railroads could use it to prevent men once employed and discharged for
+incompetency obtaining employment on another division, thus doing away
+with inspectors. Each new employee's finger-prints could be kept in a
+central office and classified. Any man attempting to obtain employment
+again with the same railway, who had once been discharged for cause,
+would immediately be detected, and a high standard of personnel thus
+obtained.
+
+Congress recently passed a law whereby the Bureau of Immigration is
+permitted to tax each immigrant four dollars; this sum to be used in
+detecting foreign criminals who come to this country; also to aid in
+ascertaining whether foreigners who come here commit crimes and get
+into prisons. If such are found they are to be deported. By the
+finger-print system the prints of each foreigner could be taken at all
+ports of entry. These could be kept on file in Washington, and from
+time to time compared with those sent to the Bureau of Criminal
+Registry in the Department of Justice building. Any foreigner located
+in a prison could be ascertained, and upon the termination of his
+sentence taken to some port and placed on board ship.
+
+It has been demonstrated by experts that the ridges of finger tips do
+not change from birth until death and decomposition. Scars made on the
+finger tips remain throughout life, and are valuable for identification
+purposes. Criminals try to evade identification by the system by
+burning the tips of their digits with acid; but these are classified
+under the head of disfigured fingers, and a lawbreaker cannot escape
+detection. Even the removal of two, three, or four fingers or an entire
+hand does not prevent a criminal being traced if his prints were taken
+before he lost the five digits. In the case of one hand being
+amputated, the missing fingers are classified as they appear on the
+other hand. If a search fails to locate the person, then the missing
+fingers are classified first as whorls and then as loops, search being
+made after each classification. In this manner the search may be a
+little more tedious than it would be if all the fingers were there, but
+in time he would be identified.
+
+The Department of Justice thinks so well of the system that it has
+recently established in Washington a Bureau of Criminal Registry. There
+the finger-print sheets, and for the time being Bertillon cards, of
+all criminals who have been convicted of violating federal laws are to
+be kept. The prints and Bertillon measurements of new arrivals at
+government prisons and jails will also be sent there for classification,
+none of this work being done at prisons as heretofore. The men held
+in federal jails, charged with crimes, are also to have their
+finger-prints taken, and these sent to the central bureau. If the
+expert in charge of this bureau ascertains that a man indicted for
+crime has served a previous term in prison, this fact is to be
+communicated to the United States judge and district attorney, and if
+convicted the criminal is to be given the full limit of sentence.
+
+Although the system of identification by fingerprints has been in use
+in Europe for a number of years, it is not a European invention. As a
+matter of fact, it is one of those cherished western institutions that
+the Chinese have calmly claimed for their own, and those who doubt
+this may be convinced by actual history showing it to have been
+employed in the police courts of British India for a generation or so
+back. Just who was responsible for its adoption there is not certain,
+but Sir John Herschel, at one time connected with the India civil
+service, is usually mentioned in this regard. The British police
+experienced a great deal of trouble in keeping track of even the most
+notorious native criminals and it was a great deal more difficult to
+arrest a first offender, for the reason that all the natives looked so
+much alike and were such apt liars.
+
+Ordinary methods, even the Bertillon system, were fruitless and
+finally the finger-print scheme was tried. It worked like a charm.
+Where more arrests had been the exception, they now became the rule
+and the power of the law began to merit respect. In case after case
+the police were enabled to track the crime solely by the chance print
+of a man's finger or thumb on an odd piece of paper, on the dusty
+lintel of a doorway or a dirty window pane. Some of the stories told
+of their accomplishments in this line rival the most thrilling
+detective stories.
+
+In one case, that of the murder of a manager of a tea garden on the
+Bhupal frontier, half a dozen or more persons were at first suspected,
+among them the real murderer, who was, however, later regarded as
+innocent because he was supposed to have been away from the district
+at the time the crime was committed. Investigations and questionings
+did no good, and at last the local inspector decided to take the
+thumb-prints of all concerned and refer them to the central office of
+the province. After the records had been searched a messenger came
+with orders to arrest the discharged servant of the manager who had
+been first suspected and then exonerated, for his finger-prints
+tallied exactly with those of a bad character just discharged from
+prison. He was later convicted of burglary by a court of appeal, to
+which the case was carried, the court refusing to condemn a man for
+murder on such slight basis when the actual crime had not been
+observed.
+
+At the present time in India the papers taken in the civil-service
+examinations must be certified to by the thumb-print of the competitor
+and wills must likewise be sealed in the same way, and all checks and
+drafts must be certified by a thumb-print in addition to a signature.
+
+In India, also deeds of transfer, and records of sale of land in
+connection with illiterate natives are executed by the impression of a
+thumb-mark instead of an "X, his mark"; and recently this very
+superior system of signature has been applied to all kinds of
+transactions with the natives, such as post-office savings banks,
+pension certificates, mortgages, etc.
+
+The success the plan met with in India led to its trial and speedy
+adoption by the French and English police. In Paris it is used as an
+adjunct to the measurement system of M. Bertillon, but at Scotland
+Yard the Bertillon system has been entirely done away with and full
+reliance is had on the prints. M. Bertillon claims to have 500,000
+prints in his collection, although this is said by the authorities
+to be an exaggeration, and Inspector McNaughton of the convict
+supervision office has at least 100,000 criminals' hands catalogued
+in his office.
+
+Finger marks do not change in any way through life, and any injury
+only temporarily affects the pattern. The pattern becomes larger as
+the youth develops into a man, but the arrangement of the lines
+remains absolutely the same.
+
+Thumb-marks may be generally classified as loops, arches and ovals, or
+whorls; the ovals irresistibly remind one of whirlpools as well as the
+volutions of shells, while the majority of loops or arches resemble in
+their convolutions the rapid movement of rushing water.
+
+Thumb-print identifications have been extended to commercial uses by
+the postal savings bank on the Philippines at Manila. This bank has
+recently issued a series of stamp deposit cards, on which are spaces
+for stamps of different values to be affixed. When the depositor has
+stamps to the value of 1 peso (50 cents) on the card it is exchanged
+at the bank for a deposit book, showing the amount to his credit.
+Opposite the lines for the owner's signature and address is a square
+ruled off for the reception of his thumb-print, so that even if
+illiterate, depositors may readily be identified.
+
+If any one wishes to get a thumb-print impression without the
+suspect's knowledge, simply hand him a piece of paper, asking him to
+identify it or examine it for one reason or another, afterwards
+sprinkling some special black powder over it which brings out the
+impressions as clear as life. Another sort of white powder is used for
+bringing out impressions on glassware.
+
+Once the impression is secured, the fingers are classified according
+to a regular plan. The lines on them are divided into loops, whorls,
+arches, and composites, the latter class made up of a collection of
+the first three. Each pair of fingers as the index, little and ring
+fingers has a special valuation which is used to identify them and
+facilitate classification. One pair will be classified according to
+the number of little ridges between the delta, or point where all
+bifurcate, and the outer ring. If there are more than nine on one
+finger, it is classed as an over-nine.
+
+It is seldom that two similar fingers are alike and the other finger
+usually would be an under-nine finger, say six. So there is the first
+pair classified thus, 9-6. The next two fingers may have rotary lines
+and are merely classified as R, the next two may not have many lines
+at all that will count, so are marked 0, while perhaps the last pair
+is unmatched, a point being allowed to one and nothing to the other.
+
+Thumb or finger-prints are absolutely serviceable and certain in the
+detection of crime or in establishing a person's identity.
+
+That this system may be most effectively employed as an adjunct to the
+rogue's gallery for fixing the identity of criminals there can be no
+doubt, since, from various experiments made it has been demonstrated
+that impressions made from the dermal furrows of the thumb or finger
+of no two persons can be sufficiently identical, when inspected under
+a microscope, to be mistaken one for the other; and that it is a
+powerful agency for the detection of criminals.
+
+Very often, on the scene of a crime, finger marks are found on glossy
+surfaces (bottles, glasses, window panes, door plates, painted and
+varnished walls, etc.). By a comparison of such impressions,
+photographed by a special process, it is easy either to discover the
+maker of the finger marks observed at the scene of the crime, or to
+establish the innocence of a suspected person whose digital
+impressions have nothing in common with those marks.
+
+Note and study fac-simile impressions of thumb-prints and finger-prints
+in Appendix at end of this book.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+DETECTING FORGERY WITH THE MICROSCOPE
+
+Determining Questionable Signatures By the Aid of a Microscope--A
+Magnifying Glass Not Powerful Enough--Character of Ink Easily
+Told--The Microscope and a Knowledge of Its Use--Experience and
+Education of an Examiner of Great Assistance--An Expert's Opinion--The
+Use of the Microscope Recommended--Illustrating a Method of
+Forgery--What a Microscopic Examination Reveals--How to Examine Forged
+Handwriting with a Microscope--Experts and a Jury--What the Best
+Authorities Recommend.
+
+
+In all examinations of questioned signatures to determine the
+individual habit of the writer the use of the compound microscope is a
+necessity to obtain the best field for study and analysis for the
+reason that the most important details are often so minute that they
+cannot be seen with the naked eye in sufficient size to determine
+their individual character and accuracy. A magnifying glass has but a
+limited field in this class of work, for it is not easily held in
+position steadily for continued observation and study, besides it has
+not the requisite power for the work. The lower powers of the compound
+microscope are but available for the examination of signatures for the
+reason that when the higher powers are used but little of the
+signature is in the field of vision, although the power of the lens
+may be increased when some particular point or feature in the writing
+requires greater enlargement for more perfect definition. The higher
+powers of the microscope are sometimes used to ascertain the character
+of inks with which the writing is done, and also to determine the
+character of the paper on which a signature is written, which at times
+becomes important. For all practical uses of the microscope in the
+examination of signatures the range of object enlargement occurring
+between a three-inch and an inch objective will be found to answer the
+purpose, as the various powers of the lenses become important in
+making the analysis.
+
+While it is a fact that the microscope and a knowledge of its uses is
+of the greatest importance in ascertaining the character of the
+signatures, when the question of their being forged or genuine is the
+object of the examination, it does not follow that because a person is
+learned in the use of the microscope in other fields of research that
+he is therefore qualified to become an expert in handwriting. A
+peculiar education made practically applicable by experience in this
+latter field of study is absolutely necessary to determine with
+accuracy what the microscope reveals, and its importance to give value
+to any conclusions reached by its use. The connection of effect with
+cause, and the determination of the latter as a matter of individualism
+cannot be accomplished merely from what is seen under the microscope.
+The examiner must by experience and education be fitted to ascertain
+from personal characteristics manifested in the writing of a signature
+necessitated their appearance as a matter of individuality.
+
+From one of the best-known European experts on handwriting and who has
+figured conspicuously in important cases some interesting facts
+relative to this subject recently were learned. To the question, "What
+is the primary requisite for a conscientious opinion on the
+genuineness of any submitted handwriting?" this expert unhesitatingly
+replied, "An utter and entire absence of either feeling or prejudice.
+In other words, one should be perfectly dispassionate when engaged in
+such a work and use a first-class compound microscope."
+
+To make his analysis the expert uses a microscope of great power, and
+by a strict and close attention to the subject-matter he can determine
+the exact means or methods employed in making the individual letters
+and the formation of the words and also the several inks that were
+used. Handwriting as defined by this expert is a mechanical operation
+pure and simple. Its general excellence or the reverse is largely
+dependent on the education which the hand has received. When a man
+sits down to write he mechanically reproduces on paper what is in his
+mind, and this may be said to be his natural handwriting. Should he
+stop to think even for a moment, not of what he is transferring to the
+paper but of the writing itself, he instantly ceases to write his
+natural hand, the transcription becoming only a copy or drawing from
+memory.
+
+In the opinion of the expert, emphatically expressed, a person never
+writes twice exactly alike. This is stated to be the point around
+which all his subsequent developments revolve when examining a
+manuscript. Let several examples of the natural handwriting of an
+individual be compared. It is true that there will be a general
+similarity, but, as has been asserted, when placed in juxtaposition or
+subjected to a careful comparison under a microscope no two words or
+letters will be found to be alike. Thus it is not the similarity
+between two pieces of writing that would arouse suspicion with some
+experts, but rather the natural dissimilarity. Based on this point
+such experts occupy a distinct position by themselves, since other
+experts take what is called the positive side. With the first-named
+class, however, handwriting is a science of negatives. A good
+microscope will always be found a good detective in determining the
+genuineness of handwriting.
+
+By way of illustrating one method of forgery interesting material
+which had played an important part in a court case was carefully
+examined. It consisted of five or six graded photographic enlargements
+of the duplicate signature which were carefully examined with the aid
+of a microscope. The original had been made by an elderly person and
+the forger had used the tracing process. To the naked eye it appeared
+to be a capital copy; in fact, it seemed to bear every semblance of
+being genuine. In the first enlargement of several diameters certain
+inaccuracies of tracing could be discerned, only, however, after
+attention had been called to them by an expert. In the next
+enlargement these same errors were more apparent, and so on through
+the series. The largest photograph was magnified several hundred
+diameters greater than the original and stretched across quite an area
+of paper. From an examination of this largest one with a microscope it
+was evident that the forger first had traced his copy with pencil,
+afterward going over it with ink, but so irregularly had his pen
+followed the pencil lines that in certain portions of this enlargement
+there was room for a man's fist between the first tracing and its inky
+covering.
+
+In trying to detect forged handwriting every letter of the alphabet,
+wherever written, may be examined with a microscope for the following
+characteristics: Size, shading, position relative to the horizontal
+line, inclination relative to the vertical line, sharpness of the
+curves and angles, proportion and relative position of the different
+parts, and elaboration or extension of the extremities. In scarcely
+one of these particulars can a man make two letters so much alike that
+they cannot be distinguished by microscopical examination.
+
+Although a great deal can be determined in a general way by close
+observation with the naked eye, it is always best to employ some
+magnifying power--usually an ordinary hand lens or pocket magnifier
+will suffice--but the writer has found it better to use a microscope
+objective of low power (four or five diameters), which is provided
+with an easily slipping sleeve, terminating in a diaphragm which cuts
+out the light entering the outside rim of the lens. This sleeve may be
+pushed out for one or two centimeters, and the particular spot under
+examination isolated from the adjacent parts without undue
+magnification. It is one of the popular fallacies that a high
+magnifying power is desirable in all cases of difficulty, but usually
+the reverse is the case in questions of handwriting.
+
+Experts have sometimes impressed the jury with the fact that they had
+employed on some thick and opaque document, powers of several hundred
+diameters without the lately applied illumination from the side,
+reflected by a glass plate, introduced obliquely into the tube of
+the microscope. Without such aid no microscopist need be told that
+the light would be wanting to illuminate the field under these
+circumstances. The best authorities prescribe a magnifying power of
+not more than ten diameters for ordinary observation. For special
+purposes higher powers are sometimes useful. An ocular examination of
+the ink in the various parts of a written paper, document or
+instrument of any kind will generally decide whether it is the same.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+SIGNATURE EXPERTS THE SAFETY OF THE MODERN BANK
+
+A New Departure in Banks--Examining All Signatures a Sure
+Preventive Against Forgery--The "Filling-in" Process--How One Forger
+Operated--Marvelous Accuracy of a Paying Teller--How He Attained
+Perfection--How Signature Clerks Work--A Common Dodge of Forgers--Post
+Dated Checks--A System That Prevents Forged and Raised Checks--Not a
+Forged or Raised Check Paid in Years.
+
+
+[The following article has been kindly contributed by the manager of
+one of the largest English banks, located in London.]
+
+One of the most trying positions in our business, is that of signature
+expert--the man who has to examine daily every draft that comes in
+through the clearing house and vouch for its genuineness. Our bank,
+one of the largest in London, employs six clerks who do nothing all
+day long but examine checks, and when I tell you that it is no
+uncommon thing for 10,000 drafts to come in during a single day you
+will understand that the job is not altogether the sinecure it is
+popularly supposed to be.
+
+These clerks have not only to scrutinize the signatures both of drawer
+and drawee, but also examine the "filling-in," the latter being just
+as important, perhaps more so from a monetary point of view, as the
+signatures. As a matter of fact, the commonest forgery with which we
+have to deal is the "raising" of checks, and a forger of this nature
+generally chooses a check bearing a genuine signature but having very
+little "filling-in."
+
+For instance, he knows that it would not be difficult to raise a check
+from £3 to £3000, for all he has to do is to erase the word "pounds,"
+insert the word "thousand," and then add the erased word again. I have
+seen plenty of this kind of work during the time I have been examining
+checks.
+
+One of the most impudent pieces of forgery, however, that I ever came
+across was a check raised from £5 to £500. The forger had evidently
+relied on colossal impudence carrying him through, for he had simply
+added a couple of ciphers and then between the words "five" and
+"pounds" had placed an omission mark and written the word "hundred"
+above, adding the initials of the drawer of the check just to give the
+thing a look of careless genuineness.
+
+It was so astounding a piece of cool audacity that we had bets on the
+check, two of my assistants declaring it to be O.K., while the other
+three and myself declared it to be a forgery. Further inquiries, of
+course, proved that the opinion of the majority was the correct one.
+
+It is marvelous what a vast number of signatures some paying tellers
+will carry in their mind's eye, as it were, and thus be able to pass
+checks by the thousand without once having to refer to the signature
+books. We had a paying teller here a few years ago who was little less
+than a wonder. He knew perfectly the signatures of at least 5000
+customers, and could detect the alteration of a stroke in any one of
+them in an instant.
+
+More remarkable still was the fact that he recognized with equal
+facility the signatures of those customers whose checks only came in
+once or twice a year. But he made an art of his work, and I afterward
+discovered that most of his evenings were spent in studying and
+learning the signatures of the customers, for he was a wonderful hand
+at copying writing, and whenever a new signature would come in, one
+with which he was not acquainted, he would at once facsimile it in his
+pocket-book, and by the next morning would be able to recognize it
+among 10,000.
+
+Signature clerks are not, as a rule, supposed to make copies of
+customers' autographs, but many of them do, and some men are clever
+enough at the work to even deceive themselves.
+
+Of course, it is understood that when the signature clerks are not
+examining checks they are studying the autograph books in order to
+familiarize themselves with the calligraphy of every customer. Each
+check, you must understand, passes through the hands of each clerk in
+turn, so that if one should pass a forgery or a "raised" draft it is
+very unlikely that the entire staff would do so. All these checks, of
+course, come through the clearing house, and if we should pass a
+forged draft and not find out our mistake before three o 'clock in the
+afternoon our bank would be held responsible. One of the commonest
+dodges adopted by the modern check-forger is to get a customer of some
+small country bank to introduce him to that institution as a likely
+depositor. On the recommendation of the friend (who is probably quite
+unaware that the acquaintance he made some few months ago is a
+"wrong'un") there is no difficulty in accepting their new client's
+check for £2000, and the following day, when the same customer calls
+and withdraws £100 to £500, as the case may be, he is politely handed
+the cash, and then, of course, loses no time in skipping the town.
+After the bogus customer's check has passed through the clearing house
+it is returned to the bank on which it has been drawn and the fraud is
+at once discovered.
+
+Another part of a signature clerk's duties is to see that no checks
+are post-dated, as of course no drafts must be paid until they fall
+due. On occasions a careless man will post-date a check, but as a rule
+the mistake is purposely made. This spotting of post-dated checks,
+however, is the easiest part of a signature clerk's work, and it is
+very seldom that a check so dated escapes him. Then, again, we are
+often notified that payment on certain checks has been stopped, and
+the clerks have to be on the lookout for these, and it must be a very
+careless staff indeed that lets them slip by. We are held responsible
+for all checks passed after we have received notice to stop payment.
+
+But it is very seldom now, owing to the cleverness of the experts,
+that any forged checks, "raised" checks, post-dated checks, or stopped
+checks pass the vigilant eyes of our staff without being detected, but
+when one does--well, although the signature clerks are not held
+monetarily responsible for the loss, it means a bad mark against them
+in the future, and they feel its effects next time promotions or
+"rises" are being handed out.
+
+Altogether, though the work is interesting, and even fascinating in a
+way, the responsibilities are so great that the effect on the nerves
+is often very trying at times. One thing we are particular about, and
+that is to take no chances. If we have the slightest doubt about the
+genuineness of a check we at once communicate, either by telegraph,
+special messenger, or telephone, with the supposed drawer of the
+check, and in this way turn doubt into certainty. During the last
+three years not a single wrong check has passed our vigilant optics,
+and, though I say it who should not, I do not believe there is a
+cleverer set of experts any where than those who compose my staff.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+HOW TO DETERMINE AGE OF ANY WRITING
+
+The Different Kinds of Ink Met With--Inks That Darken by Exposure to
+Sunlight and Air--Introduction of Aniline Colors to Determine the Age
+of Writings--An Almost Infallible Rule to Follow--To Determine
+Approximate Age of Ink Possible--The Ammonia System a Sure One--A
+Question of Great Interest to Bankers and Bank Employes--Thick Inks and
+Thin Inks--So-called Safety Inks That Are Not Safe--How to Restore
+Faded Inks--An Infallible Rule--Restoring Faded Writing--Restored by
+the Silk and Cotton System That Anyone Can Arrange--Danger of Exposing
+Restored Writing to the Sun.
