, 1885-10-24
PUZZLING SCRAW WIS.
SIGNATURES THAT EXPERTS FINE
1T DIFFICULT TO DECiPHER.


4 III II , HNlAlAlAOurf NulA III HlEnt
ture expert Of the treasury. as he laid
aside the magnifying glass aud wiped his
eyes with his silk handkerchief. lie had
for half an hour been examining a curious
scroll on the back OF a check. 1t con
sisted of a black stroke Of n pen. iapering
off to an Irregular line. and was there 10
represent tho name Of some bank cashier
There Is not n letter in 1t. &" he said.
holding it up 10 the light. but 1t means
simmons.
~Do YOU have many of that sorts"
Worse Than that. rive or six hun.
dred different signatures pass through
here In a month. maybe. and two thirds
of them are illcSible, Bank cashiers sci
dom make any letters In their signatures.
They adopt a certain form OF scroll. gen
Irally and always use II for their signature
Some of them are very curious. This. for in
stance. 3" and he took from a drawer a pa
per across which was scrawled Il chafac.
ter hat looked like a schoolboy S sketch
of a whirlwind. The line had been p
around and around In one piece like u
spiral spring. then shot across the paper
about half an inch. when the gyration
was again repeated. and this was followed
by another dash and some more circles
THAT, y said the expert. SIS the signature
of the cashier of one Of the New ork
hanks. II course there are no letters in
H. Dul We hIOn WIN II Ilthi9i untl tbhAh
swear by It at any time. | wouldn't want
y letter signature But If you want a
lnnge. one. here it is, ~ and be handed out
mother draft.
FROM MARGIN TO MARGIN.
1.-The length TO this. - he said. ais
regulated by the width of tue paper on
which 1t is written. 1t always extends
from margin to margin 1t consists. you
see, merely of high up.anddown strokes.
perfectly pointed at the top. and all Of
about the same height Again you have
no name at all. 1t Is simply the sign Of a
name, but IL is Just as good for us. 1t Is
always the same, and, us simple as it may
seem. ! don't think 1t could be counter.
feited. Here is another with the same
pointed strokes. but there are fewer OF
them. and the signature is higher than ii
is long. Blu there is one signature we
get on checks principally which is more
remarkable than either Of these. The
letters are all the same height. and will
reach from top to bottom across the face
of a check. AT first glance nothing can
be made of it. but ii you follow the line
carefully you can unravel the name. and
YOU will be surprised at its plainness.
Each letter is perfect in itself, but is 50
tall and narrow that at first glance you
don't comprehend what IL is.
I'VE come across some very curious
signatures. and some mighty bad ones.
Those of Ben Butler and Horace Greeley
are famous for their ugliness. but they
would fall into insignilicence alongside Of
the scrawls that pass through here on
drafts and checks.
NOT LETTERS But CONTOUR.
"How do you make them outyn
"Generally the contour suggests the
name though no letters may be TO med
Sometimes | know n name at first glance.
when. II | try TO analyze IL | m thrown
off the track entirely. robably once or
twice we have had TO write TO fluid out what
a name was. but generally, when they are
too much for me, the register Of the banks
will give the name. When we come
across a new signature that is particularly
hard TO make out. we make a record of ii.
so thai whenever We see that same com
bination of odd characters We know what
its stands for.
ais a bad signature a sign Of ignor-
ANGER"
"By no means. The worst signatures
are those of educated men, generally bank
officials. They are always written freely
and quickly. Write your name rs fast as
you can and sec what 1t looks like
That's the way its done. These men
have TO write their names so often that
they get TO making the quickest comhina
eioh VI Sh"iuctVia PNHHi"l'' nHN "HNit
as their signatures.
foRGERIEs.
@What is the easiest signature 10
FORGE"
"One that is extremely bad or remarka-
bly, good. Spinner used to write the
worst signature of any man in this dc
partment Yet there were q dozen clerks
who could counterfeit It so perfectly that
no one could tell the difference. The
perfect Spencerian% signature. however. is
the easiest to initiate. One OF the best
American signatures | have ever seen is
that of the new treasurer. Jordan. 1t is
beautiful to look at-as clear and legible
as engraying-but | don't think it could
be counterfeited. lie can write bis name
quicker than any man | ever saw. As
sistant Secretary Fairchild and Third
Auditor Williams write their names well,
too
THE most ponderous signature / eve.
struck was that Of Drake De Kay, whs
was assistant adjutant general under Nc
Clellan. When he signed letters and pa
pers Of various kinds they used to be
spread out on the floor. where the sun
would strike them TO dry. This is fact
/ don't know what he used TO write with.
but | think il was q stick.
DO you ever come across any Tor
geries'S
Yes; but the large majority Of them
are innocent They grow out Of ignor
ance. Sometimes checks come in with a
mans name signed to them and when we
come 10 look over the papers in the claim
against which the check Is drawn. we find
he can't write at all and has used a mark
only. Then. Of course. we know there
has been A forgery committed But it
generally turns out that The man has had
some one sign his name for him and The
parties have been led into q forgery limo
Gently.