The Cairo daily bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1870-1872, 1872-01-12
THE BULLETIN.
Publication once, bulletin building,
Washington Avenue.
A NEW PROFESSION,
AN EMINENT EXPERT.

/ ~ bhiN tNl bAfEkJ.
From'the New York Times.
or late years, n new and curious prorcs.
SION has come into vogue. We oliudn n
that Of experts in handwriting. These
| gentlemcn's services have for some time
been repeatedly called in r"qucst in Eng.
land especially in disputed will cases, but
they seldom made much impression either
on Judge or jury until there arose a
master in the craft, Mr.. Chabot. 1t was
through n case which occurred few
| years since in the London Probate Court.
that this gentleman was brought into the
first rank Of bis very limited profession. of
which Mr.. Netherclift had up to that
time been chief The ground of dis
putc was ir relation to the will Of a
wealthy old yeoman. One side claimed
that the will was genuine, the other that
II was forgery. When the turn came for
Mr. Cbabots evidence to be given. the
counsel for the will gave comtemp,uous
smile as the expert assembled the box. and
my lord leaned back in the chair in "A
manner which indicated II know how
much this sort Of testimony is WORTH BY
degrees, however, matters underwent a
change. Counsel against the will became
particularly assured in his barring. Coun-
sci for the will fdgeted in his seat, and.
what was more important, my lord aroused
himself and began TO take notes. When
Mr.. Chabot descended from the witness
box be had broken the will. The Judge,
in summing up, said that he must
confess that previous experience had
not disposed him to place much reliance
on testimony Of this description, but the
present case was an exception Mr..
Chabot's evidence was certainly most re-.
markablc. The point TO which this nc.
complished gentleman drew specis, a.ten.
ton WIS the fact that he bed examined
page after page Of writing which was adj
United by either side to be that Of the de.
ceased, and in no case had he found the
vowel so connected with the other let
tiers in the word in which il occurred
whereas, IN the document alleged TO be
forged, 90 sometimes stood alone. some
times was joined on the neighboring let
tiers
Mr.. Chal o's services are now in con-
slant demand, and he ought to be making
very large income. The Tichborne case
must alone have put great many pounds
in his pocket. Quite recently be has been
employed in two notable suits. One Of
these" Firebruce rs. Firebrace and
Others lisa divorce case. a maid-ser.
want, rs often happens in such suits, is n
prominent witness. She, it appears. kept
u diary the mistress got hold OF It, and, the
servant alleges, interpolsted passages
which reflect sadly on the morality of the
servant herself, and are thus calculated TO
weaken the effect Of her evidence against
Mrs. Firebrace. Mr.. Chabo, is Of opinion
that the alleged interpretations are not in
the handwriting Of the servant.
The other case was one Of libel, in
which lady named Dilks was plaintiff,
and Mr.. Shepherd defendant. In JAN
uary, 1870, Mr.. Birket, to whose son the
plaintiff was engaged, received letter inn
putting 10 her improper conduct On the 18th
CT February, Valentines day, plaintiff her.
self received two letters, one containing
some indecent verses, and the other some
lines from Chaucer. The experts differed
strongly in regard TO the similarity Of the
writing with that Of Mr.. Shepherd. In
summing up, the Lord Chief Justice
pointed out that the great merit Of Mr..
Chabot in such cases was that he gave Coz
gent reasons for his conclusions, and was
not content merely 10 state that he was
of such and such opinion. The jury
found for the defendant. Mr.. Chabot
lately brought his ingenuity TO bear upon
the vexed question of Junius, ard has
helped TO strer CITIZEN the already over
whelming evidence in favor of SIR Philip
Francis authorship Of the famous letters.