+
+
+The inks in common use over the United States at the present time,
+and for some years past, are not as numerous as one might be led
+to conclude. They are probably fifteen or at most twenty in all,
+including the most popular blue, red, magenta, and green inks. But
+among these there is a notable difference in character. Some are
+thick, heavy, and glossy, in character, and flow sluggishly from the
+pen. Few of these become much darker by standing. In this class will
+be found the copying inks and those in which a large quantity of gums
+or similar thickening agents are used.
+
+Other inks are pale, limpid, and flow easily from the pen, and this
+class usually shows a notable darkening by exposure to sunlight and
+air. It will be unnecessary here to refer more particularly to the
+intermediate varieties or to discuss their various composition.
+
+It should be, remembered here that in the last twenty years, or since
+the introduction into general commerce of aniline colors, which
+Hofmann discovered in 1856, these latter have been employed more and
+more in writing fluids; not only in mixtures of which they are the
+principal ingredients, but to a greater or less degree in all inks.
+Their presence, even in small quantity, in the gallo-tannate of iron
+and logwood inks can be generally detected by an iridescent and
+semi-metallic luster.
+
+To assist in determining the ages of writings by one and the same ink,
+it is to be observed that the older the writing the less soluble it is
+in dilute ammonia. If the writing be lightly touched with a brush
+dipped in ten-per-cent ammonia, the later writing will always give up
+more or less soluble matter to the ammonia before the earlier. In case
+of inks of different kinds this test is not serviceable, for
+characters written in logwood ink, for instance, will always give up
+their soluble material sooner than nutgall inks, even if the last
+named be later applied. To estimate the age of writing from the amount
+of bleaching in a given time by hydrochloric or oxalic acid is very
+precarious, because the thickness of the ink film in a written
+character is not always the same, and the acid bleaches the thinner
+layer sooner than the thicker.
+
+The determination of the age of a written paper is a problem difficult
+of solution. According to F. Carré the age can be approximately
+determined if the characters written in iron ink are pressed in a
+copying press and a commercial hydrochloric acid diluted with eleven
+parts of water is substituted for water; or, if the written characters
+are treated for some time with this diluted acid.
+
+The explanation is that the ink changes in time, its organic substance
+disappears little by little, and leaves behind an iron compound, which
+in part is not attacked even by acids.
+
+An unsized paper is impregnated with the described diluted acid,
+copied with the press, and a copy from writing eight or ten years old
+can be obtained as easily as one by means of water from a writing one
+day old.
+
+A writing thirty years old gives, by this method, a copy hardly
+legible, and one over sixty years old, a copy hardly visible. In order
+to protect the paper against the action of the acid, it should be
+drawn through ammoniacal water.
+
+To determine the exact age of writings by the ink is not easy. The
+approximate age may be determined with some degree of certainty. If
+ink-writings are but a few days old, it is easy to distinguish them
+from other writing years old. But to tell by the ink which of two
+writings is the older, when one is but two months and the other two
+years, is, as a rule, impossible.
+
+Where during the progress of a trial a document purporting to be years
+old is introduced in evidence, and it can be shown that it is but a
+few days old, having been prepared for the occasion, ordinarily the
+age of the writing will be comparatively easy of demonstration by the
+expert. Oxidization will not have set in to any extent, if the ink is
+very fresh, and this, with a careful watching of the color for any
+darkening, will determine whether or not the ink is fresh. This ink
+study should be a question of the utmost interest to bankers and bank
+employes.
+
+A ten-per-cent solution of ammonia applied to two inks in question
+will show which is the fresher. The older ink will resist the action
+of the ammonia longer and give up less soluble matter than the newer
+writing. Nutgall, and logwood inks, of course, should not be tested
+comparatively by this method, as the logwood ink will respond to the
+ammonia sooner than the nutgall ink.
+
+F. Carré also gives another method for determining, approximately, the
+age of ink-writings. If the writing is in iron ink, and is moistened
+with a solution of one part of hydrochloric acid to eleven parts of
+water and put in letter-copying press and copy transferred to copy
+paper it should give a strong copy, if but ten years old; a hardly
+legible copy, if thirty years old; and if sixty years old, a few marks
+will be copied, but they will not be legible.
+
+If the same solution be used in place of water, as in the ordinary
+letter-copying process and the copying paper be saturated with it, the
+result will be the same.
+
+To determine the age of writing by applying bleaching acids and
+watching results and counting the seconds is a dangerous method. Thick
+inks will respond to the acids slower than thin, and the time
+comparisons are misleading.
+
+Safety inks, so-called, designed to resist the action of acids and
+alkalies have been repeatedly put upon the market, but no such ink has
+ever successfully challenged the world and proved its title of safety.
+
+Many chemicals are recommended as restorations for faded writing, but
+these should be avoided as far as possible, as they are liable to
+stain, disfigure the paper, and in the end make matters materially
+worse. Familiarity with particular handwritings after some practice
+will enable the reader to make out otherwise unintelligible words
+without any other assistant than a powerful magnifying glass.
+
+If the ink is very faint, the simplest and most harmless restorative
+is sulphate of ammonia, but its loathsome smell once encountered is
+not easily forgotten. The experiment in consequence is very seldom
+repeated for the result is scarcely good enough to risk a repetition
+of so horrible a smell.
+
+The writing on old and faded documents may be restored, by chemical
+treatment, turning the iron salt still remaining into ferrous sulphate.
+A process which will restore the writing temporarily is as follows: A
+box four or five inches deep and long and broad enough to hold the
+document, with a glass, is needed. A net of fine white silk or cotton
+threads is stretched across the box at about one half the depth. Two
+saucers containing yellow ammonium hydrosulphide are placed in the
+bottom of the box. By means of a clean sponge or brush, moisten the
+paper with distilled water; then place it on the net with the writing
+side down. The action of the vapor of the ammonium hydrosulphide will
+cause the obliterated writing to slowly turn brown, then black. But
+within a short time after removal from the box the writing will again
+disappear.
+
+Another method is to wash the document carefully in a solution of
+hydrochloric acid, one part, and distilled water, one hundred parts.
+Dry the moistened paper somewhat, leaving it just moist enough to hold
+a uniform layer of fine yellow prussiate of potash. A plate of glass
+with a light pressure should be placed on this. In a few hours dry the
+paper thoroughly, and carefully brush off the yellow prussiate of
+potash. The writing should come out a Prussian blue. This restored
+writing will be permanent unless exposed too much to the light.
+
+The hydrochloric acid must be thoroughly removed; otherwise, it will
+destroy the paper. Crystallized soda, two parts, and distilled water,
+one hundred parts, in solution, will counteract the hydrochloric acid,
+if the document is allowed to float on it for twenty-four hours.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+DETECTING FRAUD AND FORGERY IN PAPERS AND DOCUMENTS
+
+Infallible Rules for the Detection of Same--New Methods of
+Research--Changing Wills and Books of Accounts--Judgment of the Naked
+Eye--Using a Microscope or Magnifying Glass--Changeable Effects of
+Ink--How to Detect the Use of Different Inks--Sized Papers Not Easily
+Altered--Inks That Produce Chemical Effects--Inks That Destroy Fiber
+of Paper--How to Test Tampered or Altered Documents--Treating Papers
+Suspected of Forgery--Using Water to Detect Fraud--Discovering
+Scratched Paper--Means Forgers Use to Mask Fraudulent Operations--How
+to Prepare and Handle Test Papers--Detecting Paper That Has Been
+Washed--Various Other Valuable Tests to Determine Forgery--A Simple
+Operation That Anyone Can Apply--Iodine Used On Papers and Documents--An
+Alcohol Test That is Certain--Bringing Out Telltale Spots--Double
+Advantage of Certain Tests--Reappearance of Former Letters or
+Figures--What Genuine Writing Reveals--When an Entire Paper or Document
+is Forged.
+
+
+The art of detecting forgery or fraud, in checks, drafts, documents,
+seals, writing materials, or in the characters themselves is a study
+that has attracted handwriting experts since its study was taken up.
+There are almost infallible rules for the work and in this chapter is
+given several new methods of research that will prove of the utmost
+value to the public.
+
+It is not an uncommon occurrence that wills and other public documents
+are changed by the insertion of extra or substituted pages, thereby
+changing the character of the instrument. Where this is suspected
+careful inspection of the paper should be made--first, as to its shade
+of color and fiber, under a microscope; second, as to its ruling;
+third, as to its water-mark; fourth, as to any indications that the
+sheets have been separated since their original attachment; fifth, as
+to the writing--whether or not it bears the harmonious character of
+the continuous writing, with the same pen and ink, and coincident
+circumstances, or if typewritten, whether or not by the same operator
+or the same machine. It would be a remarkable fact if such change were
+to be made without betraying some tangible proof in some one or more
+of the above enumerated respects.
+
+Books of accounts are often changed by adding fictitious or fraudulent
+entries in such spaces as may have been left between the regular
+entries or at the bottom of the pages where there is a vacant space.
+Where such entries are suspected, there should be at first a careful
+inspection of the writing as to its general harmony with that which
+precedes and follows, as to its size, slope, spacing, ink, and pen
+used, and if in a book of original entry, the suspected entry should
+be traced through other books, to see if it is properly entered as to
+time and place, or vice versa.
+
+The judgment by the naked eye as to the colors or shades of two inks
+in the same paper or document is very likely to be erroneous for the
+reason that when a lighter ink is more heavily massed than a darker
+one the effect on the eye is as if it were the darker. Under a
+microscope or magnifying glass the field is more restricted, the finer
+lines are broadened, and one has larger areas of ink to compare with
+less surface of strongly contrasted white paper. Then, again, an ink
+without noticeable bluish tinge to the naked eye may appear quite blue
+under the glass where the films of ink are broadened and thinned and
+their characters better observed.
+
+In order to judge whether two marks have been made by the same ink,
+they should be viewed by reflected light to note the color, luster and
+thickness of the ink film. Many inks blot or "run" on badly sized
+paper--i.e., the lines are accompanied by a paler border which
+renders their edges less well defined.
+
+Even on well-sized papers this class of inks usually exhibits only a
+stained line of no appreciable thickness where the fluid has touched
+the paper.
+
+The copying and glossy inks, which often contain a considerable
+quantity of gum, do not "run" or blot even on partially sized paper,
+and show under the glass a convexity on the surface of the line and an
+appreciable thickness of the film.
+
+It does not always follow when an ink has made a blur on one part of
+the paper and not on another that the paper has been tampered with. A
+drop of water accidentally let fall on the blank page will frequently
+affect the sizing in that place, and, besides, all papers are not
+evenly sized in every part.
+
+The inks rich in gum, or those concentrated by evaporation from
+standing in an open inkstand, give a more lustrous and thicker stroke.
+Some inks penetrate deeper into the paper than others, and some
+produce chemical effects upon the sizing and even upon the paper
+itself, so that the characters can easily be recognized on the
+underside of the sheet. In some old documents the ink has been known
+to so far destroy the fiber of the paper that a slight agitation of
+the sheet would shake out as dust much of the part which it covered,
+thus leaving an imperfect stencil plate of the original writing.
+
+Distilled water is very useful in many cases to ascertain whether
+paper has been scratched and partially sized or treated with resin. If
+it has not been altered by chemical agents, the partial sizing and the
+resinous matter used give to the paper a peculiar appearance. Sizing
+takes away from the whiteness of the paper, and, thinned by the
+scratching or washing, it absorbs much more quickly even when it has
+been partially sized.
+
+A simple mode of operation is to place a document or paper suspected
+of being a forgery, on a sheet of paper or better still, on a piece of
+glass; then moisten little by little with a paint brush all parts of
+it, paying close attention to the behavior of the liquid as it comes
+in contact with the paper.
+
+By means of water one can discover what acids, alkalis, or salts the
+parts of the paper with colored borders or white spots contain.
+
+With the aid of a pipette cover these spots with water and let it
+remain for ten or fifteen minutes; then with the pipette remove the
+liquid and examine the products it holds in solution. Afterwards make
+a comparative experiment on another part of the paper which is neither
+spotted nor whitened.
+
+If the original writing has been done with a very acid ink on a paper
+containing a carbonate, such as calcium carbonate, the ink, in
+attacking the calcareous salt, stains the paper, so that if the forger
+has removed the ferruginous salts this removal is denoted by the
+semi-transparence that water gives to the paper.
+
+To study carefully the action of the water it is necessary to repeat
+the experiment several times, allowing the paper to dry thoroughly
+before recommencing it.
+
+According to Tarry, it is necessary to have recourse to alcohol to
+discover whether the paper has been scratched in any of the parts and
+then covered with a resinous matter to prevent the ink from blotting.
+
+Place the document on a sheet of white paper and with a paint brush
+dipped in alcohol of specific gravity 0.86 or 0.87 cover the place
+supposed to have been tampered with. It may be discovered if the
+writing thickens and runs when the alcohol has dissolved the resin.
+
+Hold the paper moistened with alcohol between the eye and the light;
+the thinning of the paper shows the work of the forger.
+
+Some more skillful forgers use paste and resin at the same time to
+mask their fraudulent operations; in this case luke-warm water should
+be first employed and then alcohol; water to dilute the paste, and
+alcohol to dissolve the resin. The result is that the ink added on the
+places scratched out spreads, and the forgery is easily seen.
+
+Test-papers (litmus, mauve, and Georgina paper) serve to determine
+whether a paper has been washed either by the help of chemical agents,
+acids incompletely removed, or the surplus of which has been saturated
+by an alkali, or by the help of alkaline substances. The change of the
+color to red indicates an acid substance; an alkali would turn the
+reddened litmus paper to blue, and the mauve and Georgina test-papers
+to green.
+
+Take a sheet of test-paper of the same dimensions as the document to
+be examined, moisten it, and cover it underneath with a sheet of
+Swedish filter-paper. These two sheets together (the filter-paper
+underneath) are then applied to the document which has been moistened
+already. The whole is then laid between two quires of paper, covered
+by a weighted board, and left in this condition for about an hour. At
+the end of this time examine the test-paper to see if it has partly or
+altogether changed color. This examination finished, put the
+test-paper in contact with distilled water, to be afterwards removed
+and tried by appropriate tests to discover the nature of the alkali or
+acid present.
+
+Silver nitrate is also used to discover whether the paper has been
+washed with chlorine or chlorites. A paper in that way becomes acid.
+The chlorine changes to hydrochloric acid, which dissolves in the
+water with which the suspected document or paper is moistened, and at
+the contact of silver nitrate little spots of silver chloride appear.
+
+There are various other tests such as gallo-tannic acid or infusion
+of nutgalls prepared a short time before application and may be used
+with advantage to restore writings that have been removed by washing.
+Place the document or paper on a sheet of white paper and moisten the
+whole of its surface with a paint brush dipped in the reagent, taking
+care not to rub it or strongly press it. When the surface is well
+impregnated allow the solution to act for an hour, and at the end of
+this time examine the document again. Then moisten it a second time
+and the following day, examine the results. Repeat the moistening
+several times if necessary, for it often takes some time to make the
+traces of writing reappear.
+
+Chevallier and Lassaigne experimented together on the effect produced
+by the vapor of iodine on the surface of the papers or documents upon
+which the alteration of writing was suspected. Take a bottle with a
+wide mouth from ten to eleven centimeters in height, and the opening
+from five to six centimeters in width. This last is covered by a disk
+of unpolished glass. Into the bottom of this vessel introduce from
+twenty to thirty grams of iodine in crystals.
+
+Place the portion of paper on which the vapor of iodine is to act at
+the opening of the bottle, and cover it with the stopper of unpolished
+glass, on which put a weight so as to exert a slight pressure, and in
+order that the aperture may be hermetically closed. Then allow the
+vapor of iodine to act on the dry paper for three or four minutes at
+the temperature of 15° to 16° C. and examine it attentively. When the
+surface has not been spotted by any liquid (water, alcohol, salt
+water, vinegar, saliva, tears, urine acids, acid salts, or alkalis) a
+uniform pale-yellow or yellowish-brown tinge will be noticed on all
+parts of the paper exposed to the vapor of iodine.
+
+Otherwise a different and easily distinguished tinge shows itself on
+the surface that has been moistened and then dried in the open air.
+
+Machine-made papers with starchy and resinous sizing give such decided
+reactions that sometimes it is possible to distinguish by the color
+the portion of the paper treated with alcohol from that moistened with
+water. The spot produced by alcohol takes a kind of yellow tinge; that
+formed by water becomes a violet blue, more or less deep, after having
+dried at an ordinary temperature. As to the spots produced by other
+aqueous liquids, they approach in appearance, though not in intensity,
+those occasioned by pure water. Feeble acids, or those diluted by
+water, act like water; but the concentrated mineral acids, in altering
+more or less the substance of the sizing, produce spots that present
+differences.
+
+Spots which become apparent by using vapor of iodine are due to
+chemical agents whose strength has altered either the fibers of the
+surface, or the paste uniting them.
+
+In a word, the test of a document or paper by vapor of iodine has the
+double advantage of indicating the place of the supposed alteration
+and operating afterwards with appropriate reagents to bring back the
+traces of ink. It is only the reappearance of former letters or
+figures written or effaced that demonstrates forgery. Much time may be
+profitably spent in merely scanning each letter of a document, and the
+writing by lines, paragraphs, and pages before a closer scrutiny.
+Gradually, if the writing be genuine, its character will begin to
+reveal itself, and unconsciously a hypothesis as to the physical
+causes of the irregularities or characteristics will be formed.
+
+When an entire document or page is forged, the ornamentation,
+flourishes, or the capitals at its head will often be seen to be out
+of keeping, either with its nature or with the supposed author's
+habits in similar cases. In a writing all must agree, place, day,
+year, handwriting, superscription or heading, signature, and material
+carrying the writing, especially paper, both as to constitution and
+color and ink.
+
+See illustrations of various kinds of handwriting at end of this book.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+GUIDED HANDWRITING AND METHOD USED
+
+The Most Frequent and Dangerous Method of Forgery--How to Detect
+a Guided Signature--What Guided Handwriting Is and How It Is
+Done--Character of Such Writing--Writing by a Guided Hand--Difficulty
+in Writing--Force Exercised by Joint Hands--A Hand More or Less
+Passive--Work of the Controlling Hand--How Guided Writing Appears--Two
+Writers Acting in Opposition--Distorted Writing--How a Legitimate
+Guided Hand is Directed and Supported--Pen Motion Necessary to Produce
+Same--Influence in Guiding a Stronger Hand--Avoiding an Unnatural and
+Cramped Position--Effect of the Brain on Guided Hand--Separating
+Characteristics From Guided Joint Signature--Detecting Writing by a
+System of Measurement.
+
+
+Guided handwriting is one of the most frequent means of forgery and
+oftentimes the most difficult to detect. It has been established that
+with care the elements of each handwriting can be detected and proven
+in a guided signature. The leading handwriting experts of the world
+are unanimous in declaring that it is possible for holding another's
+hand in making a guided signature to infuse the character of the
+guider's hand into the writing.
+
+Guided handwriting is the writing produced by two hands conjointly and
+is usually erratic, and at first sight, hard to connect with the
+handwriting of any one person.
+
+The character and quality of writing in case of a controlled or
+assisted hand must depend largely upon the relative force, exercised
+by the joint hands. The difficulty in writing arises from the
+antagonizing motion of one hand upon the other, which is likely to
+produce an unintelligible scrawl, having little or none of the
+habitual characteristics of either hand.
+
+Where one hand is more or less passive, the controlling hand doing the
+writing, its characteristics may be more or less manifest in the
+writing. But obviously the controlling hand must be seriously
+obstructed in its motions by even a passive hand; and since the
+controlling hand can have no proper or customary rest, the motion must
+be from the shoulder and with the whole arm. The writing will
+therefore be upon an enlarged scale, loose, sprawling, and can have
+little, if any, characteristic resemblance to the natural and habitual
+style of the controlling writer, and of course none of the person's
+whose hand is passive.
+
+In appearance it changes abruptly from very high or very wide to very
+low or narrow letters. This is to be explained by the non-agreement in
+phase of the impulses due to each of the two writers. If both are
+endeavoring at the same moment to write a given stroke the length of
+that stroke will be measured by the sum of the impulses given by the
+two writers. If they act in opposition to one another, one seeking to
+make a down stroke while the other is trying to make an up stroke, the
+result will be a line equal to the difference between the stronger and
+the weaker force.
