Daily Yellowstone journal., 1885-10-24
PUZZLING SCRA WIS.
SIGNATURES THAT EXPERTS End
IT DIFFICULT TO OeClPHER.



Cor New York sun
Think its simmons, said the sigma
ture pert Of the treasury. as he laid
aside the magnify,ng glass aud wiped his
eyes with his silk handkerchief lie had
for half an hour been examining curious
scroll un the back of a check. Ii con.
sisted of black stroke Of a zen tapering
oil TO an irregular line, and was there 10
represent tie name Of some bank cashier
There is not letter in it, " he said,
holding il mp TO the light, but il means
| simmons.
40 YOU have many of that sOrt2"
"Wursc than that Five or six hun
| dred different signatures pass through
| here ia month, maybe ami two thirds
| of them are illeglble bank cash crs sci
| dom make any letters in their signatures
| They adopt a certain form of scroll gen.
orally AID always use it for their signature
Some OF them are very curious This, for in
stance. and lac took from drawer pa
I per across which was Scruwied a charac'
ter that looked like sChoulho, s sketch
of a whirlwind The line had been spun
around and around in one rieCe like II
spiral spring. then shot across the paper
about half an inch, when the gyratlun
was again repeated, and this was followed
by IN, Their dash aud some more Circ,cs.
That, said the expert. ii, the gUature
of the cash er of one Of the New ! Ork
banks course thee are no letters in
it, but We know what il meals. aud could
swear by II at any time. ! would want
better signature. lIut if you want a
longer unr, here il is, aud lac handed out
another dIut.
80 " NARiIN TO NARqlN.
-The 'clgth to this. +" he said. ais
regulated hy the width of the Iapur on
which il il written. Ii always extends
from margin 10 margin. II consists. Y, VI
see, merely Of high upGud down strokes.
perfectly pointed at the top, and all of
about the same height Again You have
no name at all. 1t is simpl, he sign of a
name but it is Just rs good for us 1t is
always the same, and, rs sim lie As il may
seem ! don I think it could be counter,
feited Here is another with the same
pointed strokes, but there are fewer of
them, aud the signature is higher than IL
Is long But there is one Signature we
get on checks principally winch is more
remarkable Than either Of these The
letters are all the same height, and will
of a check. At first glance nothing can
lie made Of it, but ii you follow the line
carefully you can unrayel the name, and
you will he surprised at its plaInncss.
Each letter is perfect in itself but is 50
tall aud narrow that at first glance you
dom comprehend what it is
I'VE come across some very curious
signatures, and some mighty bad ones.
Those of Ben Butter and Horace reeley
are famous for their ugliness. but they
would fall into insigniliCence alongside OF
the scraw.s that pass through here oil
drafts and checks.
NUT LETTERS BIT CDNrOUP.
"lIow do you make them OUT"
"Generally the contour suggests thu
name though no letters may he formed
sometimes | know name al first glance
when. if try TO aualyze il | am thrown
off the track entirely. Probably once oil
twice we have had TO write TO fluid out wha
a name was, but generally, when they are
too much for me. the register of the banks
will give the name. When we CONF
across a new signature that IS particularly
hard 10 make out. We make record of il,
so that whenever We see that same com
bination of odd characters We know whaI
its stands for "
ais a bad signature a sign of ignor
anceg"
"Ey no means. The worst signature
are those OF educated men. generally banE
officials They are always written freely
and quickly. " rite your name n fast a
you can and see what it looks like
That's the way its done. These mel
have to write Their names SO often tina
they get 10 max NJ Tie quickest combina
ton of characters possible, aud adopt
as their signatures.
FURnRIE>.
= "What is the easiest signature /,
forge?"
90 ne that Il extremely had or renrarka
bly, good. Spinner used TO write Tia,
worst signature of any man in this dc
partmenL ct there were a dozen clerk
who could counterfeit il so perfectly tina
no one could tell the difference TIT
perfect Spencerian signatnre. however. il
the easiest 10 initiate. one Of the bGs
American signatures Ia e ever seen 4
that Of the new treasurer. Jordan. IL I
beautiful 10 look at-as clear and lcgibl,
As engruv ng-but don't think il cOuIC
be counlerieiled. lie can write his nam,
quicker than any man ever saw. As
sistant secretary Fairchild aud Third
Auditor Williams write their names we'll
TOO
THE most ponderous signature evel
struck was that Of Drake Ie ray, who
was assistant adiutant general under Nc
Clellan. When he signed letters and pa
pers of various kinds they used 10 b,
spread out on the floor, where the sur
would strike them TO dry This is fact
! don know what he used TO write with
but think II was stick.
DO you ever come across any for
geries?'
I" les but the large maloriiy Of then
are innocent They grow out Of ignor
anoe Sometimes checks come In with
mans name signed TO them, ard when W,
. come TO look over the papers in the claim
against which the check Is drawn, we i'm,
he can't write at all and has used a mari
only. Then, Of course, we know Their
!. has been forgery committed But /
generally turns out that the man has haC
some one sign his name for him, and III
. parties have been led into forgery limo
Gently
Lngih ~ Heat Waves.