Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-01-07
SIGNATURES THAT EXPERTS FIND
IT DIFFICULT TO DEciPHeR.
1hs ChlrOgrnPhy 0f Public Men HANK
Cashiers' Names-C0ntonr. aud Not
letter.. the Key to Mysterious
SiSnatures-ForEeries
fCor. New York SUN. !


ture expert Of the treasury. as be laid
aside the magnifying glass and wiped his
eyes with his silk handkerchief He had
for half an hour been examining curious
scroll on the back of Q check. 1t con
sisted of black stroke of q pen tapering
off t, m irregular line and was there to
represent the name of some bank cashier.
There is not letter in it he said,
holding it up to the light. but it means
simmons
do you have many of that sortf"
~Worse than that Five or six hun
dred different signatures pass through
here in Q month, maybe and two thirds
of them are illegible Bank cashiers sci
dom make any letters in their signatures
They adopt certain form of scroll gen
orally and always use ii for their signature
Some of them are very curious This. for in
stance. and he took from drawer Q pa
per across which was scrawled . charac
ter that looked like schoolboyis sketch
Of whirlwind The line had been spun
around an around in one piece like y
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, said the expert. lis the signature
Of the casl,.er Of one Of the New York
banks. ~ course there are no letters in
it, but We know what it means and could
swear by :. at any time l wouldn't want
better signature But il you want .
longer one. here 1t is, and he handed out
another draft
FROM MARGIN TO MARGIN.
.Ths length to this he said. Is
regulated by the width Of the paper on
.:.k ,a IL a,
from margin to margin 1t consists. you
perfectly pointed at the top, and oil Of
about the same height Again you have
no name at all. Ii is simply the sign of
name but 1t is Just as good for ua II is
always the same. and. as simple rs it may
seem don't think it could be counter.
feited Here is another with the same
pointed strokes. but there are fewer Of
them. and the signature is higher than it
is long But there 10 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 . check. At first glance nothing can
be made Of Il. 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 10 20
tall and narrow that at first glance you
don't comprehend what it 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 insignifcence alongside Of
the scrawls that pass through here on
drafts and checks
NOT LETTERS But CONTOUR.
"How do you make them out."
Generally the contour suggests the
name though no letters may Be formed
Sometimes know name ~ first Hlancs,
when. il try TO analyze 1t l am thrown
of the track entirely. Probably once or
twice We have had to write to lind out what
q name was. but generally, when they are
too much for me. the register Of the banks
will give the name. When We come
across Q new signature that 10 particularly
hard to make out. We make Q record Of il.
so that whenever We see that same com
bination of odd characters we know what
its stands for, .
is bad signature a sign Of ignor
snce
sly no means The worst signatures
sre those o. educated men. generally bank
officials. They are always written freely
and quickly. Write your name - fast -
you can and see what II looks like
That's the way it's done These men
have to write their names so often that
they get to max ng the quickest combina
ton Of characters possible. and adopt it
Is their signatureA
FURGERIES.
~What is tho easiest signature 70
forget"
.Une that is extremely bad or remsrka.
bly, good. Spinner used to write the
worst signature Of any man in this de
partnent Yet there were dozen clerks
who could counterfeit it 90 perfectly that
no one could tell the difference The
| perfect Spencerian signainre. however. 10
the easiest to initiate. One Of the best
American signatures have ever seen Is
that Of the new treasurer. Jordan. II is
| beautiful to look at-as clear and legible
/ As engraviug-but don't think il could
be counterfeited. He can write his name
| quicker than any man ever saw. As
sistant Secretary Fsirchild and Third
| Auditor Williams write their names we'll.
4 too
The most ponderous signature I ever
struck was that Of Irake lie hay. who
/ 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 it was a stick.
do you ever come across any for
geries!"
es; 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 to look over the papers in the claim
against which the check Is drawn. wefind
he can't write at all and has used mark
only. Then. of course. We know there
has been Q forgery committed But i
generally turns out that the man has had
some one sign his name for him. and thu
parties have been led into forgery limo
Gently"