+
+As these coincidences and oppositions occur at irregular but not
+infrequent intervals, like the interference and amplification phases
+of light and sound waves, the result traced on the paper might be
+expected in advance to be--and in fact is--a distorted writing where
+maxima and minima of effect are connected together by longer or
+shorter lines of ordinary writing.
+
+The only state of things which can justify the guiding of a hand
+executing a legal instrument is the feebleness or illness of its
+owner.
+
+When such assistance is required it is usually given by passing the
+arm around the body of the invalid and supporting the writing hand
+while the necessary characters are being made.
+
+Both participants in this action are looking at the writing, and both
+are thinking of the next letter which must be written, and of the
+motion of the pen necessary to produce it. Unless the executing hand
+were absolutely lifeless or entirely devoid of power, it would be
+impossible for it not to influence the guiding and presumably stronger
+hand; for the least force exerted cannot fail to deflect a hand,
+however strong, in an unnatural and cramped position. Nor can the hand
+of the guider fail to add its contribution to the joint effort,
+however much the brain which controls it may strive to render the hand
+entirely passive. Both minds are busy with the same act, and
+insensibly both hands will write the same letter with the results just
+described.
+
+Can the characteristics of each hand be separated from those of the
+other and the relative amount of the two contributions to the joint
+signature be stated?
+
+This is a question which is naturally asked during the trial of a case
+involving the consideration of a guided hand. From the comparatively
+small number of experiments made in this direction it would be too
+hazardous to answer it in the affirmative, but it may be said that
+some of the characteristics of each hand can usually be made apparent
+by the system of measurement, and the indications seem to point to the
+probability of being able to increase the number of characteristics
+elicited in proportion to the number of observations made. If the
+significance of every part of every stroke could be properly
+interpreted, it follows that a complete separation of characteristics
+would be effected, but this would require an indefinitely large number
+of observations to be made and a quite unattainable skill in
+explaining them.
+
+See specimens of guided signatures in Appendix.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+TALES TOLD BY HANDWRITING
+
+Telling the Nationality, Sex and Age of Anyone Who Executes
+Handwriting--Americans and Their Style of Writing--How English,
+German, and French Write--Gobert the French Expert and How He Saved
+Dreyfus--Miser Paine and His Millions Saved by an Expert--Writing
+with Invisible Ink--Professor Braylant's Secret Writing Without
+Ink--Professor Gross Discovers a Simple Secret Writing Method With a
+Piece of Pointed Hardwood--A System Extensively Used--Studying the
+Handwriting of Authors--How to Determine a Person's Character and
+Disposition by Handwriting.
+
+
+It is possible for a trained expert in handwriting to tell with a fair
+degree of accuracy the nationality, sex, and age of any one who
+executes writing of any kind. A study of the handwriting of the
+different nations makes it comparatively easy to recognize in any
+questioned specimen the nationality of the writer. The aggregate
+characteristics of a nation are reflected in the style of handwriting
+adopted as a national standard. The style most in use in the United
+States is the semi-angular, forward-slant hand, although the vertical
+round-hand is now being largely taught in the public schools and will
+affect the appearance of the writing of the next generation quite
+appreciably.
+
+Frequently educational and newspaper critics compare unfavorably
+American writing with that of other nations. The writer has
+investigated the subject by collecting from many countries copy-books
+and specimens of writing from leading teachers of writing, students in
+various grades of schools, clerks and business men.
+
+America is so far in advance of any other country in artistic and
+business penmanship that there is really no second. Americans as a
+whole write at a much higher rate of speed and with a freer movement
+than any other nations, and, consequently, many critics stop when they
+have criticized form alone, not making allowance for quantity.
+Nervous, rapid writers (and such the Americans are) produce writing
+more or less illegible, but it is not the fault of the standard so
+much as the speed with which the writing is done.
+
+The writing of England is either angular (for rapid business style),
+or the civil-service round-hand--too slow for the every-day rush of
+business. England's colonies, influenced by her copy-books and
+teachers, write about as England does. Canada is an exception, as her
+proximity to the United States causes her to mix the English and
+American styles, with the American gaining ground.
+
+The German and French write two radically different styles. Hence the
+identity of the nation producing the writer as well as the identity of
+the writer himself usually can be established. Before the writer is
+known this frequently is of great benefit to the cause of justice as
+it narrows down the search.
+
+A case such as the Dreyfus affair has a tendency to confuse the public
+mind and leads to wrong conclusions. In initiating the prosecution of
+Dreyfus the French government submitted the documents to expert
+Gobert, of the Bank of France, who is considered the leader in this
+line in France. Gobert reported that Dreyfus did not write the
+incriminating documents. The prosecutors then placed the papers in the
+hands of Bertillon, the inventor of the anthropometric system of
+measurements (used principally on criminals) which bears his name. It
+mattered not that Bertillon had never appeared in a handwriting case
+before, or that his skill in this line was unknown. He was a man of
+science, of great renown in other lines, and the government relied on
+these facts to bolster up its claim that Dreyfus wrote the
+incriminating papers Bertillon reported in favor of the government's
+contention, and it was an easy matter to get some alleged
+experts--weak as to will and ability--and one or two honest but
+misguided men to agree with him. Some of these afterward changed their
+opinions when better standards of writing were given to them.
+
+Dreyfus' friends sent engraved reproductions of standards and disputed
+documents to the best-known experts all over the world, and without
+exception these reported that Dreyfus was not the writer of the
+disputed papers. On the side of the French government were a few
+so-called "experts," headed and dominated by a man with no experience
+whatever. The experts of skill and experience in France and the world
+over were practically unanimous in favor of Dreyfus. A critical
+examination of the documents in question produced an absolute
+conviction that they could not possibly have been written by Dreyfus.
+
+Unless the individual is fitted by nature and inborn liking for
+investigations of this character, no amount of education and
+experience will fit him. But, given natural equipment and inclination,
+it is necessary first of all that the expert have a good general
+education. He should have a sufficient command of language to make
+others see what he sees. He should have a good eye for form and color,
+and a well-trained hand to enable him to describe graphically as well
+as orally what his trained eye has detected. A few strokes on a
+blackboard or large sheet of paper will often make a clouded point
+appear much plainer to court, jury and lawyers than hours of oral
+description. The ability to handle the crayon and to simulate well the
+writings under discussion is a great aid.
+
+A very interesting case was involved in the will of Miser Paine in New
+York in 1889. Here a deliberate attempt to get away with something
+like $1,500,000 was made, which was frustrated by a handwriting
+expert. When quite a young man, James H. Paine was a clerk in a Boston
+business house. He absconded with a lot of money and went to New York,
+where all trace of him was lost. He speculated with the stolen money,
+and everything he touched turned to gold. He soon became a
+millionaire. Then he became a miser. He went around the streets in
+rags, lodged in a garret with a French family on the West Side, who
+took him out of pure charity, and lived on the leavings which
+restaurant-keepers gave him. There was only one thing that he would
+spend money on; that was music. He was passionately fond of music, and
+for years was a familiar figure in the lobby of the Academy of Music
+during the opera season. He would go there early in the evening, and
+beg people to pay his way in. If he didn't find a philanthropist he
+would buy a ticket himself, but he never gave up hope until he knew
+that the curtain had risen.
+
+Finally Paine was run over by a cab in New York. He was taken to a
+hospital, but made such a fuss about staying there that he was finally
+removed to his garret home. He died there in a few days. Then a man
+came forward with a power of attorney which he said Paine gave him in
+1885 and which authorized him to take charge of Paine's interest in
+the estate of his brother, Robert Treat Paine. The closing paragraph
+empowered him to attend to all of Paine's business and to dispose of
+his property without consulting anybody, in the event of anything
+happening to him. Nothing was known then of Paine's possessions. Later
+the French family with whom Paine lived opened an old hair trunk they
+found in the garret. In this trunk they found nearly half a million
+dollars in gold, bank notes, and securities. Chickering, the piano
+man, came forward then and said that some years before Paine gave him
+a package wrapped up in an old bandana handkerchief for safe keeping.
+He had opened this package and found that it contained $300,000 in
+bank notes. Other possessions of Paine's were found. Relatives came
+forward and employing handwriting experts proved that the power of
+attorney presented was a forgery and the estate went to the relations
+of Paine. This was a celebrated case in its day and called attention
+to the value of experts in this line.
+
+Ovid, in his "Art of Love," teaches young women to deceive their
+guardians by writing their love letters with new milk, and to make the
+writing appear by rubbing coal dust over the paper. Any thick and
+viscous fluid, such as the glutinous and colorless juices of plants,
+aided by any colored powder, will answer the purpose equally well. A
+quill pen should be used.
+
+The most common method is to pen an epistle in ordinary ink,
+interlined with the invisible words, which doubtless has given rise to
+the expression, "reading between the lines," in order to discover the
+true meaning of a communication. Letters written with a solution of
+gold, silver, copper, tin, or mercury dissolved in aqua fortis, or
+simpler still of iron or lead in vinegar, with water added until the
+liquor does not stain white paper, will remain invisible for two or
+three months if kept in the dark; but on exposure for some hours to
+the open air will gradually acquire color, or will do so instantly on
+being held before the fire. Each of these solutions gives its own
+peculiar color to the writing--gold, a deep violet; silver, slate; and
+lead and copper, brown.
+
+There is a vast number of other solutions that become visible on
+exposure to heat, or when having a heated iron passed over them; the
+explanation is that the matter is readily burned to a sort of
+charcoal. Simplest among these are lemon juice or milk; but the one
+that produces the best result is made by dissolving a scruple of
+salammoniac in two ounces of water.
+
+Several years ago Professor Braylant of the University of Louvain
+discovered a method in which no ink at all was required to convey a
+secret message. He laid several sheets of note paper on each other and
+wrote on the uppermost with a pencil; then selected one of the under
+sheets, on which no marks of the writing were visible. On exposing
+this sheet to the vapor of iodine for a few minutes it turned
+yellowish and the writing appeared of a violet brown color. On further
+moistening the paper it turned blue, and the letters showed in violet
+lines. The explanation is that note paper contains starch, which under
+pressure becomes "hydramide," and turns blue in the iodine fumes. It
+is best to write on a hard surface, say a pane of glass. Sulphuric
+acid gas will make the writing disappear again, and it can be revived
+a second time.
+
+One of the simplest secret writings, however, to which Professor Gross
+of Germany calls attention is the following:
+
+Take a sheet of common writing paper, moisten it well with clear
+water, and lay it on a hard, smooth surface, such as glass, tin,
+stone, etc. After removing carefully all air bubbles from the sheet,
+place upon it another dry sheet of equal size and write upon it your
+communication with a sharp-pointed pencil or a simple piece of pointed
+hardwood. Then destroy the dry paper upon which the writing has been
+done, and allow the wet paper to dry by exposing it to the air (but
+not to the heat of fire or the flame of a lamp). When dry, not a trace
+of the writing will be visible. But on moistening the sheet again with
+clear water and holding it against the light, the writing can be read
+in a clear transparency. It disappears again after drying in the air,
+and may be reproduced by moistening a great number of times. Should
+the sheets be too much heated, however, the writing will disappear,
+never to reappear again. This system is used extensively in Germany.
+
+An interesting study is the handwriting of authors, as it indicates to
+a greater or less degree their personal temperaments.
+
+Longfellow wrote a bold, open back-hand, which was the delight of
+printers, says the Scientific American. Joaquin Miller wrote such a
+bad hand that he often becomes puzzled over his own work, and the
+printer sings the praises of the inventor of the typewriter.
+
+Charlotte Bronte's writing seemed to have been traced with a cambric
+needle, and Thackeray's writing, while marvelously neat and precise,
+was so small that the best of eyes were needed to read it. Likewise
+the writing of Captain Marryatt was so microscopic that when he was
+interrupted in his labors he was obliged to mark the place where he
+left off by sticking a pin in the paper.
+
+Napoleon's was worse than illegible, and it is said that his letters
+from Germany to the Empress Josephine were at first thought to be
+rough maps of the seat of war.
+
+Carlyle wrote a patient, crabbed and oddly emphasized hand. The
+penmanship of Bryant was aggressive, well formed and decidedly
+pleasing to the eye; while the chirography of Scott, Hunt, Moore, and
+Gray was smooth and easy to read but did not express distinct
+individuality.
+
+Byron's handwriting was nothing more than a scrawl. His additions to
+proofs frequently exceeded in volume the original copy, and in one of
+his poems, which contained in the original only four hundred lines,
+one thousand were added in the proofs.
+
+The writing of Dickens was minute, and he had a habit of writing with
+blue ink on blue paper. Frequent erasures and interlineations made his
+copy a burden to his publishers.
+
+Horace Greeley could not decipher his own writing after it got cold.
+
+Mark Twain writes a cramped, plain hand, and writes with haste.
+
+For an evening entertainment when a few friends happen to drop in ask
+each one to write any quotation that pops into his head and carefully
+sign his name in full. Pen and ink are better than pencil, but the
+latter will answer in a pinch. If the writing is dark this shows a
+leaning toward athletics and a love for outdoor life and sports. If
+the letters are slender and faint the writer is reserved and rarely
+shows emotion or becomes confidential. Sloping letters indicate a very
+sensitive disposition, whereas those that are straight up and down
+evince ability to face the world and throw off the "slings and arrows
+of outrageous fortune."
+
+Curls and loops are out of fashion nowadays, but any inclination to
+ornate penmanship is a sure indication of a leaning toward the
+romantic and sentimental, while the least desire to shade a letter
+shows imagination and a tendency to idealize common things. If the
+same letter is formed differently by the same person this shows love
+of change. Long loops or endings to the letters indicate that the
+writer "wears his heart upon his sleeve," or in other words, is
+trusting, non-secretive, and very fond of company. If the "y" has a
+specially long finish, this shows affectation, but if the same person
+is also careless about crossing the "t's," the combination is an
+unhappy one, as it points to fickleness in work and to affectation. A
+curved cross to the "t," or the incurving of the first letters of a
+word shows an affectionate and good-natured disposition if taken
+separately; but if the two are indulged in by the same writer it is a
+sign of jealousy.
+
+Writing that is rather small points to cleverness, quick intuitions, a
+liking for one's own way, brilliant intellect, and fine powers of
+penetration. Round, jolly, comfortable-looking letters betoken a
+disposition to correspond.
+
+With these hints in mind it will be surprising to find how many caps
+may be found to fit ourselves and our friends.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+WORKINGS OF THE GOVERNMENT SECRET SERVICE
+
+Officials of This Department Talk About Their Work--How Criminals
+Are Traced, Caught and Punished--Its Work Extending to All
+Departments--Secret Service Districts--Reports Made to the Treasury
+Department--Good Money and Bad--How to Detect the False--System of
+Numbering United States Notes Explained--Counterfeiting on the
+Decrease--Counterfeiting Gold Certificates--Bank Tellers and
+Counterfeits--The Best Secret Service in the World.
+
+
+The secret service bureau of the Treasury Department is not an old
+concern. It has not been in operation many years, compared to the
+existence of other bureaus, but it grows in importance each year.
+There are now a large number of investigators, by some called
+detectives, in the field, but the exact number is not known and will
+not be made public.
+
+Counterfeiting money is an old offense. It was done before the United
+States became a government, but does not seem to have become so
+widespread until the United States began making its own paper money
+during the Civil War. Prior to that time the offenses had been dealt
+with by states and municipalities, with such help as the general
+government cared to give. The increase in the crime, however, caused
+recognition by Congress in 1860, when $10,000 was appropriated for its
+suppression to be expended under the direction of the Secretary of the
+Treasury. This sum was paid out in rewards to private detectives,
+municipal officers and others instrumental in bringing to trial and
+punishment those engaged in making bogus money.
+
+With the turning out of greenbacks by the government an increase in
+the appropriation and a more organized fight against counterfeiting
+were necessary. In 1864 Congress appropriated $100,000 and placed upon
+the solicitor of the treasury the responsibility and supervision of
+keeping down counterfeiting. This really inaugurated a methodical
+system of hunting and punishing counterfeiters. The solicitor of the
+treasury gathered about him a corps of men experienced in criminal
+investigations and set them to work. The plan worked so well that when
+John Sherman was secretary of the treasury he gave his approval to the
+organization of a separate bureau for suppressing the output of
+spurious currency. Under foreign governments the handling of
+counterfeiters is in control of a centralized police organization,
+which looks after all kinds of criminal offenses against the general
+governments. The one bureau has surveillance over criminals of every
+class. The tendency is in that direction in this government. The
+secret service bureau is now being used by a number of departments of
+the government.
+
+The operations of the secret service are confined by law to the
+suppression of counterfeiting and the investigation of back pay and
+bounty cases. This is all the law permits the officials of the service
+to work on, but every day they are at work on other matters. That the
+law may not be openly violated the secret service operators assigned
+to do other work are practically taken off the secret service rolls
+and the department employing them is required to pay their salaries
+and expenses. Nearly all the departments now recognize the efficiency
+of the service and call upon the bureau at any time for a man. The
+Department of Justice has used a number of the operators in the last
+few years. In the course of time this will become so general that this
+government will probably build up a great criminal bureau, one that
+will supply officers for investigation of any crime. The Postoffice
+Department now has its own system of inspectors, who investigate
+violations of postal laws, and the plan of pitting specialist against
+specialist is regarded as perfect. This could be continued, though, if
+all the criminal organizations of the government were centralized.
+
+The United States is divided into thirty secret service districts,
+each in charge of an operative who has under his direction as many
+assistants as the criminal activity of the section demands. The force
+is concentrated in one district if there are counterfeiting operations
+in progress, and then sent to another district as required. A written
+daily report, covering operations for twenty-four hours, is exacted
+from each district operative and from each man under him. These daily
+reports frequently contain many fascinating stories, many details of
+criminal life and espionage that would make columns. The reports
+received by the bureau in Washington are carefully filed away in the
+offices of the Treasury Department. Accompanying the reports are the
+photographs and measurements of every man arrested for counterfeiting.
+The Bertillon system of measurements is used by the service, as well
+as a plain indexed card system. The two are so complete that even
+without the name of a man his name and record can be obtained if his
+measurements are forwarded.
+
+Hanging on the walls and in racks in the two rooms that are occupied
+by the chief and his two assistants are the photographs of every known
+counterfeiter in the country. Among these are the faces of William E.
+Brockway, the veteran dean of counterfeiters; Emanuel Ninger, the most
+expert penman the service ever knew, and Taylor and Bredell, who hold
+the record as the cleverest counterfeiters in history next to
+Brockway. There are hundreds of others who have at some time or other
+gotten into the clutches of the service, many of them the most
+desperate characters. Some of these have taken human life with the
+same ease they would make a paper dollar or a silver coin.
+
+The development of modern processes of photolithography, photogravure,
+and etching has revolutionized the note counterfeiting industry. So
+famous a counterfeiter as Brockway realized this. In the old days all
+counterfeiting plates were hand engraved and it took from eight to
+fifteen months to complete a set. Now this part of the work may be
+done in a few hours.
+
+Information as to the personnel and operations of the secret service
+is carefully withheld from the public. The names of the heads of the
+various districts and the operators are unknown and are seldom
+published unless in case of the arrest of a counterfeiter and the the
+facts get into the newspapers. The bureau is managed by John E.
+Wilkie, chief. He has held the position since 1898, when he succeeded
+Chief Hazen. Mr. Wilkie is a newspaper man having held responsible
+positions on many large papers. He began his career as a reporter and
+worked his way up to city editor of one of the big Chicago papers. He
+has a great "nose" for criminal investigation, and his work is
+regarded as brilliant.
+
+All the United States notes are printed in sheets of four notes of one
+denomination on each sheet. Each note is lettered in its respective
+order, in the upper and lower corners diagonally opposite, A, B, C,
+and D, and this is the system for numbering notes: All numbers, on
+being divided by 4 and leaving 1 for a remainder, have the check
+letter A; 2 remainder, B; 3 remainder, C; even numbers, or with no
+remainder, D. Any United States note the number upon which can be
+divided by 4 without showing the above result is a counterfeit, and
+while this rule is not infallible in all instances it will be found of
+service in the detection of counterfeits.
+
+Compared with a dozen or so years ago, there is nothing like the
+counterfeiting going on in this country. Shortly after the war the
+country was practically flooded with it, but so perfect is the
+machinery of the secret service and so successful have its officers
+been in recent years in unearthing the big plants and their operators,
+and placing the latter behind the bars, that counterfeiting has almost
+ceased.
