The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-03-07

"Successful forgeries are very rare
nowadays" said one of the oldest bank
cashiers IN Chicago yesterday to re-
porter. $50 many precautions are TAX
en- now that it is extremely difficult for
even the most accomplished counter
feiter of significance to pass forged
check. and let q greenhorn attempt it
he is sure to be detected"
"Have there been any important for
geries here within your remembrance
where the banks have been the vic
tiIns?"
II remember of but one of much i'm
portance." re urned The cash er, land !
have been in the business over twenty
wears. 1t was some time before the
great fire, when 1t was the custom to
make out checks payable to bearer,
which, instead of going through the
clearing house, were pa d to the bearer
over the counter On this occasion Our
bank was made o victim to the tune OF
something over 81, 200. Hardly bank
in the city escaped. and not only here
were forgeries numerous, but along fol
q year or two hardly city ofimportance
Ill the country was exempt from q Sc
ries of forgeries which bore the stamp
of one clever scoundrel, whom it seemed
impossible to detect. Finally he was
canght here, tried and sent to Joliet,
/ where he served term of ten years.
His name was James Buchanan Cross
and he was one of the finest appearing
and most gentlemanly fellows l ever
saw. He was well educated and mas.
ter of the pen. He would put up at the
best hotels here and strike up an &C
quaintance with some leading business
man, get hold of his signature some
way, forge q check for several hundred
dollars and move on to victimiLe some
other town."
"Did he operate alone or in connec
ton with accomplicesp"
He did the forging himself, and the
confidence racker, such as making him
self popular with solid men; but when
he found it advantageous he would EN-.
ploy sometimes boy from the street,
but more generally a woman, to assis,
him. To give you an idea of how per
fectly he could initiate a signature,
will relate the cir ,umstan es of his op.
Grafton here. Mr.. Daniel Tillinghas,
! had a large bank account here at tina,
| time, and, as his checks were made pay
able to the bearer, but little notice was
taken of the person presenting them
One day the old gentleman came in te
settle up accounts, and coming acros:
q check for twelve hundred odd dollars
said: 'Now l don't remember what
ever made out that check for. / haven
the fs ntest recollection of using thai
amount of money at any one time
"'W e are all liable TO be that way Al
times, Dan,' said l. The next me you
make out check for 81, 200 you'd bet
ter paste a memorandum in your hat
in case you forget what you did with the
money
''lt's oil right, anyway said Dan.
Its my signature, there's no mistake
about that and he ent h me to reck.
on up his household expenditures fol
the month. He came back again in {
day or two, completely nonplussed and
unable to find what had become of thu
S1,2n. He stoutly mainta ned that il
was his signstu but saw it m b
a very clever forgery, and kept the
check to await Developments. Other
forgeries followed, and soon Cross was
rested. He was proven to have com
mitted this as we'll as long st of for
geries all over the county. The banks
united in pros cutting him, and obtained
his conviction"
"Does q person need to be an expert
penman to counterfeit signatures sue
cessfully?"
Certainly. If th're is any bungline
about it any bank cashier or teller would
detect the fraud in an instant. No two
signatures in the world are alike. Ever
q mans own Signature is never written
twice the same, but the handwriting o.
any person possesses an individually
which he him elf can scarcely disguise
A forger can not copy signature
closely and carefully. He must study
every angle an cur in it with the
same motions and con ;dence as the
owner. he must, in tact, be a com
plete master OF the pen. Even this &C
compl sIment will avail him nothing
low where the banks a e concerned
Nearly all paper 90 Through the clear.
ing-hOuse and is sub ected to the sever
est scrutiny. Ii we pay check on the
counter here the bearer must be identi-
fiei as the person TO whom the check is
made excent it be transferred and en-
dorsed. 1t is likewise impnss BILE to
raise amounts by eIasure and the sub
stitution of other figures or add ton OF
ciphers. Commercial PAPER is now
printed on tinted paper, and the acid
used to remove figure will also leave
is mark on the paper. You will notice
that on all checks and drafts where the
figures are placed the paper is colored
much darker hue. The use of acids
will remove this color with the figure
erased, and make the check worth .ess.
"Forgerirs as a me ms of OBJ aiming
money unlawfully have been practically
abandoned. exec Thy igno ant pers ms,
who in so doing stand no chance of es-
cape where they ATTEMPT TO impose up-
on the banks. Else where for small
amo unts the tn ng is possib e, but
very risky since the use of safety paper
has become almost unire.sal. "-Caca-
90 Ne,cs.