The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-08-27
WONDERFUL CHIROGRAPHY.
An Old story Retoid. aud New One Told
for the First Time.


az suppose" said Front street tea
merchant to a SUN reporter yesterday. "that
this story about Rufus Choates handwriting
has been told about nine hundred and ninety
nine million nine hundred and ninety nine
thousand nine hundred and ninety niue times.
and now " tell 1t once more, to you, that will
make just an even billion. 1t seems that Mr..
Choate while LIVING on farm down In Mlssa-
chusetts, wanted a new fence around tho homo
lot. SO be called In his carpenter and had
talk with him ABOUT the work, aud the next
time he went 10 Boston he got bs architect to
make rough ketch, showing his idess of how
he desired the fence to be built. On the day
appointed for the work to begin Mr.. Cnoato was
summoned away. Just 40 he was about to start
tue carpenter appeared, aud Mr.. CnoAte pulled
the plan out OF his vest pocket, and hurrledlY
delivered T., and then drove OF TO catch the
train. Returping after an absence OF two
weeks, on approaching his home. he was nled
with smaIsment, and led to DOUBT whether he
knew where he lived {; his home lot was sur
rounded by zIszAs fence Of nost extraordinary
design. waen he saw the old carpenter pound
lug Justify away he felt rsassursd as to the iden-
THY OF the place. but more puzIled by the mar
vellous fence.
"'Hsllor he shouted. what are you doingr
"'Doin' = said the old ,Arpsuter, smashing In
q tenpenny nail with one blow. Were dom
some pooty tall worL. We've just slung this
fence tosstner In little bit less time than any
similar slingn' was ever done In the Common-
wealth of Massschusettsi We're two dayv
ahead OF contract time now!
- Hut, for heavens sake, what kind Of . fsnos
Is thisr
- Don't know. Thought when you Ct me
the PIN II was the darndest fence lever heard
'Pianr said Rufus, planr Let me see the
plan! and when the ctrDoDter handed u over
tue te1e., mr. IGoa'. REALIZED tna' IA ms haste
MIN, not toe plan, but note IN his own hand
writing.
But" the tea man continued. 1.-THE most re-
marx Aols penman That ever spread ink ID n we'll
known gentleman who contributes To the edit
torial columns OF newspaper right here In New
YORK. Horace Greeley's IN Anuscript looks IKE
eopperplats alongside OF this writer's work.and
10 comparison with IL Enquirer BlOss's copy
might be mistaken for reprin,. They tell me
that mes very cool ana methodical person lily.
and OF great learning, too, out his cnirosrsphy
looks like forked lightning punched up care
les>ly wi h club. Not being IA the newspaper
business IL may be surprising 10 yon that
newspaper mems handwriting but tue WAY |
came to know ABOUT this III tell you
About six months ago there was great row
In the san Francisco tea market. For a long
| time there mad been sold 10 the trade bogus
teas which pnrported to be OF high er ,des the
| PACKAGE were done up precisely similar TO the
| genuine. aud nonody could detect tho fraud
until the tea had been tasted. Inc sealing OF
the lead was perfect, the chests were facsimlles
OF the true ones. the mating anc binding were
thoroughly complete, and tho lettering in
| CAineso characters on the outside mixht nave
deceived Confuclus himself but when you
came to open the boz you struck cheap re-
packed tea; and everybody wondered but no.
BODY could detect the fraud.
lone ~ after lunch a tea broker who sat In
his once with nothing to do. stuck his feet up
on a chsst OF the sniginatic Il tea. and as ne
pufed his cigar and looked at the tea cnest tho
thought occurred TO him that the Chinese W,
Chinese habits and should be abolished from
the Pacific slope along with tao Chinese aud
IN. ,n isc, he made 40 h- MIND IN At when the
| Congrassionai ss,umittes should oegin tneir sit
| ttnYs IN EriscO he would lay thls matter before
tn"m 40 conclusive evidence OF the utter unit.
ness of the race for any Of the privileges OF cit-
wandered from right to left alOns the inscril,-
tion on the tea chest and AZ LAST be Thought he
saw the semoiance OF letter OF the English
alphabet, and after half q DAYS study he deci-
pnered from the manifold hieroslyphics mat
adorned ths box single word; and this dis
| covery led to tne unearthing OF one OF the IN ost
| peculiar Of all the fraudulent devices OF tue tea
trade, and tnat Ia saying great deal.
A detective traced the chest back through
dealer after dealer until he reached tho mouse
that claimed To have bsen the original consignee,
and there the search was baked, for tue record
Of importatiOns seemed al right. But s;iil
| su-pectiag the detective continued his labofs
ami learned that the houss spplOved puoto-
| grapher and an engrayor, Artlsts not usu all y
| deemed Indispensable for the successful prose-
| cution OF "A tea business. Tue photographer
always at work taking Impressions on
blocks ana the engrhver c-ryed away day aftor
day, IL did not require much skill on the part
| OF the detective TO discover thht this was the
sources OF the wonderfully accurate limitations
OF Chinese on the Oogus Ghosts, but II was As
good Chinese as the genuine and there could be
| no solution OF the mystery until he had secured
| the original copy from when ths negative was
| made. Al last he found IT, sheet OF white
letter paper, shO wing characters IN some sort OF
| writing, the whole taken together presenting In
It's general outiins some likeness TO aletter OF a
| dozen lines. IL was "A centre section of this
which had been enlarged and transferred to the
| tea chests.
| sun In the dark the detective took the sheet
to a newspaper ofnce and there as II happened
| was employed printer who had seen the IN an u
script Of the New York gentlemen of whom
| spoke. and WAC recognized IN tnis sheet "a letter
| from him. The rest was quickly learned. The
tea do lers had heard OF tns handwriting ana
they knew u was Just what they needed To com
| plste the effect OF their already skllful haudl-
work. rhey easily invented preiext Tor al.
dressing the gentleman, and with his usu i
| courtesy he replied. The tea mon didn't re ad
| the letter, they don't try to; life ls too snort
| but they engraved the centre section on theiI
| tea chests and nut for All accident II would still
| DO passing current as orthodox Chinese"