+
+The receipts of subsidiary counterfeit coins at the subtreasury at New
+York have been in recent times inconsequential. Some time ago an
+Italian silversmith, who was an expert coin counterfeiter, was
+captured, and the destruction of his plant and his subsequent
+conviction had a wholesome effect upon his fellow countrymen, some of
+whom have come over to the United States for the express purpose of
+counterfeiting its silver coins. Only five counterfeit issues of notes
+made their appearance during the year in question, and of these three
+were new and two were reissues of old counterfeits.
+
+This shows how well the counterfeit situation, as it were, is kept in
+check and under control by the government. By some it is supposed that
+most of our counterfeiters come from abroad, but this is not strictly
+accurate, though many of those who attempt to imitate our silver
+dollar and the subsidiary coin issues hail from Italy and Russia.
+
+In order to set up a first-class counterfeit shop for the turning out
+of good paper counterfeits, there are so many indispensable requisites
+on the part of the spurious money-makers that they get discouraged or
+caught in most instances almost at the very outset of their would-be
+easy money-making careers. All of the good engravers who are capable
+of turning out good plates are more or less under the constant
+supervision of the secret service officers, while the paper supply, or
+its possible supply, is equally well watched.
+
+Because gold and silver coins pass current out on the Pacific coast,
+where notes do not yet circulate freely as in the east, California has
+more counterfeiting cases than any other state in the Union, with
+Pennsylvania, with its large foreign population in the mining regions,
+a close second.
+
+A moderately deceptive $5 silver certificate was made in Italy,
+imported into this country by various gangs of Italians and passed
+quite extensively in the eastern states, but the secret service
+officers quickly got on to the source of issue, and made many arrests
+and secured convictions. So closely did they hit the trail of a fairly
+good counterfeit note issued in the west that they got the maker and
+passer arrested and convicted and the plates captured so quickly that
+it must have caused him acute pain. It was the same with a $10 note of
+deceptive workmanship which appeared in New York. Only three of these
+notes were circulated.
+
+Of course there are plenty of counterfeit notes and coins in
+circulation--if there were not the secret-service officers would have
+an easy time of it--but the output has largely decreased as compared
+with former years, and, unless all signs fail, it is likely to go
+still lower, as the secret service officers become each year more
+expert in detecting this class of crime and putting the criminals away
+where they will serve the state the best. Gold certificates issued
+below the denomination of $20, are numbered the same as treasury notes
+and are check-lettered in their order upon each sheet.
+
+The only denominations of the gold certificates which have been
+counterfeited are the issues for $20 and $100, respectively, as the
+gold certificates present a pretty tough counterfeiting proposition,
+though most of the denominations of the various issues of the silver
+certificates have been more or less extensively counterfeited, perhaps
+the issues for $5 and $10, respectively, being the most favored at the
+counterfeiter's hands, by reason of the ready circulation of these two
+issues.
+
+The main deterrents to counterfeiting nowadays are, first, lack of
+good engravers who will take the risk; second, the difficulty in the
+making and the assembling of first-class plates, and third, the
+difficulty in the securing of suitable paper. As to the last, the
+fiber paper now in use with the two silk threads running through the
+note lengthwise presents a hard proposition for imitation, and lastly,
+and an important provision, is the fact the public is now pretty well
+educated on the question of counterfeits, and know how a spurious bill
+both looks and feels. As for the bank tellers, they scent counterfeits
+by instinct. Things have changed for the counterfeiter, too, and they
+are not for the best from his point of view.
+
+The secret service of the United States is without a question the best
+in the world.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+CHARACTER AND TEMPERAMENT INDICATED BY HANDWRITING
+
+A Man's Handwriting a Part of Himself--Cheap Postage and Typewriters
+Playing Havoc with Writing by Hand--Old Time Correspondence
+Vanishing--Two Divisions of Handwriting--Fashion Has Changed Even
+Writing--Characteristic Writing of Different Professions--Handwriting
+a Sure Index to Character and Temperament--Personality of
+Handwriting--Handwriting a Voiceless Speaking--A Neglected
+Science--Interest in Disputed Handwriting Rapidly Coming to the
+Front--Set Writing Copies no Longer the Rule--Formal
+Handwriting--Education's Effect on Writing--Handwriting and
+Personality--The Character and Temperament of Writers Easily
+Told--Honest, Eccentric, and Weak People--How to Determine Character
+by Writing--The Marks of Truth and Straightforwardness--How
+Perseverance and Patience Are Indicated in Writing--Economy, Generosity
+and Liberality Easily Shown in Writing--The Character and Temperament
+of Any Writer Easily Shown--Studying Character from Handwriting a
+Fascinating Work--Rules for Its Study--Links in a Chain That Cannot Be
+Hidden--A Person's Writing a Surer Index to Character Than His Face.
+
+
+A person's handwriting is really a part of himself. It is an
+expression of his personality and his character and is as
+characteristic of his general make-up as his gait or his tone of
+voice.
+
+There is always a direct and apparent connection between the style of
+handwriting and the personality of the writer. Another familiar
+evidence of this is the fact that no two persons write exactly alike,
+notwithstanding that hundreds of thousands of people learned to write
+from the same copy-books and were taught to form their letters in
+precisely the same way. Thus, it will be seen, if handwriting bore no
+relationship to personality and temperament and was not influenced by
+the character of the individual, we would all be writing the beautiful
+Spencerian copper-plate we were taught in our school days. But, as it
+is, not one in fifty thousand writes in this manner five years after
+leaving school.
+
+Like speech or gesture, handwriting serves as a means for the
+expression of thought; and in expressing our thoughts we give
+expression to ourselves. When once the art of writing is learned we
+are no longer conscious of the mental and manual effort required to
+form the letters. It becomes, as it were, a second nature to us. We do
+it mechanically, just as we form our words when talking, without
+realizing the complex processes of mind and muscle that it involves.
+
+Of course, the style of handwriting does not in every case remain the
+same throughout the entire life of a man or woman. A man of fifty may
+not write the same hand that he did when he was eighteen or twenty,
+and if he lives to be eighty or ninety it will in all probability show
+further indications of change. This fact only emphasizes the
+relationship between handwriting, character, and personality; for it
+will always be found that where there is a change in the style of
+penmanship there is a corresponding change in the person himself. Very
+few of us retain the same character, disposition, and nature that we
+had in youth. Experience and vicissitudes do much to modify our
+natures, and with such modifications come alterations in our
+handwriting. In some persons the change is very slight, while in
+others it is noticeably evident.
+
+When a man attempts to change his style of handwriting he simply
+alters the principal features of it. If his writing normally slopes to
+the right, he will probably adopt a back-hand. He may also use a
+different kind of pen; may change the size of the writing, alter the
+customary formation of certain letters, and add certain unfamiliar
+flourishes. But knowing nothing about the many minor characteristics
+of his natural writing he unconsciously repeats them, notwithstanding
+his best efforts to veil the identity of his chirography. In this
+respect he resembles the actor, who, while he may assume all the
+outward characteristics of another individual, still retains certain
+personal peculiarities of which he is himself unaware and which render
+it impossible for him to completely disguise his own individuality.
+
+The introduction of cheap postage and the immense increase of
+every-day correspondence has ruined handwriting and banished forever
+the art of composition. The short, modern, business-like letters of
+to-day will not bear comparison with the neat, voluminous letters full
+of graphic scenic descriptions, which our forefathers were wont to
+compile, and were worth keeping and rereading. Now, when similar
+correspondence is undertaken, it is dictated to a stenographer, copied
+on a typewriter, or printed, for few people will take the trouble to
+read manuscript composition of any kind. Looking backward, we find a
+marked paucity of ideas and carelessness of writing in correspondence,
+getting worse the farther back we go. Few letters are preserved these
+days, except those on business, which is a pity, for a letter is
+always a unique production, being a correct reflect of a writer and
+his times.
+
+There are always two divisions of handwriting, the formal hand
+employed for clerk's work, and a freer, less mechanical, less careful
+style, used for private correspondence. Writing was a profession only
+understood by a few, and as late as the sixteenth century, when it was
+necessary to communicate with persons at a distance, a professional
+scribe was employed to write the letter. But letter-writing was rare
+and did not become general till after the close of the sixteenth
+century, and even then it was restricted to the upper classes of
+society.
+
+Fashion changes in everything. Every generation had its own particular
+type of writing. Compare, for instance, any bundle of letters taken at
+random, out of an old desk or library. It is quite easy to sort them
+into bundles in sequence of dates, and also guess accurately the age
+and position of the writers. The flowing Italian hand, used by
+educated women early in the nineteenth century, has now developed into
+a bold, decisive, almost masculine writing.
+
+It will be found that most professions have special characteristics in
+writing and these are all liable to change, according to circumstances
+and writing is the clearest proof of both bodily and mental condition,
+for in case of paralysis, or mental aberration, the doctor takes it as
+a certain guide.
+
+The most noticeable movement by which cultured people recognize one
+another are the play of the features, the gait, talking and writing.
+Of these evidences the last named is the most infallible, for by a few
+hasty lines we may recognize again a person whom we neither see nor
+hear, and enjoy in addition the advantage of being able to compare
+quietly and at our leisure the traits of one individual thus expressed
+with the characteristics of another. There are not many men to be
+found in any walk of life who do not endeavor to conceal to some
+extent, however slight, their true views and emotions, when brought
+into close contact with their fellow-beings. But the mind photographs
+itself unsuspectingly in the movements of the hands, by the use of pen
+and ink away from all alien observation, and with the rigid
+unchangeable witness in our possession the character of the author of
+the manuscript lies open to the gaze of the intelligent reader.
+
+In this way handwriting becomes much more individual than any other
+active sign of personality. It varies more, it is more free, it
+represents the individual less artificially than voice or gesture.
+There must exist between the form and arrangements of letters in words
+and lines, on the one hand, and certain individual peculiarities of
+the writer, on the other, some kind of connection. It is strange that
+no scientific writing has ever yet been undertaken, for it seems
+conclusive that handwriting is a kind of voiceless speaking,
+consequently a phenomenon, and therefore an operation which lies
+within the province of physiology.
+
+Yet there are no books or studies on the subject of disputed
+handwriting up to the present time, short newspaper and magazine
+articles and sketches being the only contributions the public has been
+favored with up to the publication of this work.
+
+There is as yet no physiology of handwriting formulated, and that the
+further question of the relation of handwriting to the moods of the
+writer has not ever been touched upon scientifically. The history of
+science teaches us that in case a fact, which is theoretically and
+practically important, has been neglected for decades and even
+centuries by trained scientists; but the subject will now be taken up
+and a place made for it among the prominent and leading studies of the
+day. Interest in disputed handwriting and writing of all kinds is
+rapidly coming to the front in the United States, and is a study and
+research that the business man of the future will be perfectly
+familiar with.
+
+It is now no longer the rule to teach to write entirely by the aid of
+set copies, as was the case with our forefathers, who wrote after one
+approved pattern, which was copied as nearly as possible from the
+original set for them; therefore characteristics, peculiarities are
+longer in asserting themselves and what is now considered a "formal"
+handwriting was not developed till late in life. There were, and still
+are, two divisions or classes of handwriting, the professional and
+personal; with the first the action is mechanical and exhibits few, if
+any, traces of personality. Yet in the oldest manuscripts studied and
+consulted there are certain defined characteristics plainly shown. The
+handwritings of historical and celebrated personages coincide to a
+remarkable degree with their known virtues and vices, as criticized
+and detailed by their biographers.
+
+As the art of writing became general, its form varied more, and more,
+becoming gradually less formal, and each person wrote as was easiest
+to himself.
+
+Education, as a rule, has a far from beneficial effect upon
+handwriting; an active brain creates ideas too fast to give the hand
+time to form the letters clearly, patiently and evenly, the matter,
+not the material, being to the writer of primary importance.
+
+So as study increased among all classes, writing degenerated from its
+originally clear, regular lettering into every style of penmanship.
+
+If the subject of handwriting, as a test of personality is carefully
+studied, it will be found that immediate circumstances greatly
+influence it; anxiety or great excitement of any kind, illness or any
+violent emotion, will for the moment greatly affect the writing.
+Writing depends upon so many things--a firm grasp of the pen, a
+pliability of the muscles, clearness of vision and brain power--even
+the writing materials, pens, ink and paper, all make a difference. It
+is not strange, then, that with so many causes upon which it depends,
+writing should be an excellent test of personality, temperament and
+bodily health.
+
+Excitability, hastiness, temperament, personality and impatience are
+all seen in the handwriting at a glance. A quick brain suggests words
+and sentences so fast, one upon another, that though the pen races
+along the page, it cannot write down the ideas quickly enough to
+satisfy the author.
+
+Temper depends upon temperament. The crosses of the letter "t" are the
+index whereby to judge of it. If those strokes are regular through a
+whole page of writing, the writer may be assumed to have an
+even-placed temper; if dashed off at random-quick short strokes
+somewhat higher than the letter itself, quick outbursts of anger may
+be expected, but of short duration, unless the stroke is firm and
+black, in which case great violence may safely be predicted.
+
+Uncertainty of character and temperament is shown by the variation of
+these strokes to the letter "t." Sometimes the cross is firm and
+black, then next time it is light, sometimes it is omitted altogether,
+varying with each repetition of the letter like the opinions and
+sentiments of an undecided person. The up and down strokes of the
+letters tell of strength or weakness of will; graduations of light and
+shade, too, may be observed in the strokes.
+
+Capital letters tell us many points of interest. By them originality,
+talent and mental capacity are displayed, as well as any deficiency or
+want of education. There are two styles of capital letters at present
+in use. The high-class style employed by persons of education is plain
+and often eccentric, but without much ornamentation. The other may be
+called the middle-class, for it is used by servants and tradespeople,
+having a fair amount of education, mingled with a good deal of
+conceited ignorance and false pride.
+
+With these last, the capital letters are much adorned by loops, hooks
+and curves, noticeable principally in the heads of the letters, or at
+their commencements.
+
+Therefore to become an expert on handwriting, a careful study must be
+made of the writings of those whose life and character, together with
+personal peculiarities, are intimately known and understood, and from
+this conclusions may be drawn and rules arrived at for future use. Get
+some friend to write his name and from your knowledge of his character
+follow rules given in this work and you will find that a correct
+conclusion will be arrived at. The same correct solution will be found
+by studying any signature.
+
+Affection is marked by open loops and a general slant or slope of the
+writing. A hard nature, unsympathetic and unimpressionable, has very
+little artistic feeling or love of the fine arts; therefore the same
+things which indicate a soft, affectionate disposition will also
+indicate poetry, music and painting, on one or other kindred subjects.
+The first of these accompanies a loving, impulsive nature. In
+painting, four things are absolutely necessary to produce an artist,
+form, color, light and shade. Success in art implies a certain degree
+of ambition, and consequently upon its vanity and egotism; hence an
+artist's signature is generally peculiar and often unreadable from its
+originality, egotism and exuberance of creative power.
+
+Imagination and impulse do not tend to improve handwriting. The
+strokes are too erratic. Haste is visible in every line. A
+warm-hearted, impulsive person feels deeply and passionately at the
+moment of writing and dashes off the words without regard to the
+effect they will produce upon the reader.
+
+Truth and straightforwardness give even lines running across the page
+and at regular distances from one word to another. Tact is very
+essential. This quality requires often slight deceptions to be allowed
+or practiced; hence an unevenness in the writing is observed.
+Untruthfulness gives greater unevenness still; but do not rush to
+conclusions on this point for an unformed handwriting shows this
+peculiarity very often, being due, not to evil qualities, but to an
+unsteady hand employed in work to which it is unused.
+
+Very round, even writing, in which the words are not closed, denotes
+candor and openness of disposition, with an aptitude for giving
+advice, whether asked or unasked, and not always of a complimentary
+kind.
+
+Blunt, crabbed writing suggests obstinacy and a selfish love of power,
+without thought for the feelings of others. True selfishness gives
+every curve an inward bend, very marked in the commencement of words
+or capital letters.
+
+Perseverance and patience are closely allied. In the former the letter
+"t" is hooked at the top and also its stroke has a dark, curved end,
+showing that when once an idea has been entertained no earthly
+persuasion will alter or eradicate it. Such writers have strongly
+defined prejudices and are apt to take very strong dislikes without
+much cause.
+
+Carelessness and patience also are frequently linked together, more
+often in later life, when adversity has blunted the faculties, or the
+drill routine of an uneventful existence has destroyed all romance.
+Then the writing has short, up and down strokes, the curves are round,
+the bars short and straight; there are no loops or flourishes, and the
+whole writing exhibits great neatness and regularity.
+
+Economy of living, curiously enough, is marked by a spare use of ink.
+The terminals are abrupt and blunt, leaving off short. Where economy
+is the result of circumstances, not disposition, only some of the
+words are thus ended, while others have open, free curves and the long
+letters are looped.
+
+Generosity and liberality may be seen likewise in the end curve of
+every word. Where these characteristics are inconstant and variable,
+the disposition will be found to be uncertain--liberal in some
+matters, while needlessly economical and stingy in others.
+
+When a bar is placed below the signature, it means tenacity of
+purpose, compared with extreme caution; also a dread of criticism and
+adverse opinions. No dots to the letter "i" means negligence and want
+of attention to details, with but a small faculty of observation. When
+the dots are placed at random, neither above nor in proximity to the
+letter to which they belong, impressionability, want of reflection and
+impulsiveness may be anticipated.
+
+Ambition and gratified happiness give to the whole writing an upward
+tendency, while the rest of the writing is impulsive without much
+firmness.
+
+Sorrow gives every line of the writing a downward inclination.
+Temporary affliction will at once show in the writing. A preoccupied
+mind, full of trouble, cares little whether the letter then written is
+legible or not; hence the writing is erratic, uncertain, and the
+confusion of mind is clearly exhibited in every line. Irritable and
+touchy persons slope the nourishes only, such as the cross of the
+letter "t" and the upper parts of the capital letters. When the
+capital letters stand alone in front of the words and the final
+letters also are isolated, it betokens great creative power and
+ideality, such as would come from an author and clever writer.
+
+The most personal part of a letter or document is, of course, the
+signature, but alone without any other writing it is not always a safe
+guide to character. In many instances the line placed below or after a
+signature tell a great deal more than the actual name. A curved
+bending line below a signature, ending in a hook, indicates coquetry,
+love of effect, and ideality. An exaggerated, common-like form of line
+means caprice, tempered by gravity of thought and versatility of
+ideas. An unyielding will, fiery, and at the same time determined,
+draws a firm hooked line after the signature. A wavy line shows great
+variety in mental power, with originality. Resolution is shown in a
+plain line, and extreme caution, with full power to calculate effect
+and reason a subject from every point of view, is shown by two
+straight dashes with dots, thus --:--
+
+The personality of a writer can never be wholly separated from his
+works. And in any question of date or authenticity of a document being
+called in dispute, the value of graphology and its theories will be
+found of the utmost importance, for the various changes in the style
+of handwriting, or in the spelling of words, although, perhaps, so
+minute and gradual as seldom to be remarked, are, nevertheless, links
+in a chain which it would be extremely hard to forge successfully so
+as to deceive those acquainted with the matter as well as versed in
+its peculiarities.
+
+See specimens of handwriting in Appendix with descriptions thereof.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+HANDWRITING EXPERTS AS WITNESSES
+
+Who May Testify As An Expert--Bank Officials and Bank Employees Always
+Desired--Definition of Expert and Opinion Evidence--Both Witness
+and Advocate--Witness in Cross Examination--Men Who Have Made the
+Science of Disputed Handwriting a Study--Objections to Appear in
+Court--Experts Contradicting Each Other--The Truth or Falsity
+of Handwriting--Sometimes a Mass of Doubtful Speculations--Paid
+Experts and Veracity--Present Method of Dealing with Disputed
+Handwriting Experts--How the Bench and Bar Regard the System--Remedies
+Proposed--Should an Expert Be an Adviser of the Court?--Free
+from Cross-Examination--Opinions of Eminent Judges on Expert
+Testimony--Experts Who Testify without Experience--What a Bank
+Cashier or Teller Bases His Opinions on--Actions and Deductions of
+the Trained Handwriting Expert--Admitting Evidence of Handwriting
+Experts--Occupation and Theories That Make an Expert--Difference
+Between an Expert and a Witness--Experts and Test Writing--What
+Constitutes an Expert in Handwriting--Present Practice Regarding
+Experts--Assuming to Be a Competent Expert--Testing a Witness with
+Prepared Forged Signatures--Care in Giving Answers--A Writing Teacher
+as an Expert--Familiarity with Signatures--What a Dash, Blot, or
+Distortion of a Letter Shows--What a Handwriting Expert Should Confine
+Himself to--Parts of Writing Which Demand the Closest
+Attention--American and English Laws on Experts in
+Handwriting--Examination of Disputed Handwriting.
+
+
+While the qualification necessary for the permission of a witness to
+testify in court as an expert is largely discretionary with the judge,
+such discretion is usually exercised with so great liberality that it
+is not often that a witness offered as an expert is refused by the
+court on the ground of deficient qualification. It is usually held
+that any one possessed of anything more than ordinary opportunity for
+studying or observing handwriting may give expert testimony, which the
+jury may receive for what it is deemed to be worth. Bank officials and
+employees are declared by most courts to be competent witnesses. If on
+any previous occasion one has given testimony, that fact is usually
+accepted as a sufficient qualification, or if he has ever seen the
+person write whose writing is in question, he is deemed competent.
+With such limited qualification it is no matter of surprise that
+expert testimony is sometime made to appear at very great
+disadvantage. Incompetent and mercenary witnesses will seek
+employment, and since there are always two sides to a case, and on
+each side lawyers who spare no efforts for victory, there is a chance
+for every kind of witness, as there is for every kind of attorney.
+
+Expert evidence is that given by one especially skilled in the subject
+to which it is applicable, concerning information beyond the range of
+ordinary observation and intelligence.
+
+Opinion evidence is the conclusions of witnesses concerning certain
+propositions, drawn from ascertained or supposed facts, by those who
+have had better opportunities than the ordinary individual or witness
+to judge of the truth or falsity of such propositions, or who are
+familiar with the subject under inquiry, and give their conclusions
+from the facts within their own knowledge concerning certain questions
+involved.
+
+Let us look at the question as it presents itself to the layman, to
+men of science and experience, to microscopists, to bank officials and
+others having much to do with writing. An expert in handwriting
+occupies a totally anomalous position when called before a court as a
+witness. Technically he is both a witness and an advocate, sharing the
+responsibilities of both but without the privileges of the latter. He
+has to instruct counsel and to prompt him during its course. But in
+cross examination he is more open to insult because the court does not
+see clearly how he arrives at his conclusions, and suspects whatever
+it does not understand. Nearly every person who has had to appear in
+court as an expert has been subjected to more or less humiliation by
+the judge.
+
+It may be, perhaps, cynically hinted that men who have made the
+science of disputed handwriting a study should be willing to bear all
+kinds of arrogance for the public good. In the first place, many
+thoroughly competent experts in any department of science distinctly
+and peremptorily refuse to be mixed up in any affair which may expose
+them to cross examination. Many experts will investigate a matter,
+give a report of their conclusions, but absolutely refuse to appear in
+court.
+
+Another not very edifying spectacle is that of paid handwriting
+experts standing in court and contradicting each other, or pretending
+to contradict in the interests of their respective clients, is not
+exactly right. These men would change places and reverse positions and
+arguments if necessary. Men of the world are tempted to say that
+"Science can lay but little claim to certainty in demonstrating the
+truth or falsity of handwriting and the whole procedure is more a mass
+of doubtful speculations than a body of demonstrable truths." But it
+must be remembered that a professional expert must be paid for his
+services, and always tell the truth as it appears to him.
+
+It is clearly seen that our present method of dealing with experts
+regarding disputed handwriting is found to be on all sides not just
+exactly satisfactory. Oftentimes the public is skeptical and many
+honest and thorough experts are scandalized. The bench and bar share
+this feeling but unfortunately are disposed to blame the individual
+rather than the system.
+
+There is no question but what this unanimity of dissatisfaction will
+vanish as soon as a remedy is seriously proposed. To that, however, we
+must come unless we are willing to dispense with expert evidence
+altogether.
+
+It is contended by many that an expert should be the adviser of the
+court, not acting in the interest of either party in a lawsuit. Above
+all things an expert ought to be exempt from cross-examination. His
+evidence, or rather his conclusions, should be given in writing and
+accepted just as the decisions of the bench on points of law.
+
+Opinions of eminent judges have differed widely respecting the
+reliance to be placed upon testimony founded upon expert comparisons
+of handwriting, but it should be remembered that those opinions have
+been no more varied than has been the character and qualifications of
+the experts by whose testimony they have been called forth.
+
+It is too true that very frequently persons have been allowed to give
+testimony as experts who were utterly without experience in any
+calling that tends to bestow the proper qualifications for giving
+expert testimony.
+
+The constant professional observation of handwriting in any line of
+financial or commercial business tends to confer expert skill. It
+should be said here, however, that the average bank cashier or teller
+bases his opinions and his identifications generally upon the
+pictorial effect without recourse to those minuter and more delicate
+points upon which the skilled expert rightly places the greatest
+reliance. Such testimony can not be compared for accuracy or value
+with that of the scientific investigator of handwriting. It follows,
+then, that one who is endowed with more than ordinary acuteness of
+observation, and has had an experience so varied and extensive as to
+cover most of these lines, is likely to be best fitted for critical
+and reliable expert work.
+
+In a word, the trained expert eye, even on so slight a thing as a
+simple straight line, will detect certain peculiarities of motion, of
+force, of pressure, of tool-mark, etc., that in normal circumstances
+the result will stand for its author just as his photograph stands for
+him. Now, this being undoubtedly true within certain limitations, how
+more than incontestable must be the proposition to any rational man
+that if, instead of a simple undeviating pen-stroke, lines that run to
+curves and angles and slants, and shades and loops and ticks, and
+enter into all sorts of combinations, such as any specimen of
+handwriting must, however simple, bear inherent evidences of
+authorship that yield their secrets to the expert examiner as the
+hieroglyphics on an Egyptian monument do to a properly educated
+antiquarian.
+
+The propriety of admitting the evidence of handwriting experts in
+investigating questions of forgery is now recognized by statute in
+most states. Common sense dictates that in all investigations
+requiring special skill, or when the common intelligence supposed to
+be possessed by the jury is not fully adequate to the occasion, we
+should accept the assistance of persons whose studies or occupations
+have given them a large and special experience on the subject. Thus
+such men of experience or experts are admitted to testify that work of
+a given description is or is not executed with ordinary skill; what is
+the ordinary price of a described article; whether described medical
+treatment or other practice was conducted with ordinary skill in a
+specific case; which of two colliding vessels, their respective
+movements being given, was in fault; whether one invention was an
+infringement of another, looking at the models of both; and other
+cases already mentioned.
+
+This is as near to an exact definition of who are admissible as
+experts as it is possible for us to come. In all these cases it is to
+be observed that the expert is to speak from no knowledge of the
+particular facts which he may happen to possess, but is to pronounce
+the judgment of skill upon the particular facts proved by other
+witnesses. Of course the court must be first satisfied that the
+witness offered is a person of such special skill and experience, for
+if he be not, he can give no proper assistance to the jury; and of
+course, also, very much must at least be left to the discretion of the
+court, relative to the need of such assistance in the case; for very
+often the matter investigated may be so bunglingly done that the most
+common degree of observation may be sufficient to judge it.
+
+Where a witness is called to testify to handwriting, from knowledge of
+his own, however derived, as to the hand of the party, he is not an
+expert, but simply a witness to a fact in the only manner in which
+that fact is capable of proof. Nor is he an expert who is called to
+compare a test writing, whose genuineness is established by others,
+with the writing under investigation, if he have knowledge of the
+handwriting of the party, because his judgment of the comparison will
+be influenced more or less by his knowledge, and will not be what the
+testimony of an expert should be, a pure conclusion of skill.
+
+But when a witness, skilled in general chirography, but possessing no
+knowledge of the handwriting under investigation, is called to compare
+that writing with other genuine writings that have been brought into
+juxtaposition with it, he is strictly an expert. His conclusions then
+rest in no degree on particular knowledge of his own, but are the
+deductions of a trained and experienced judgment, from premises
+furnished by the testimony of other witnesses.
+
+One of the palpable anomalies of the present practice regarding
+experts on handwriting is that a person who has seen another write, no
+matter how ignorant the observer may be, is competent to testify as to
+whether or not certain writing is by the hand of the person he has
+once seen engaged in the art of writing, while an expert handwriting
+witness may only testify that the hand appears to be simulated but may
+not point out the differences between specimens of genuine writing and
+the instrument in controversy.
+
+It is safe to presume that the apparently unreasonable position of the
+law was assumed with a good object in view, and it is probable that
+the object was the protection of the court from the swarm of so-called
+experts which might be hatched by a laxity in the wording of the law.
+Few things would be easier for a dishonest person than to swear he was
+a competent expert, and then to swear that a document was, in his
+opinion, forged or genuine, according to the requirements of his
+hirer. The framers of the practice in reference to expert testimony on
+documents seem to have had in mind that the only possible kind of
+testimony as to documents was that based upon impressions; and that
+the only method of coming to a conclusion was by giving words to the
+first mental effect produced on a witness after he has looked at a
+writing.
+
+For this reason the practice has grown up in many trials of preparing
+carefully forged signatures and producing them before the witness as a
+test of how far he is able to distinguish genuine from forged
+signatures.
+
+However expert a witness may be, however successful in discriminations
+of this kind, self-respect and a becoming modesty should induce him to
+refuse to answer them without distinctly stating that his answer,
+which gives his best judgment at the time, must be subject to reversal
+if by longer and more thorough investigation it appear that the
+opposite view were the true one.
+
+When there is presented before a court of law a document, of which it
+is important to know whether a part or the whole of the body, or the
+signature, or all, is actually in the handwriting of some person whose
+writing or signature in other exhibits is admitted to be genuine, the
+counsel on each side usually seeks the aid of one or more handwriting
+experts.
+
+Usually a teacher of writing is called, but more often the cashier or
+paying teller of a bank is preferred. There seems to be a good reason
+for choosing a bank cashier or a paying teller, for the man upon whose
+immediate judgment as to genuineness of signatures, reinforced by a
+large and varied knowledge of human nature and quick observation of
+any suspicious circumstances depends the safety of a bank, has
+certainly gained much experience and is not apt to be easily deceived
+in the kind of cases coming daily before him. How much the average
+cashier and paying-teller depends upon the trifling circumstances
+attending the presentation of a check, the appearance of the person
+presenting it, the probability of the drawer inserting such a sum,
+etc., becomes apparent when one has heard a number of these useful
+officers testify in cases where they are deprived of all these
+surroundings, and required to decide whether a certain writing is by
+the same hand which produced another writing, both being unfamiliar to
+them.
+
+In this case they are obliged to create a familiarity with the
+signatures of a man whose character and peculiarities they have never
+known.
+
+They miss the aid of some feature, such as a dash, a blot, or the
+distortion of a letter, which would recall to them the character of
+the writer. Most of the best experts of this class confess that they
+cannot tell on what their judgment is based. They simply think that
+the writing is not by the same hand as that admitted to be genuine.
+"No," they will tell you, "it is not merely superficial resemblance. I
+don't know what it is, but I feel sure," etc. These witnesses are more
+frequently right than the more pretentious professional expert. The
+former trust to the instantaneous impressions which they receive when
+papers are handed to them; the latter too often give their attention
+to the merely superficial features of chirography without getting
+beyond the more obvious resemblances and differences which are
+frequently the least important.
+
+While the expert in handwriting should confine himself to the concrete
+examinations of the paper, ink, seals, etc., and leave to the counsel
+the task of reasoning on the purport of the words added, and all other
+matters not allied to the materials left as the result of the forgery,
+yet it would be unreasonable to neglect altogether these means of
+corroborating a previously formed suspicion, or directing a course of
+inquiry.
+
+That expert would be more or less than human who could shut his eyes
+to the importance of the fact that certain words containing evidence
+in the manner of their formation or their position that raised doubts
+as to their genuineness by their import gave to the person who might
+have written them benefits which he would not have derived in their
+absence.
+
+The parts of a writing which demand the closest attention are those
+which have been made unconsciously and which are not easily noted by a
+superficial view. The height, the spread of the letters, the
+peculiarities of the endings, the nourishes, and the general shape are
+things which the forger observes and imitates, often with success; but
+the curvature of a letter in its different parts is not easily
+appreciated by the naked eye.
+
+There are but few laws in the United States regarding the functions of
+handwriting experts. Courts in various states have followed decisions
+made by higher courts where matters affecting expert testimony have
+been carried to the court of last resort. A code of uniform laws on
+this question is being agitated and will soon be called to the
+attention of all state legislatures. England has adopted a simple and
+concise law on admissibility of testimony of handwriting experts.
+
+In the absence of such laws a few extracts from Stephens' Law of
+Evidence, an English work, will be found interesting and instructive:
+
+Article XLIX: "When there is a question as to any point of science or
+art, the opinions upon that point of persons specially skilled in any
+such matter are deemed to be relevant facts.
+
+"Such persons are hereinafter called experts.
+
+"The words 'science or art' include all subjects on which a course of
+special study or experience is necessary to the formation of an
+opinion, and amongst others the examination of disputed handwriting.
+
+"Illustration: The question is, whether a certain document was written
+by A. Another document is produced which is proved or admitted to have
+been written by A.
+
+"The opinions of experts on the question whether the two documents
+were written by the same person, or by different persons, are deemed
+to be relevant."
+
+Article LI: "When there is a question as to the person by whom any
+document was written or signed, the opinion of any person acquainted
+with the handwriting of the supposed writer that it was or was not
+written or signed by him, is deemed to be a relevant fact.
+
+"A person is deemed to be acquainted with the handwriting of another
+person when he has at any time seen that person write, or when he has
+received documents purporting to be written by that person in answer
+to documents written by himself or under his authority, and addressed
+to that person, or when in the ordinary course of business, documents
+purporting to be written by that person have been habitually submitted
+to him.
+
+"Illustration: The question is, whether a given letter is in the
+handwriting of A, a merchant in Calcutta.
+
+"B is a merchant in London, who has written letters addressed to A,
+and received in answer letters purporting to be written by him. C is
+B's clerk, whose duty it was to examine and file B's correspondence. D
+is B's broker, to whom B habitually submitted the letters purporting
+to be written by A for the purpose of advising with him thereon.
+
+"The opinions of B, C, and D on the question whether the letter is in
+the handwriting of A are relevant, though neither B, C, or D ever saw
+A write.
+
+"The opinion of E, who saw A write once twenty years ago, is also
+relevant."
+
+Article LI I: "Comparisons of a disputed handwriting with any writing
+proved to the satisfaction of the judge to be genuine is permitted to
+be made by witnesses, and such writings, and the evidence of witnesses
+respecting the same, may be submitted to the court and jury as
+evidence of the genuineness or otherwise of the writing in dispute.
+This paragraph applies to all courts of judicature, criminal or civil,
+and to all persons having by law, or by consent of parties, authority
+to hear, receive, and examine evidence."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+TAMPERED, ERASED, AND MANIPULATED PAPER
+
+Sure Rules for the Detection of Forged and Fraudulent Writing of Any
+Kind--A European Professor Gives Rules for Detecting Fraud--How to
+Tell Alterations Made on Checks, Drafts, and Business Paper--An
+Infallible System Discovered--Results Always Satisfactory--Can Be
+Used by Anyone--Vapor of Iodine a Valuable Agent--Paper That Has
+Been Wet or Moistened--Colors That Tampered Paper Assumes--Tracing
+Written Characters with Water--Making Writing Legible--How to Tell
+Paper That Has Been Erased or Rubbed--What a Light Will
+Disclose--Erasing with Bread Crumbs--Hard to Detect--How to Discover
+Traces of Manipulation--Erased Surface Made Legible--Treating
+Partially Erased Paper--Detecting Nature of Substance Used for
+Erasing--Use of Bread Crumbs Colors Paper--Tracing Writing with a
+Glass Rod--Tracing Writing Under Paper--Writing With Glass Tubes
+Instead of Pens--What Physical Examination Reveals--Erasing
+Substance of Paper--Reproducing Pencil Writing in a Letter
+Press--Kind of Paper to Use in Making Experiments--Detecting Fraud
+in Old Papers--The Rubbing and Writing Method.
+
+
+Prof. G. Brynlants of the Belgian Academy of Sciences, who has made
+the detecting of forgery and disputed handwriting a study for twenty
+years, recently made public an account of the researches he had made
+and deductions arrived at with a view of making known how frauds and
+alterations are made on checks, drafts, and business paper generally
+and how same can easily be detected. The system he recommends is now
+in use in nearly every bank in Europe and the result of his work and
+his recommendations should be carefully read and the system applied by
+the banks and business houses of the United States, when occasion
+requires.
+
+The following article has been specially prepared for this work; and
+if its recommendations are carefully carried out it will prove a sure
+rule for the detection of forged and fraudulent handwriting:
+
+"Although my experiments were not always carried on under the most
+favorable circumstances, their results were eminently satisfactory and
+will prove a boon to the banking and business world. A piece of paper
+was handed to me for the purpose of determining if part of it had been
+wet and if another part of it had been manipulated for the purpose of
+erasing marks upon it; in other words, whether this part had been
+rubbed. The sample I had to work upon had already gone through several
+experiments. I had remarked that the tint of the paper exposed to the
+vapor of iodine differs from that which this same paper assumes when
+it has been wet first and dried afterwards. In addition to this I
+realized that when sized and calendered paper, first partially wet and
+then dried, is subjected to the action of iodine vapor, the parts
+which have been wet take on a violet tint, while those which had not
+been moistened became either discolored or brown. The intensity of the
+coloration naturally varied according to the length of time for which
+the paper was exposed to the iodine.
+
+"There is a very striking difference also when the water is sprinkled
+on the paper and the drops are left to dry off by themselves in order
+not to alter the surface of the paper.
+
+"Thorough wetting of the paper will cause the sprinkled spots to turn
+a heavy violet-blue color when exposed to vapor while the parts which
+are untouched by the water will become blue.
+
+"If, after sprinkling upon a piece of paper and evaporating the drops
+thereon, this piece of paper is thoroughly wet, then dried and
+subjected to the action of iodine, the traces of the first drops will
+remain distinguishable whether the paper is dry or not. In the latter
+case the trace of the first sprinkling will hardly be distinguishable
+so long as the moisture is not entirely got rid of; but as soon as
+complete dryness is effected their outlines, although very faint, will
+show plainly on the darker ground surrounding the spot covered by the
+first drop.
+
+"In this reaction, water plays virtually the part of a sympathetic
+fluid, and tracing the characters with water on sized and calendered
+paper, the writing will show perfectly plain when the paper is dried
+and exposed to action of iodine vapor. The brownish violet shade on a
+yellowish ground will evolve to a dark blue on a light blue ground
+after wetting. These characters disappear immediately under the action
+of sulphurous acid, but will reappear after the first discoloration
+provided the paper has not been wet and the discoloration has been
+effected by the use of sulphurous acid gas.
+
+"The process, therefore, affords means for tracing characters which
+become legible and can be caused to disappear, but at will to reappear
+again, or which can be used for one time only and be canceled forever
+afterwards.
+
+"The usual method of verifying whether paper has been rubbed is to
+examine it as to its transparency. If the erasure has been so great as
+to remove a considerable portion of the paper, the erased surface is
+of greater translucency; but if the erasure has been effected with
+great care, examining same close to a light will disclose it; the
+erased part being duller than the surrounding surface because of the
+partial upheaval of the fibers.
+
+"If an erasure is effected by means of bread crumbs instead of India
+rubber, and care is taken to erase in one direction the change escapes
+notice; and it is generally impossible to detect it, should the paper
+thus handled be written upon again.
+
+"Iodine vapors, however, show all traces of these manipulations very
+plainly giving their location with perfect certainty. The erased
+surfaces assume a yellow brown or brownish tint. If, after being
+subjected to the action of the iodine, the paper on which an erasure
+has been made is wet, it becomes of a blue color the intensity of
+which is commensurate with the length of time to which it has been
+under the action of the iodine, and when the paper is again dried the
+erased portions are more or less darker than the remainder of the
+sheet. On the other hand when the erasure has been so rough as to take
+off an important part of the material exposure to iodine, wetting, and
+drying result in less intensity to coloration on the parts erased,
+because the erasing in its mechanical action of carrying off parts of
+the paper removes also parts of the substance which in combination
+with iodine give birth to the blue tint. Consequently the action of
+the iodine differs according to the extent of the erasure.
+
+"When paper is partially erased and wet, as when letters are copied,
+the same result although not so striking follows upon exposing it to
+the iodine vapor after letting it dry thoroughly.
+
+"Iodine affords in certain cases the means of detecting the nature of
+the substance used for erasing. Bread crumbs or India rubber turn
+yellow or brownish yellow tints and these are distinguished by more
+intense coloration; erasure by means of bread crumbs causing the paper
+to take a violet shade of great uniformity. These peculiarities are
+due to the upheaval of the fibers caused by rubbing. In fact this
+upheaval creates a larger absorbing surface and consequently a larger
+proportion of iodine can cover the rubbed parts than it would if there
+had been no friction.
+
+"When paper upon which writing has been traced with a glass rod, the
+tip of which is perfectly round and smooth, is exposed to iodine
+vapor, the characters appear brown on yellow ground which wetting
+turns to blue. This change also occurs when the paper written upon has
+been run through a super-calender. If the paper is not wet the
+characters can be made to appear or be blotted by the successive
+action of sulphurous and iodine vapor.
+
+"Writing done by means of glass tips instead of pens will show very
+little, especially when traced between the lines written in ink. The
+reaction, however, is of such sensitiveness that where characters have
+been traced on a piece of paper under others they appear very plainly,
+although physical examination would fail to reveal their existence,
+but a somewhat lengthy exposure to iodine vapors will suffice to show
+them.
+
+"If the wrong side of the paper is exposed to the iodine vapor the
+characters are visible; but of course in their inverted position.
+
+"If the erasure has been so great as to take off a part of the
+substance of the paper the reconstruction of the writing, so as to
+make it legible, may be regarded as impossible. But in this case
+subjecting the reverse side of the paper to the influence of the
+iodine will bring out the reverse outlines of the blotted-out
+characters so plainly that they can be read, especially if the paper
+is placed before a mirror. In some instances, when pencil writing has
+been strong enough, its traces can be reproduced in a letter press by
+wetting a sheet of sized and calendered paper in the usual way that
+press copies are taken, placing it on paper saturated with iodine and
+putting the two sheets in a letter book under the press, copies being
+run off as is usual in copying letters. The operation, however, must
+be very rapidly carried out to be successful. As a matter of fact the
+certainty of these reactions depends entirely upon the class of paper
+used. Paper slightly sized or poorly calendered will not show them.
+
+"Another point consists in knowing how long paper will contain these
+reactive properties. In my own experience the fact has been
+demonstrated that irregular wetting and rubbing three months old can
+be plainly shown after this lapse of time. Characters traced with
+glass rod tips could be made conspicuous. I have noticed that
+immersing the written paper in a water bath for three to six hours
+will secure better reactions, but although these reactions are very
+characteristic they are considerably weaker."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+FORGERY AS A PROFESSION
+
+How Professional Forgers Work--Valuable Points for Bankers and
+Business Men--Personnel of a Professional Forgery Gang--The Scratcher,
+Layer-down, Presenter and Middleman--How Banks Are Defrauded by
+Raised and Forged Paper--Detailed Method of the Work--Dividing the
+Spoils--Action in Case of Arrest--Employing Attorneys--What "Fall"
+Money Is--Fixing a Jury--Politicians with a Pull--Protecting
+Criminals--Full Description of How Checks and Drafts Are
+Altered--Alterations, Erasures and Chemicals--Raising Any
+Paper--Alert Cashiers and Tellers--Different Methods of Protection.
+
+
+[This Chapter was written for this work by the manager of one of the
+largest detective agencies in the United States. They make a specialty
+of bank work and from the number of forgers apprehended and convicted
+know just how the work is done. A careful reading of this chapter will
+put bankers and the public on their guard against the most pestiferous
+rascals they have to deal with.]
+
+Professional forgers usually make their homes in large cities. They
+are constantly studying schemes and organizing gangs of men to defraud
+banks, trust companies and money lenders by means of forged checks,
+notes, drafts, bills of exchange, letters of credit, and in some
+instances altering registered government and other bonds, and
+counterfeitering the bonds of corporations. These bonds they dispose
+of or hypothecate to obtain loans on.
+
+A professional forgery gang consists of: First, a capitalist or
+backer; second, the actual forger, who is known among his associates
+as the "scratcher"; third, the man who acts as confidential agent for
+the forger, who is known as the "middleman" or the "go-between";
+fourth, the man who presents the forged paper at the bank for payment,
+who is known as the "layer-down" or "presenter."
+
+The duties of the "middleman" or "go-between" are to receive from the
+forger or his confidential agent the altered or forged paper. He finds
+the man to "present" the same, accompanies his confederates on their
+forgery trips throughout the country, acts as the agent of the backer
+in dealing out money for expenses, sees that their plan of operations
+is carried out, and, in fact, becomes the general manager of the band.
+He is in full control of the men who act as "presenters" of the forged
+paper. If there be more than one man to "present" the paper, the
+middleman, as a rule, will not allow them to become known to each
+other. He meets them in secluded places, generally in little
+out-of-the-way saloons. In summer time a favorite meeting place is
+some secluded spot in the public parks. At one meeting he makes an
+appointment for the next meeting. He uses great care in making these
+appointments, so that the different "presenters" do not come together
+and thereby become known to each other. The middleman is usually
+selected for his firmness of character. He must be a man known among
+criminals as a "staunch" man, one who cannot be easily frightened by
+detectives when arrested, no matter what pressure may be brought to
+bear upon him. He must have such an acquaintanceship among criminals
+as will enable him to select other men who are "staunch" and who are
+not apt to talk and tell their business, whether sober or under the
+influence of liquor. It is from among this class of acquaintances that
+he selects the men to "present" the forged paper. It is an invariable
+rule followed by the backer and the forger that in selecting a
+middleman they select one who not only has the reputation of being a
+"staunch" man, but he must also be a man who has at least one record
+of conviction standing against him. This is for the additional
+protection of the backer and forger, as they know that in law the
+testimony of an accomplice who is also an ex-convict, should he
+conclude to become a state's witness, would have to be strongly
+corroborated before a court or jury in order to be believed.
+
+As the capitalist and forger, for self-protection, use great care in
+selecting a "middleman," the middleman to protect himself also uses
+the same care in the selection of men to "present" the forged paper.
+He endeavors, like the backer and forger, to throw as much protection
+around himself as possible, and for the same reasons he also uses
+ex-convicts as the men to "present" the forged paper at the banks. The
+"presenters" are of all ages and appearances, from the party who will
+pass as an errand boy, messenger, porter, or clerk, to the prosperous
+business man, horse trader, stock buyer, or farmer. When a presenter
+enters a bank to "lay down" a forged paper, the "go-between" will
+sometimes enter the bank with him and stand outside the counter,
+noting carefully if there is any suspicious action on the part of the
+paying teller when the forged paper is presented to him, and whether
+the "presenter" carries himself properly and does his part well. But
+usually the middleman prefers waiting outside the bank for the
+"presenter," possibly watching him through a window from the street.
+If the "presenter" is successful and gets the money on the forged
+paper, the middleman will follow him when he leaves the bank to some
+convenient spot where, without attracting attention, he receives the
+money. He then gives the presenter another piece of forged paper,
+drawn on some neighboring bank. They go from bank to bank, usually
+victimizing from three to five banks in each city, their work being
+completed generally in less than an hour's time. All money obtained
+from the various banks on the forged paper is immediately turned over
+to the middleman, who furnishes all the money for current expenses.
+After the work is completed the presenters leave the city by different
+routes, first having agreed on a meeting point in some neighboring
+city. The "presenters" frequently walk out of the city to some
+outlying station on the line of the road they propose to take to their
+next destination. This precaution is taken to avoid arrest at the
+depot in case the forgery is discovered before they can leave the
+city. At the next meeting-point the middleman, having deducted the
+expenses advanced, pays the "presenters" their percentage of the money
+obtained on the forged paper.
+
+A band of professional forgers before starting out always agree on a
+basis of division of all moneys obtained on their forged paper. This
+division might be about as follows: For a presenter where the amount
+to be drawn does not exceed $2,000, 15 to 25 per cent; but where the
+amount to be drawn is from $3,000 to $5,000 and upwards, the
+"presenter" receives from 35 to 45 per cent. The price is raised as
+the risk increases, and it is generally considered a greater risk to
+attempt to pass a check or draft of a large denomination than a
+smaller one. The middleman gets from 15 to 25 per cent. His work is
+more, and his responsibility is greater, but the risk is less. There
+are plenty of middlemen to be had, but the "presenters" are scarce.
+The "shadow," when one accompanies the band, is sometimes paid a
+salary by the middleman and his expenses, but at other times, he is
+allowed a small percentage, not to exceed 5 per cent, and his
+expenses, as with ordinary care his risk is very slight. The backer
+and forger get the balance, which usually amounts to from 50 to 60 per
+cent. The expenses that have been advanced the men who go out on the
+road are usually deducted at the final division.
+
+In case of the arrest of one of the "presenters" in the act of "laying
+down" forged paper, the middleman or shadow immediately notifies other
+members of the band who may be in the city. All attempts to get money
+from the other banks are stopped, and the other members of the band
+leave the city as best they can to meet at some designated point in a
+near-by city. Out of their first successful forgeries a certain sum
+from each man's share is held by the "middleman" to be used in the
+defense of any member of the band who may be arrested on the trip.
+This money is called "fall money," and is used to employ counsel for
+the men under arrest, or to do anything for them that may be for their
+interest. Any part of this money not used is paid back in proportion
+to the amount advanced to the various members of the band from whose
+share it has been retained. Sometimes, however, in forming a band of
+forgers there is an understanding or agreement entered into at the
+outset that each man "stand on his own bottom"--that is, if arrested,
+take care of himself. When this is agreed to, the men arrested must
+get out as best they can. Under these circumstances there is no
+assessment for "fall money," but usually the men who present the paper
+insist on "fall money" being put up, as it assures them the aid of
+some one of the band working earnestly in their behalf and watching
+their interests, outside of the attorney retained.
+
+When one of the party is arrested, an attorney is at once sent to him.
+As a rule, in selecting an attorney, one is employed who is known as a
+good criminal lawyer. It is also preferred that he should be a lawyer
+who has some political weight. The middleman employs the attorney, and
+pays him out of the "fall money." The arrested man is strictly
+instructed by the attorney to do no talking, and is usually encouraged
+by the promise that they will have him out in a short time. In order
+to keep him quiet, this promise is frequently renewed by the attorney
+acting for the "middleman." This is done to prevent a confession being
+made in case the arrested man should show signs of weakening. Finally,
+when he is forced to stand trial, if the case is one certain of
+conviction, the attorney will get him to plead guilty, with the
+promise of a short sentence, and will then bargain to this end with
+the court or prosecutor. Thus guided by the attorney selected and
+acting for the "middleman" and his associates, the prisoner pleads
+guilty, and frequently discovers, when it is too late, that he has
+been tricked into keeping his mouth shut in the interests of his
+associates. It is but fair to state, however, that if money can save
+an arrested party, and if his associates have it, they will use it
+freely among attorneys or "jury fixers," where the latter can be made
+use of, and frequently it is paid to politicians who make a pretense
+of having a "pull" with the prosecuting officers of the court.
+
+In most instances when checks are sent out they are not seen again by
+the maker for a period of days. As business houses of any considerable
+magnitude always have a comfortable balance with their bankers, ample
+time and an abundance of cash are thus placed at the disposal of the
+check-raisers.
+
+As to the best methods of raising checks so that the fraud will not be
+readily detected, much depends upon the way in which they are written.
+The style of handwriting, the texture and quality of the paper, and
+the chemical properties of the inks, are points which are necessary to
+be considered.
+
+Many checks may be altered to a larger amount by the mere addition of
+a stroke of the pen here or the erasure of a line, by means of
+chemicals, in some other place. For instance, take a check of $100, no
+matter how it may be written, there are five or six different ways in
+which it may be altered to a much larger amount, and in such a manner
+as to defy the scrutiny of the most careful bank teller. It may be
+made into six hundred by merely adding the "S" loop to the "O,"
+dotting the first part of the "n" to make of it an "i," and crossing
+the connecting stroke between the "n" and the "e" to form the "x." To
+complete the change it will be found necessary to erase with chemicals
+part of the "e."
+
+A check for one hundred dollars may also be easily altered to eight
+hundred dollars, especially when sufficient space has been left
+between the "one" and the "hundred," as follows: Add to the "O" the
+top part of an "E," dot part of the "n" to form an "i," connect the
+remaining part of the "n" with the "e," forming the loop of a "g," and
+then add "ht." The figure "i" is very easily changed to "8."
+
+Sometimes a small capital is used for an "o." In this case an
+alteration into "Four" hundred is easily accomplished by simply
+prefixing a capital "F" and transforming the "e" into an "r," the "n"
+being made to serve as a "u."
+
+Another change frequently made is to "Ten" hundred. It is done simply
+by adding the stem and top part of the "T" to the "O" and changing the
+first part of the "u" to an "e."
+
+Of course, any of the foregoing changes may be made with equal
+facility whether the amount be "hundred" or "thousand."
+
+Two hundred, if anything, is a much easier amount to alter than one
+hundred. It is done in the following manner: Make an "F" by simply
+crossing the "T;" dot the first part of the "w" to make an "i." and
+change the "o" into an "e." The figure "2" can be made into a perfect
+"5" by simply adding the top part of the "5" to it.
+
+Three hundred is not so easily altered; still it may be done by
+changing the word "hundred" into a "thousand"--an alteration which is
+by no means rare, and which is quite simple, especially when the word
+is begun with a small "h." The modus operandi is as follows: Place a
+capital "T" before the "h"; change the first part of the "u" into an
+"o," connecting it with the second part, which, with the first part of
+the "u," will form a "u"; change the second part of the "u" to an "s";
+erase the top part of the "d," making of it an "a," and complete the
+alteration by making an "n" of the "r" and "e." This alteration may
+appear to be somewhat complicated, but a trial of it according to
+direction will show how nicely it may be done.
+
+"Four" is another easy amount to alter. It is done by extending the
+second part of the "u" into a "t," and adding the "y" loop to the "r."
+"Five" is changed into "Fifty" and "Fifteen." "Six," "Seven," "Eight,"
+and "Nine" are changed into "Sixty," "Seventy," "Eighty," and "Ninety"
+by simply affixing the syllable "ty." "Twenty" is another easily
+changed amount; all that is necessary to make "Seventy" of it is to
+make an "S" of the "T," and change the first part of the "w" into an
+"e." To make the alteration perfect, the top part of the "T" must be
+erased with chemicals.
+
+In regard to the chemicals used to erase ink, much depends upon the
+ink. For most writing fluids and copying inks which are in daily use,
+a saturated solution of chloride of lime is the best eraser known, and
+when properly made is very quick and effective in its work. It may be
+applied with a glass pointed pen, to avoid corrosion, or with a clean
+bit of sponge. It acts as a powerful bleach, and with it the face of a
+check may be washed as white as before it was written upon. When inks
+have become dry and hard, sometimes carbolic or acetic acid is used
+effectively with the chlorine. The application of any alkali or acid
+to the clean polished surface of a check will, of course, destroy the
+finish and leave a perceptible stain, but the work of covering up
+these traces is quite as simple as removing the ink in the first
+place.
+
+A favorite trick of forgers and check and draft raisers, who operate
+on an extensive scale, is for one of them to open an office in a city
+and represent himself as a cattle dealer, lumber merchant, or one
+looking about for favorable real-estate investments. His first move is
+to open a bank account, and then work to get on friendly terms with
+the cashier. He always keeps a good balance--sometimes way up in the
+thousands--and deports himself in such a manner as to lead to the
+belief that he is a highly honorable gentleman, and the bank officials
+are led to the belief that he will eventually become a very profitable
+customer.
+
+Occasionally he has a note, for a small amount to begin with, always
+first-class two-name paper, and he never objects--usually insists--on
+paying a trifle more than the regular discount. At first the bank
+officials closely examine the paper offered, and of course find that
+the endorsers are men of high standing, and then their confidence in
+the "cattle king" is unbounded. Gradually the notes increase in
+amount, from a thousand to fifteen hundred dollars, and from fifteen
+hundred to two or three thousand. The notes are promptly paid at
+maturity. After the confidence of the bank people has been completely
+gained, the swindler makes a strike for his greatest effort. He comes
+in the bank in a hurry, presents a sixty-day note, endorsed by
+first-class men, for a larger amount than he has ever before
+requested, and it generally happens that he gets the money without the
+slightest difficulty. Then he has a sudden call to attend to important
+business elsewhere. When the note or notes mature, it is discovered to
+be a very clever forgery. This has been done time and again, and it is
+rare that the forger has been apprehended.
+
+The latest mode is for the forger to imitate a private check by the
+photo-lithographic method, after having obtained a signed check. The
+signature, after being photographed, is carefully traced over with
+ink, and the body of the check is filled up for whatever amount is
+desired. The maker of the check is requested to identify the person
+who holds it, and as a general thing he does not wait to see the money
+paid. The moment his back is turned, the layer-down palms the small
+check and presents the large one. This way of obtaining money is
+without the assistance of a middleman.
+
+Private marks on checks are no safeguards at all, although a great
+many merchants believe they can prevent forgery by making certain
+dots, or seeming slips of the pen, which are known only to the
+paying-teller and themselves. This precaution becomes useless when the
+forger uses the camera. Safe-breakers are often called upon by forgers
+and asked to secure a sheet of checks out of a check-book. When this
+is accomplished a few canceled checks are taken at the same time.
+These are given to the forger and he fills them up for large amounts,
+after tracing or copying the signature. The safe burglars receive a
+percentage on the amount realized. If your safe, vault or desk is
+broken open where your check-book is kept, carefully count the leaves
+in your check-book, also your canceled checks. If any are missing
+notify the banks and begin using a different style of check
+immediately. The sneak-thief, while plying his trade, often secures
+unsigned bonds of some corporation which has put the signed bonds in
+circulation, leaving the rest unsigned until the next meeting of the
+directors.
+
+Frequently unsigned bonds are left in the bank vault for safe keeping.
+These are stolen and sent to the penman or "scratcher." Then a genuine
+signed bond is purchased, from which the signatures are copied and
+then forged. The same trick has been played on unsigned bank notes,
+but on the bank notes almost any name will do, as no person looks at
+the signature, as long as the note appears genuine.
+
+The ingenuity of a countless army of sharpers is constantly at work in
+this country, devising plans to obtain funds dishonestly, without
+work, but, in fact, they often expend more time, skill and labor in
+carrying out their nefarious schemes, than would serve to earn the sum
+they finally secure, by honest labor. Every banker must, therefore, be
+on his guard, and should acquaint himself with the most approved means
+of detecting and avoiding the most common swindlers. This is just as
+necessary as it is to lock his books and cash in his safe before going
+home.
+
+Next to the counterfeiter, the forger is the most dangerous criminal
+in business life. Transactions involving the largest sums of money are
+completed on the faith in the genuineness of a signature. Hence every
+effort should be made to acquire the art of detecting an imitation at
+a glance. This can only be done by considerable practice. It is
+asserted that every signature has character about it which can not be
+perfectly copied, and which can always be detected by an experienced
+eye. This is problematical, but certainly a skillful bank-teller can
+hardly be deceived by the forgery of a name of a well-known depositor.
+
+A banker and business man should accustom himself to scrutinize
+closely the signatures of those with whom he deals. He should cut off
+their names from the backs of checks and notes, and paste then in
+alphabetical order in an autograph book devoted to that purpose, and
+compare any suspicious signature with the genuine one.
+
+In consequence of the numerous frauds committed by forged checks, some
+of the European bankers have adopted the custom of sending with their
+letter of advice a photograph of the person in whose favor the credit
+has been issued, and to stop the payment when the person who presents
+himself at the bank does not resemble the picture. If this practice
+were to become universal, the object of preventing frauds could be
+well attained.
+
+It is probably a fair statement to make that any draft issued can be
+raised, but it is unquestionably true that some can be much more
+easily altered than others, and as in the last ten years additional
+safeguards have been thrown around the bills of exchange of banks, so
+the forger has become more and more expert and proficient, just about
+keeping the pace. As the question of armor that can not be pierced and
+projectiles that will pierce anything are first one and then the other
+a little ahead, so it is with the bank forger and the banks.
+
+Admirable as some of the work unquestionably is, if anything so
+disreputable can be called admirable, there is even yet a something
+about either the work or the operator that should arouse the
+suspicions of the teller or cashier who is on the alert; and a teller
+or cashier without suspicion, and who is not on the alert, may be a
+comparatively good man, but is certainly in the wrong place.
+
+The presenter of a counterfeit bill at the teller's window may have no
+knowledge of the character of the bill that he is presenting, but he
+who presents a forged draft, in addition to presenting a bad bill, has
+a consciousness himself of the fraud that he is attempting, thus
+giving the teller not only the chance of scrutinizing the bill, but
+also to judge of the appearance, whether nervous or otherwise, of the
+man who is laying the trap, and these two facts should inure greatly
+to the advantage of the teller.
+
+As the news of the many successful depredations is scattered, we see
+banks trying different methods of protection, many of which at first
+glance are admirable, but which it will be seen on a little careful
+study simply require but slight change of method on the part of the
+professional forger to successfully evade. For instance: Many banks
+are daily advising their correspondents of the number and amounts of
+drafts issued, either in the course of the mails or otherwise. This at
+first sight would seem to be almost absolute protection, but it really
+may prove a trap to the bank so advised, as may readily be seen. Let
+us suppose that Mr. Forger steps into a bank in Cleveland, buys a
+draft for $5; a day or two later, or on the same day, he buys another
+draft for $5,000. The first draft is successfully altered to $5,000,
+but would not of course be paid by the correspondent bank for this
+amount, because of the advice they have of this number is that it was
+issued for $5; but it was a simpler matter to change the number of the
+draft to correspond with the $5,000 draft, the number of which the
+forger has, than it is to make the other alterations necessary to
+raise it from $5 to $5,000. After making these alterations it goes in
+for payment, and on reference to the advice sheet it is found that
+this apparent number was issued for $5,000 and paid accordingly. Then
+the forgers have simply the problem on hand to avail themselves,
+either directly through the bank of issue or elsewhere of this genuine
+$5,000 draft, which is certainly not a hard task for the men who have
+successfully performed the harder one.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+A FAMOUS FORGERY
+
+The Morey-Garfield Letter--Attempt to Defeat Mr. Garfield for the
+Presidency--A Clumsy Forgery--Both Letters Reproduced--Evidences of
+Forgery Pointed Out--The Work of an Illiterate Man--Crude Imitations
+Apparent--Undoubtedly the Greatest Forgery of the Age--General
+Garfield's Quick Disclaimer Kills Effect of the Forgery--The Letters
+Compared and Evidences of Forgery Made Complete.
+
+
+Very few cases have arisen in this country in which the genuineness of
+handwriting was the chief contention, and in which such momentous
+interests were at stake, as in the case of the forged "Morey-Garfield
+Letter." It was such as to arouse and alarm every citizen of the
+republic. A few days prior to the presidential election of 1880, in
+which James A. Garfield was the Republican nominee, there was
+published in a New York Democratic daily paper, a letter purporting to
+have been written to a Mr. H.L. Morey, who was alleged to have been
+connected with an organization of the cheap-labor movement. The
+letter, if written by Mr. Garfield, committed him in the broadest and
+fullest manner to the employment of Chinese cheap labor. It was a
+cheap political trick, a rank forgery, and the purpose of the letter
+was to arouse the labor vote in close states against Mr. Garfield. It
+was also a bungling forgery. We present herewith facsimiles of the
+forged letter and one written by Mr. Garfield branding the Morey
+letter a fraud.
+
+[Illustration: THE MOREY-GARFIELD FORGERY.]
+
+[Illustration: LETTER WRITTEN BY GARFIELD.]
+
+The Morey letter was evidently written by an uneducated man. Here are
+three instances of wrong spelling that a man of Mr. Garfield's
+education could not possibly make. The words "ecomony" and "Companys"
+in the eighth line and "religeously" in the twelfth line give evidence
+of a fraudulent and deceitful letter at once.
+
+The misplacing of the dot to the "i" in the signature to the left of
+the "f" and over the "r" is a mistake quite natural to a hand
+unaccustomed to making it, but a very improbable and remarkable
+mistake for one to make in writing his own name. Another noticeable
+feature in the Morey letter is the conspicuous variations in the sizes
+and forms of the letters. Notice the three "I's" in the fifth line.
+Variations so great in such close connection seldom occur in anything
+like an educated and practiced hand. The "J" in the signature of the
+Morey letter has a slope inconsistent with the remainder of the
+signature and the surrounding writing. It is also too angular at the
+top and too set and stiff throughout to be the result of a natural
+sweep of a trained hand.
+
+The Morey letter was written in January, 1880, and made public in
+October of the same year. If Mr. Garfield wrote the Morey letter in
+January there was at that time no motive to write it in any other than
+his ordinary and natural hand. The letter of denial is in his
+perfectly natural hand; these two letters should therefore be
+consistent with each other.
+
+The signature of the Morey letter is a clumsy imitation of General
+Garfield's autograph. Observe the stiff, formal initial line of the
+"_F_"--its sharp, angular turn at the top, absurd slope and general
+stiff appearance, while the shade is low down upon the stem, and
+compare with the free, flowing movement, round turns and consistent
+slope of the same letter in his genuine autograph. We might extend the
+comparison, with like result, to all the letters in the signature, and
+to a multitude of other instances in the writing of the body of the
+letter.
+
+Many persons, and some professed experts, have remarked what appeared
+to them striking and characteristic resemblances between the Morey
+letter and General Garfield's writing.
+
+It should be borne in mind that if the letter is not in the genuine
+handwriting of Mr. Garfield it was written by some person whose
+purpose was to have it appear so to be. That being the case, we should
+naturally expect to find some, even more, _forms_ than we do, having a
+resemblance to those used by Mr. Garfield. All these resemblances
+appear to be either copied or coincidences in the use of forms. There
+are no coincidences of the unconscious writing habit, which clearly,
+to our mind, proves the Morey letter, as Mr. Garfield well
+characterizes it, a very clumsy effort to imitate his writing. Indeed,
+the effort seems to be little more than an endeavor, on the part of
+the writer, to disguise his own hand, and copy a few of the general
+features of Mr. Garfield's writing, adding a tolerable imitation of
+his autograph.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+A WARNING TO BANKS AND BUSINESS HOUSES
+
+Information for Those Who Handle Commercial and Legal
+Documents--Peculiarity of Handwriting--Methods Employed in
+Forgery--Means Employed for Erasing Writing--Care to be Used
+in Writing--Specimens of Originals and Alterations--Means of
+Discovering and Demonstrating Forgery--Disputed Signatures--Free
+Hand or Composite Signatures--Important Facts for the Banking and
+Business Public--How to Use the Microscope and Photography to Detect
+Forgery--Applying Chemical Tests--How to Handle Documents and Papers
+to Be Preserved--The Value of Expert Testimony--Using Chemical,
+Mechanical and Clerical Preventatives.
+
+
+The following chapter is written by Mr. William C. Shaw, of Chicago,
+the well-known handwriting expert and expert on forgery, whose
+services are called in all important forgery and disputed handwriting
+cases in the country. It is replete with facts and suggestions of the
+greatest importance, and will be found not only interesting reading,
+but an instructive article throughout.
+
+The comparative frequency with which checks, drafts, notes, etc., are
+being raised or altered, as well as deeds, wills, etc., forged and
+substituted, has naturally created a widespread interest in the
+subject of "disputed handwriting." The importance of practical
+knowledge in this direction by those who are continually handling
+commercial papers and legal documents is at once apparent, but others
+engaged in any business pursuit may be saved considerable loss,
+trouble and annoyance by observing the principles and suggestions
+explained and illustrated in this article.
+
+In approaching the subject of detecting forged or fraudulent
+handwriting let it be understood as a fundamental principle that there
+are hardly two persons whose writing is similar enough to deceive a
+careful observer, unless the one is imitating the other. Hands, like
+faces, have their peculiar features and expression, and the imitator
+must not alone copy the original, but at the same time disguise his
+own writing. Even the most skilled forger cannot entirely hide his
+individuality and is bound to relapse into his habitual ways of
+forming and connecting letters, words, etc. The employment of extreme
+care can be detected by signs of hesitancy, the substitution of curves
+for angles, etc., which appear very plainly when the writing is
+critically examined with a magnifying glass. When a signature has been
+forged by means of tracing over the original, the resemblance is often
+so exact as to deceive even the supposed author. In these cases the
+microscope is generally effective in detecting the forgery, as well as
+the methods employed. Perfect identity of two genuine signatures is a
+practical impossibility; if, therefore, two signatures superposed and
+held against the light completely coincide it is almost certain that
+one of them is a forgery.
+
+The methods employed in executing forged handwriting are varied and
+depend largely on the individual skill and inclination of the party
+attempting it.
+
+The most frequent class of forgeries consists of erasures, which means
+the removing of the genuine writing by mechanical or chemical means.
+Erasing with knife, rubber, etc., has practically been abandoned by
+expert forgers, on account of the almost certain detection which must
+necessarily follow the traces left in evidence. Erasing fluids, ink
+eradicators, etc., are more generally used for this purpose. These
+have entered the market for legitimate purposes and can be
+commercially obtained. Too much confidence should, therefore, not be
+placed in the careful writing of checks, etc., alone, as with the aid
+of chemicals the original writing can be entirely removed and forged
+words and figures substituted.
+
+[Illustration: Simple additions to genuine handwriting:
+ORIGINAL--ALTERATION.]
+
+Second in importance and frequency, and perhaps the easiest kind of
+forgery, consists of simple additions to genuine handwriting. In
+checks or drafts the changing of "eight" to "eighty" by the addition
+of a single letter is a striking illustration. The change of "six" to
+"sixty," "twenty" to "seventy," etc., can also be accomplished by
+adding a few strokes and without erasure, as per specimens given.
+
+The forging of signatures and writing in general is accomplished by
+means of tracing as above referred to, free-hand copying, with the aid
+of considerable practice, and copying by mechanical or chemical
+processes. It is not intended here to give directions, but simply to
+refer to facts, with a view to preventing losses and detecting
+forgeries. For this reason one method of reproduction may briefly be
+described. The carelessness with which blotters are used in public
+places, bank counters, post, express and hotel offices is to be
+strongly condemned. The entire signature of an indorser is often
+clearly copied on the underside of the blotting paper, which only
+needs to fall into the hands of a designing party to be projected on
+any paper or document and in any desired position.
+
+The means of discovering and demonstrating forged handwriting are as
+varied as the methods employed in its execution, and it may be some
+comfort to know that the cunning of the forger is more than matched by
+the skill and ability of the expert.
+
+The ordinary method of identifying handwriting consists in the
+"comparison of hands." This, however, is only admitted in courts of
+justice under certain limitations. The genuineness of a disputed
+writing can be proved by a witness who has seen its execution, or by
+comparison with correspondence received in the regular course of
+business, or by comparisons with disputed specimens of the alleged
+handwriting, which must also be in evidence. Disputed signatures may
+be compared with other signatures acknowledged to be genuine, or with
+letters or documents, the genuineness of which is unquestioned. In
+arriving at conclusions many things are to be considered, the form of
+the letters, their manner of combination, evidences of habit, etc.
+
+Another method of detecting forgery is afforded by the internal
+evidences of fraud of the writing itself, with or without the aid of
+comparison with genuine writing. These evidences may consist of
+alterations, erasures, additions, crowding, etc., as above referred
+to; tracing a genuine writing by means of ink or pencil, afterwards
+retraced, etc.
+
+The copy of a genuine signature may be free-hand or composite, by
+which is meant that the writing is produced discontinuously or in
+parts. Comparison of the separate letters of the doubtful specimen of
+writing with the separate letters of the genuine writing of the
+supposed imitator or imitated always exhibits less uniformity if
+imitation has been attempted, the copyist being frequently led into an
+approach to his ordinary handwriting or into an oversight of some
+special characteristics of the writing he is simulating. Even minor
+points do not escape the expert's critical attention. The dotting of
+the i's, or crossing of the t's, curls, loops, flourishes, intervals
+between words and letters, connections, characteristics of up and down
+strokes are all carefully noticed.
+
+A glass of low magnifying power will, as a rule, exhibit erasures, and
+even bring to view the erased letters. In tracing, the forger
+frequently fails to cover over the first outlines, which can be
+plainly distinguished. The places where the pen has been put upon and
+removed from the paper may sometimes be noticed, which is in itself
+strong evidence of fraud.
+
+With the aid of a microscope the character of the alterations, certain
+characteristics due to age, emotion, etc., the kind of pen used and
+how it was held, the nature of ink, order of writing, with regard to
+time, whether produced by the right or left hand, standing or sitting,
+can often be determined. Indentations made by heavy strokes or a sharp
+pen, as well as those employed as guides for the signature
+subsequently written, will also be brought into prominence. Forged
+signatures placed under the microscope have generally a patched
+appearance, which results from the retracing of lines in certain
+portions not occurring in genuine writing.
+
+In case of disputed handwriting photography has also been employed to
+great advantage. Of course the writing in question should, whenever
+practicable, be compared with the original, photographic copies being
+looked upon with disfavor and considered by most courts as secondary
+evidence. Still, photographic enlargements of genuine and disputed
+signatures are very useful in illustrating expert testimony. Certain
+characteristics, differences in ink, attempts to remove writing, etc.,
+may be brought to view, which would be entirely overlooked by direct
+examination. The wonderful power of the camera has recently been
+illustrated in a very striking manner. A large ocean steamer was
+photographed, and on receipt of the proof the owners were surprised to
+see a hand bill posted on the side of the hull. Examination of the
+ship disclosed no hand bill there, but another photograph exhibited
+the same result. A searching inspection revealed the presence of the
+mysterious paper buried beneath four coats of paint, but defying the
+superficial scrutiny of the human eye.
+
+As a last resort chemical tests may be applied, by which the identity
+or difference of the inks used may be established, etc. As a means of
+demonstrating that chemical erasures have been made a certain
+manipulation and treatment of the paper submitted will almost
+invariably bring back the original and obliterated writing.
+
+A few words regarding papers and documents, intended for preservation,
+will not be amiss. Improved processes of manufacture have certainly
+had no beneficial influence on the durability of the products, and
+while inks and papers have become greatly reduced in price and
+apparently improved in quality, it is very doubtful if much of our
+book learning and many of our written instruments will go down to
+future generations. Even fifty years will suffice to decompose many an
+attractive volume at present on the shelves of our libraries, or fade
+the writing of finely engraved and important documents. The quality of
+the ink and paper selected is therefore of greatest importance.
+Typewritten copies particularly are subject to the ravages of time,
+and ought to be avoided when preservation for years to come is the
+principal consideration, as for instance in the case of wills, etc.,
+which ought to be made in one's own handwriting whenever practicable.
+
+Briefly, I may state that all the safeguards employed on commercial
+papers or legal documents, outside of the actual protection afforded,
+have the beneficial effect or tendency to make forgeries, erasures or
+alterations more difficult, at the same time warning prospective
+forgers to keep a respectful distance.
+
+The inks used, the position of the writing, the paper on which it is
+written, the employment of certain chemical, mechanical and clerical
+preventatives are all to be thoughtfully considered by those who
+desire to protect themselves against losses resulting from fraudulent
+handwriting.
+
+With regard to expert testimony it may be said in conclusion that it
+is most effective if governed solely by the evidence submitted, and
+not by information otherwise obtained. The microscopic and
+photographic examination of papers and documents, as well as their
+mechanical and chemical treatment, require in all cases the trained
+eye, the skilled hand and the extensive experience of the expert, in
+order to fully utilize the available material and to arrive at
+conclusions which are in entire accord with the facts under
+consideration, thereby aiding in the just and equitable settlement of
+weighty questions of profit or loss, affluence or poverty, liberty or
+imprisonment, life or death.
+
+Another expert in handwriting says that regarding the methods made use
+of to determine authorship, specialists are naturally reticent. Some
+of them have admitted, however, the nature of the leading principles'
+which guide them. The philosophy of the matter rests mainly on the
+fact that it is very rare for any two persons to write hands similar
+enough to deceive a careful observer, unless one is imitating the
+other. "Fists," like faces, have all some special idiosyncrasy, and
+the imitator has not merely to copy that of some one else but to
+disguise his own.
+
+By careful and frequent practice he may succeed well enough to deceive
+the ordinary man, but is rarely successful in baffling the expert.
+Even the most skilful culprit cannot wholly hide his individuality, as
+he is sure to relapse into his ordinary method occasionally. Then
+again, great care has to be used, and this can be detected by the
+traces of hesitancy, the substitution of curves for angles and _vice
+versa_, which come out very plainly when the writing is examined under
+the microscope, as it usually is by the expert.
+
+A plan of detection which has been adopted with great success is to
+cut out each letter in a doubtful piece of writing, and paste all the
+A's, B's, etc., on separate sheets of paper. The process is also gone
+through with a genuine bit of caligraphy of the imitator or the
+imitated, as the case may be. Comparison almost invariably shows that
+the letters are less uniform if imitation has been attempted, the
+writer being occasionally betrayed into some approach to his ordinary
+caligraphy, or into momentary forgetfulness of some special point in
+the handwriting he is simulating.
+
+No point is too small to escape an expert's attention. The dotting of
+the "i's," the crossing of "t's," the curls and flourishes, the
+intervals between the words, the thinness of the up-stroke and the
+thickness of the down-stroke, are all noted and carefully compared.
+Where only a signature has been forged, and that by means of tracings
+from the original the resemblance is often so exact as to deceive even
+the supposed author, but in these cases the microscope is generally
+effective in determining not merely the forgery but the method by
+which it was accomplished. It is some comfort to know that the cunning
+of the forger is overmatched by the scientific skill of the trained
+expert.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+HOW FORGERS ALTER BANK NOTES
+
+Bankers Easily Deceived--How Ten One Hundred-Dollar Bills Are Made out
+of Nine--How to Detect Altered Bank Notes--Making a Ten-Dollar Bill
+out of a Five--A Ten Raised to Fifty--How Two-Dollar Bills are Raised
+to a Higher Denomination--Bogus Money in Commercial Colleges--Action
+of the United States Treasury Department--Engraving a Greenback--How
+They Are Printed--Making a Vignette--Beyond the Reach of Rascals--How
+Bank Notes Are Printed, Signed and Issued by the Government--Safeguards
+to Foil Forgers, Counterfeiters and Alterers of Bank Notes--Devices to
+Raise Genuine Bank Notes--Split Notes--Altering Silver Certificates.
+
+
+A dangerous game and one too often successfully perpetrated, is the
+raising of bank bills from a lower to a higher denomination.
+Counterfeiters and forgers have often been detected making ten bills
+of nine by the following operation:
+
+A counterfeit one hundred-dollar bank note is cut into ten pieces; one
+of these pieces is pasted into a genuine bill, cutting out a piece of
+the genuine of the same size. In pasting nine genuine bills in this
+manner nine pieces are obtained, which, with one piece of counterfeit,
+will make a tenth bill, which is the profit. This operation is not a
+very successful one, as the difference between the counterfeit and the
+genuine will be very evident to any one who examines closely.
+
+Every business man should know how to detect altered bank bills, and a
+close scrutiny of all money offered, bearing in mind the suggestions
+here made, will prove a safeguard. Bank notes are sometimes altered by
+raising from lower to higher denominations, or replacing name of
+broken bank by name of good one. This is done either by erasing words
+and printing others in their place, or by pasting on the original bill
+a piece of counterfeit work or a piece taken from some genuine bill.
+If the former, the new counterfeit piece will always differ from the
+surrounding genuine work. If the latter, the fraud will be revealed by
+holding the bill up to the light, when the portion pasted will look
+darker than the surrounding portions.
+
+Another method employed is to cut ten-dollar bills in halves, also
+five-dollar bills, then join them, and raise the five part to a ten by
+the blue paper dodge. This bill can be successfully worked off in a
+roll of other bills, owing to the workmanship, and sometimes a gang
+will visit a certain locality and flood it with doctored bills.
+Fifty-dollar bills have been often raised from a ten. This fraud is
+generally neatly executed, and is well calculated to deceive the
+unsuspecting, and a banker, in hurriedly counting money, is liable to
+be taken in on one of these.
+
+A recent scheme to defraud with raised bills is to raise a two-dollar
+bill to a five. In order to accomplish this feat rascals cut out the
+figure five in the left-hand corner of a "V" and paste it over the
+figure "2" in the upper right-hand corner of the two-dollar bill. The
+pasting is done so neatly that not one person in a hundred, or even a
+thousand, unless an expert, would notice the difference. The very
+small $2 marks in the scroll-work surrounding the large figure are
+blotted out with a pencil and are not visible. The figure "2" in the
+lower right-hand corner is erased with acids, and the bill is in all
+respects a first-class imitation of the genuine article. Treasury
+officials say that this is something new in the way of bill-raising,
+and is very dangerous.
+
+Many people who are not used to handling money have been swindled by
+what is known as "Imitation Money." The United States Treasury
+Department is making strenuous efforts to break up the practice of
+issuing imitations of the national currency, to which many commercial
+colleges and business firms are addicted. This bogus currency has been
+extensively used by sharpers all over the country to swindle ignorant
+people and its manufacture is in violation of law.
+
+So vague is the general idea as to how a bank note is made that we
+give an explanation of the various processes it goes through before it
+is issued as a part of the "money of the realm," saying, by way of
+introduction, that this country leads the world in bank-note
+engraving. Unfortunately, the first consideration in making a
+bank-note is to prevent bad men from making a counterfeit of it, and
+therefore all the notes of a certain denomination or value must be
+exact duplicates of each other. If they were engraved by hand this
+would not be the case; and, another thing, hand engraving is more
+easily counterfeited than the work done by the processes we herewith
+describe.
+
+Every note is printed from a steel plate, in the preparation of which
+many persons take part. If you will look at a $5 "greenback" you will
+see a picture in the center; a small portrait, called a vignette, on
+the left, and in each of the upper corners a network of fine lines
+with a dark ground, one of them containing the letter "V" and the
+other the figure "5." These four parts are made on separate plates.
+
+To make a vignette it is necessary, first, to make a large drawing on
+paper with great care, and a daguerreotype is then taken of the
+drawing the exact size of the engraving desired.
+
+The daguerreotype is then given to the engraver, who uses a steel
+point to mark on it all the outlines of the picture. The plate is
+inked and a print taken from it. While the ink is still damp the print
+is laid face down on a steel plate, which has been softened by heating
+it red hot and letting it cool slowly. It is then put in a press and
+an exact copy of the outline is thus made on the steel plate. This the
+engraver finishes with his graver, a tool with a three-cornered point,
+which cuts a clean line without leaving a rough edge.
+
+Now this is used for making other plates--it is never used to print
+from. It must be made hard and this is done by heating it and cooling
+it quickly. A little roller of softened steel is then rolled over it
+by a powerful machine until its surface has been forced into all the
+lines cut into the plate. The outlines of the vignette are thus
+transferred to the roller in raised lines, and after the roller is
+hardened it is used to roll over plates of softened steel, and thus
+make in them sunken lines exactly like those in the plate originally
+engraved. The center picture is engraved and transferred to a roller
+like the vignette, but the network in the upper corners, and also on
+the back of the note, is made by the lathe. This machine costs $5,000,
+a price that puts it beyond the reach of counterfeiters, and its work
+is so perfect that it can not be imitated by hand.
+
+The black parts of the note are printed first, and when the ink is dry
+the green-black is printed, to be followed by the red stamps and
+numbers. It is then signed and issued. For greater security one part
+of the note is engraved and printed at one place and another part at
+another place, when it is sent to Washington to be finished and
+signed.
+
+But even after all this care and all these safeguards many skillfully
+executed counterfeits and raised and altered bank notes have been made
+and issued, some of them so good as to deceive the most expert judges
+of money.
+
+Many devices have been resorted to by counterfeiters to raise genuine
+bank-notes, as well as to manufacture bogus ones, but one of the most
+novel has recently come to light. The scheme consists of splitting a
+$5 and a $1 note, and then pasting the back of the $1 note to the
+front of the $5 note and the front of the $1 note to the back of the
+$5 note. The mechanical part of the work was excellently done, but the
+fraud could be detected the moment the note was turned over.
+
+An effort had been made to change the "one" to "five" on the "one"
+side of the new combined note, but it was done so clumsily that the
+fraud would have been seen at a glance, and the only hope of passing
+the notes as fives would have been to pass them over with the $5 side
+up and trust to the man receiving it not to turn it over before
+putting it away. The doctored notes came to the notice of the writer
+through one of the Chicago banks, with the request that they be
+allowed whatever they were worth. The government always redeems notes
+at the face value, and as the faces in this case were of a $1 and a $5
+note, $6 was allowed. It is not known whether the bank was caught on
+the split notes or not.
+
+Another scheme for altering bank-notes is practiced with more or less
+success. It is to take a one dollar silver certificate and by means of
+powerful acids and fine penwork the large figure "one" on the reverse
+side is split into two "tens," and the intermediate portion transformed
+into a scroll. On the other side the "one" over the representation of
+the silver dollar is obliterated and "ten" substituted, but the "s" is
+left off the dollar. The single "1" figures in the corners are neatly
+eaten off and the figure "10" substituted. The small "one" is changed
+to an "X" and a new series number is printed in red upon the face. The
+bill would pass anywhere. None but an expert would detect the fraud.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX
+
+INTERESTING WRITINGS OF VARIOUS KINDS FOR STUDY AND COMPARISON
+
+
+FOUR ORDINARY SIGNATURES WITH DESCRIPTIONS
+
+[Illustration: A mechanical or artificial hand in copy-book style,
+lightly and delicately traced.
+
+Characteristic signature, connected and rapidly traced letters
+expressing great animation and mental activity.
+
+A natural hand, letters vary in size, written with great spontaneity
+and expression.
+
+A restrained hand, letters slowly and deliberately traced, indicating
+a slow intelligence and perception.]
+
+
+STUDENTS' HANDWRITING--CRIMINALS' HANDWRITING
+
+[Illustration: The above is a comparison of the students' and
+criminals' handwriting, the selections being made from the records of
+each class.]
+
+[Illustration: The tremor of feebleness is shown in this signature.
+This was written by a gentleman ninety-two years of age. Writing of
+one who is ill or feeble is usually characterized by a light stroke.
+The simulated tremor of a skilful penman is rarely successful in
+deceiving a trained eye.]
+
+[Illustration: This signature represents the tremor due to illiteracy.
+The tremors and angular features shown are by no means indicative of
+lack of power, but the power is misdirected.]
+
+[Illustration: The signature of Ivan Wilson, herewith given, will serve
+as an illustration of the tremor almost inseparable from forgery. The
+tremors of a simulating hand are never so numerous nor so fine as real
+tremors.]
+
+
+GENUINE--FORGED TRACING--FORGED FREE-HAND
+
+[Illustration: The first signature is the original. The second is a
+bungling traced forgery and the third is a forged freehand. Taken
+apart from one another they are clever enough to deceive, but studied
+together here the fraud and deception is readily apparent.]
+
+
+ORIGINAL SIZE--GENUINE--FORGED TRACING--FORGED FREE HAND.
+
+[Illustration: We give above a genuine signature with a forged tracing
+and a forged free-hand. You can readily detect the forgeries when
+these signatures are placed together and explained. It gives one
+points on how to study forged and disputed signatures.]
+
+
+SOME THUMB AND FINGER-PRINT SUGGESTIONS
+
+[Illustration: We show herewith two enlarged finger-prints. These are
+taken from the index finger and are used in many cases instead of
+thumb-prints.]
+
+[Illustration: The above illustrations are fac-simile impressions of
+the dermal furrows of the right and left thumbs of four different
+persons. The left thumbs are in the top row, the right thumb being
+below. These are enlarged to bring out the distinctive points. You
+will note that no two are alike and it is absolutely impossible to
+forge or duplicate the thumb-print of any person. "Thumb-prints Never
+Forged" on page 115.]
+
+[Illustration: Promiscuous thumb-prints taken at random, easily
+distinguishable in the original impression but not enlarged as in
+above illustration. A photographic reproduction showing the lines
+without enlargement almost impossible.]
+
+
+INTERESTING AUTOGRAPH SIGNATURES
+
+[Illustration: Kaiser's signature published in book sanctioned by him
+is the writing of an extremely erratic and nervous man.]
+
+[Illustration: This is a facsimile of Capt. Myles Standish's
+handwriting found on the fly-leaf of one of his books. Capt. Myles
+Standish, known as the human sword blade, whose valor saved the
+Pilgrims at Plymouth from utter destruction at the hands of hostile
+Indians went back to England in 1625 on business for the colony.
+Before his return, in 1626, he bought this book and carried it back to
+America with him.]
+
+[Illustration: In this signature of the great Liberator of Italy, we
+have indications of energy in the angular form of the letters, and in
+the hasty and irregular dot to the small letter "i," and originality
+in the curious angularly waved line below the signature. It denotes
+tenacity of purpose.]
+
+[Illustration: In this signature of Napoleon Bonaparte, which appears
+on a letter written by him when only a captain in the French army, we
+have the "vaulting ambition" which made him all _but_ master of
+Europe. There is the dominant will in the strongly marked "t," and in
+the hard, thick line which terminates the flourish; his egotism and
+self-assertion are evidenced in this flourish, his originality in the
+peculiar form of the capital letter "B;" but ambition is here "still
+the lord of all."]
+
+
+GREELEY'S LAST LETTER.
+
+[Illustration: This was the last letter ever written by Horace
+Greeley, America's famous editor and horrible penman.]
+
+
+[Illustration: The signatures of this group are by well-known men, all
+leaders in a special line of activity. These autographs are original
+and typical of the men writing them. The general character,
+temperament and make-up of these gentlemen are well-known to all, and
+a study of these signatures will be found interesting.]
+
+
+[Illustration: Reduced copy of the signatures and seals of the English
+and American commissioners who signed the treaty of peace between
+Great Britain and the United States in 1783.]
+
+
+CHARACTERISTIC WRITING OF SOME OF THE BEST KNOWN MEN IN THE BANKING
+WORLD OF THE UNITED STATES
+
+[Illustration: President American Bankers' Association and President
+of the Continental National Bank, Chicago.]
+
+[Illustration: Mr. Vanderlip, President of the National City Bank, New
+York.]
+
+[Illustration: Lewis E. Pierson, First Vice-president American
+Bankers' Association and President Irving National Exchange Bank, New
+York City.]
+
+[Illustration: F.O. Watts, Chairman Executive Council American
+Bankers' Association and President First National Bank, Nashville,
+Tenn.]
+
+[Illustration: Treasurer American Bankers' Association and Second
+Vice-president Fidelity Trust Co., Tacoma, Wash.]
+
+[Illustration: Fred. E. Farnsworth, Secretary American Bankers'
+Association, New York.]
+
+[Illustration: W.G. Fitzwilson, Assistant Secretary American Bankers'
+Association, New York City.]
+
+[Illustration: Assistant Cashier of the National City Bank, Chicago,
+and formerly President of the American Institute of Banking.]
+
+[Illustration: This gentleman is one of the best-known bankers in
+America. He has also been Secretary of the Treasury.]
+
+[Illustration: A rather complicated, though not altogether unreadable
+signature of John K. Ottley, vice-president of the Fourth National
+Bank, Atlanta, Ga.]
+
+[Illustration: J. Furth, President of the Puget Sound National Bank,
+Seattle, Wash.]
+
+[Illustration: There is no better known gentleman in the country than
+John Farson, the millionaire banker of Chicago. He dresses attractively,
+loves legitimate notoriety, is absolutely democratic in his daily
+life, is charitable and pleasant and believes in making everybody
+happy, and is a great lover of flowers and children. His signature
+indicates his character thoroughly.]
+
+[Illustration: This is a fair specimen of the writing of a Japanese
+banker and business man. This was written with great haste, also.]
+
+
+CURIOUS AND FREAKISH SIGNATURES OF WELL-KNOWN BANKERS AND BUSINESS MEN
+
+[Illustration: Banker Wm. W. Quigg thinks this is a pretty good
+signature. He is a banker at Ontario, Calif.]
+
+[Illustration: A Michigan bank cashier, E. Newell, writes this
+signature.]
+
+[Illustration: This is the signature of Common Parse.]
+
+[Illustration: This is the way H.G. Nolton writes his name.]
+
+[Illustration: This was the original freak signature of the country.
+It will be recognized by every one as F.E. Spinner.]
+
+[Illustration: F.S. Watts, teller in an Iowa bank, is not afraid to
+use ink. He says this signature has never been counterfeited.]
+
+[Illustration: This stands for Lloyd Bowers, a well-known Kansas
+banker.]
+
+[Illustration: R.J.B. Crombie, a Canadian banker, has a signature that
+is certainly freakish.]
+
+[Illustration: Tom Randolph, president of a Sherman, Texas, National
+Bank, thinks he is a good writer.]
+
+[Illustration: W.D. Mussenden, an eastern banker, thinks any man ought
+to readily read his writing.]
+
+[Illustration: C.W. Bush, president of the Bank of Yolo, Woodland,
+California, makes these marks and they are good on any check.]
+
+[Illustration: W.O. Cline, editor and publisher of a Chicago paper.
+This is one of the most unique signatures in the United States.]
+
+[Illustration: A B. Ming might write worse but it is doubtful.]
+
+[Illustration: W.P. Hazen, a Kansas banker, has written this signature
+so many years he thinks it ought to be legible to any one.]
+
+[Illustration: This is the very complicated signature of Hugh
+Harbinson, a well-known Connecticut business man.]
+
+[Illustration: John Mohr, Jr., thinks this is a plain signature.]
+
+[Illustration: Jas. V.D. Westfall, formerly a well-known New York
+State banker.]
+
+[Illustration: F.C. Miller, Kansas banker, wants this to pass current
+as his name.]
+
+[Illustration: Louis Houck, historian, Cape Girardeau, Mo.]
+
+[Illustration: Tams Bixby, General Manager The Pioneer Press, St.
+Paul, Minnesota. This is certainly a unique signature.]
+
+[Illustration: J.W. Dunegan, Cashier First National Bank, Marquette,
+Mich.]
+
+[Illustration: This is known as the "Turn Around" signature. This was
+furnished us by the president of one of the largest banks in New York
+City. It is one of the most curious of signatures. Turn it around. It
+reads the same both ways.]
+
+[Illustration: P.B. Elder, formerly a Pennsylvania bank president,
+known as the "upside down" writer. Turn it around.]
+
+[Illustration: John R. Dixon, a well-known Chicago business man.]
+
+[Illustration: Peter White, President First National Bank, Marquette,
+Mich.]
+
+
+HOW SOME CELEBRATED WOMEN WRITE
+
+[Illustration: In this signature of the "divine Sarah," the flourish
+peculiar to most actresses, which indicates love of admiration, is
+very remarkable. We have also, in the return of the curve of the
+letter "S" the sign typical of egotism; in the peculiar form of the
+letter "B," we have originality; in the heavy down strokes we have
+sensuousness; and in the angular forms of all the letters, strong
+will.]
+
+[Illustration: Who has not heard of that eccentric woman in man's
+garb, Dr. Mary E. Walker. She is egotistical, seeks after notoriety,
+and her signature is a correct portrayal of a petulant and whimsical
+nature.]
+
+[Illustration: This signature of Marie Antoinette was taken from a
+letter written while she was in prison under sentence of death. This
+is a despondent signature. Misfortune, separation from her husband and
+children, and humiliation had crushed her pride, and the whole of this
+signature is descendant, the four last letters remarkably so, which
+indicates a thoroughly despondent condition.]
+
+
+THREE OF AMERICA'S BEST-KNOWN MEN
+
+[Illustration: Melville W. Fuller, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court,
+of the United States.]
+
+[Illustration: P.S. Grosscup, Chicago, Judge of the Circuit Court of
+the United States.]
+
+[Illustration: John Hay, formerly Secretary of State, is a versatile
+man. The most remarkable point in this autograph is its extreme
+clearness, indicative of lucidity of ideas. Cultivation is shown in
+the form of the capital letters in both Christian and surname. No
+obstinacy is shown in this nature, only sufficient firmness to hold
+his own when necessary, the signature showing also a strong literary
+leaning.]
+
+
+THREE FAMOUS MILITARY MEN
+
+[Illustration: We present a group of signatures of famous military
+men. The autograph of General Grant is plain and simple in its
+construction, not an unnecessary movement or mark in it--a signature
+as bare of superfluity and ostentation as was the silent soldier and
+hero of Appomattox. In the autograph of R.E. Lee we have the same
+terse, brief manner of construction as in Grant's. It is more
+antiquated and formal in its style, more stiff and what might be
+called aristocratic. Its firm upright strokes, with angular horizontal
+terminal lines, indicate a determined, positive character. In somewhat
+marked contrast with the two last-mentioned autographs is that of
+General Beauregard, in that he indulges in a rather elaborate
+flourish, which is a national characteristic.]
+
+
+CHARACTERISTIC WRITING OF A FEW OF THE WORLD'S BEST-KNOWN LITERARY MEN
+AND AUTHORS
+
+[Illustration: Shakespeare's writing shows a strong, intuitive
+observation--that quick movement of the mind which seizes character at
+a glance--is shown by the want of _liason_ between the curiously
+formed letter "h" and the "a" which follows it. With a poet's
+disregard of order, Shakespeare puts no dots to either of the small
+letters "i" in his Christian name, nor is there any full stop at the
+end of the signature, so suggestive, when seen in an autograph, of
+caution, and that attention to minutiae which seems almost
+incompatible with the poetic nature. No flourish of any kind disgraces
+this thoroughly characteristic signature of England's greatest poet.]
+
+[Illustration: His popularity and fame as a novelist may be attributed
+to the fascinating style and vivid portrayal of his imaginative rather
+than realistic creations. The flourish after the signature has its
+significance also. It is lacking in grace or harmony, and evidently
+the quick, assertive stroke from the pen of one who will brook no
+opposition.]
+
+[Illustration: In this signature of Longfellow we have imagination in
+the letter "L" in the signature of the surname, lucidity of ideas in
+the extreme clearness of the writing, ideality in the absence of
+_liason_ between the "l" and "o," but not as much tenderness as
+one would have expected in the writing of the author of "Evangeline."]
+
+[Illustration: Edgar Allen Poe was an egotistical and imaginative
+writer. When the flourish takes any very peculiar abnormal form, it is
+rather a sign of originality than vanity, though there is, perhaps
+always a slight admixture of egotistical feeling in all flourishes.]
+
+[Illustration: Who has not heard of Emile Zola? This signature has the
+lightning flourishes in the "Z" and "a," and the entire separation of
+letters indicate an almost wholly intuitive mind, but lacking in
+logic, reason and judgment.]
+
+
+AUTOGRAPHS OF SOME WELL-KNOWN MEN. THEIR WRITING IS AS DIFFERENT AS
+THEIR CHARACTERS.
+
+[Illustration: Uncle Joe Cannon, Speaker of the House of
+Representatives, has a careless and rapid signature which indicates a
+determined and arbitrary will.]
+
+[Illustration: Cecil T. Rhodes, the wealthy South Africa diamond king,
+has a signature denoting secrecy and thrift. The curve of the "C" and
+"T" denoting love of publicity. His wonderful endowments gave him fame
+and publicity.]
+
+[Illustration: Signature of John Jacob Astor, the founder of that
+well-known family.]
+
+[Illustration: Ingersoll's signature is that of a combative man. This
+is told by a certain irregularity in writing and at the same time all
+the signs of ardent courage.]
+
+[Illustration: Admiral George Dewey. Extreme straightforwardness is
+indicated in this signature; the letters are all one height and the
+line of writing is straight. It denotes precision, discipline and
+loyalty.]
+
+[Illustration: An enlarged signature of one of the most successful
+merchants in the country. This signature shows intuitive perception of
+character and the heavy characters denote precision, organization, and
+care for details.]
+
+[Illustration: The signature of H.N. Higinbotham, a former partner of
+Marshall Field, and an immensely busy man. It shows that an active
+business man can write a legible hand if he will.]
+
+[Illustration: This signature is that of one of America's greatest
+merchants and financiers. He is as careful in writing as in business
+and gives the greatest care to all details. Philanthrophy is also
+shown in his hand.]
+
+[Illustration: This is the inventor of the telephone, and one of the
+most famous characters of the country. This is a most pronounced
+signature indicating inventive genius and charity, with strong
+literary proclivities.]
+
+[Illustration: Joseph Zeisler, one of the best known physicians in the
+country. This writing, while difficult to read, indicates a nervous
+body and active brain.]
+
+[Illustration: Thomas A. Edison, the famous inventor.]
+
+[Illustration: One of the richest men in America and a well-known
+philanthropist.]
+
+[Illustration: This signature evidences calm and clear judgment; the
+open "o's," fluency of speech; and the simply formed capitals, the
+modest, unpretentious nature.]
+
+[Illustration: The writing of one of the most famous characters in
+American politics. His writing indicates firmness, love of notoriety
+and also a semblance of weakness.]
+
+[Illustration: The signature of Emil G. Hirsch, Rabbi of Sinai
+Congregation, Chicago, one of America's best-known and most-respected
+Jewish citizens.]
+
+[Illustration: "Oom Paul" Kruger, formerly president of the Transvaal
+Republic. This is the signature of a man that believed the world was
+flat. He was "sot" in his ways--stubborn, obstinate, unmovable. His
+rugged character was never brought within the restraints of
+conventionality, and neither, apparently, was his handwriting.]
+
+[Illustration: One of America's best-known educators.]
+
+[Illustration: Arthur N. McGeoch, Milwaukee, Wis., a well-known
+attorney.]
+
+[Illustration: Geo. E. Allen, Educational Director, American Institute
+of Banking.]
+
+[Illustration: Characteristic writing of business men in the early
+days of our country. These autographs appear on the original agreement
+which formed the first stock exchange in New York City, in 1792.
+Whirls, flourishes, and other peculiarities are remarkably plenty in
+the above, which is an indication of correct writing in those days.]
+
+[Illustration: One of the few legible signatures to the Declaration of
+Independence.]
+
+[Illustration: P.M. Hanney, a leading Chicago business man, and a
+director in the great firm of Siegel Cooper & Company.]
+
+[Illustration: General counsel for the American Bankers' Association,
+and authority on American banking law.]
+
+[Illustration: Retired Major General of the United States Army.]
+
+
+AUTOGRAPH SIGNATURES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES
+
+[Illustrations]
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DISPUTED HANDWRITING***
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