Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1886-02-03

Signatures That Even Experts Find IL Dir
ficult to DeCiphCr.

hN"'' w ''N'ph'''
81 think it's Simmons" said tho sig
nature expert of the treasury, as he
laid aside the magnifying glass and
wiped his eyes with asilk handkerchief
llc had for half IN hour been eXamin-
ing curious scroll on the back of q
check, writes II New York San cores
pondcnt. 1t consisted of black stroke
OF n pen, tapcring off to an irregular
line, and was there to represent the
name of some bank cashier.
"There is not n letter in it, he said,
holding it up to the light, "but it means
Simmons"
"Do you have many of that sort?"
"Worsc than that. Five or six hum
dred different signatures pass through
here in n month, maybe, and two
thirds Of them are ilIegiblc. Bank
cashiers seldom mako any letters in
their signatures, They adopt 4 certain
form of scroll, generally, and always
use il for their signature, Some of
them are very curious. This, for in
stance" and he took from II drawer u
paper across which was scrawlcd
u character that looked like a
schoolboy's sketch OF u whirlwind.
The line had been spun around and
around in one piece like spiral spring,
then shot across the paper about half
an inch, when the gyration was again
repeated, and this was followed by an
other dash and some more circles.
"Ihat," said the expert, "iS the sigma
turc of the cashier OF one of the New
York banks, Of course there are no
letters in it, but we know what tmcans,
and could swear by it at any time. |
wouldn't want better signature. But
ii you want longer one, here it is,n
and he handed out another draft.
1.-The length of this" he said, "is
regulated by the width of the paper on
which it Is written. 1t always extends
from margin to margin 1t consists,
you see, merely OF high up-and-down
strokes, aricctly pointed at the top,
and all of about the same height.
Again you have no name ut all. 1t is
simply the sign OF n name, but it is
Just us good for Us. 1t is always the
same, and, as simple as it may seem,
don't think it could be countcrfeited,
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 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 Grross
the face of 4 check. At first glance
nothing can be made of il, but ii you
follow the line carefully you can I'M
ravel the name, and you will be sur
priscd at its plaiuness. Each letter is
perfect in Itself, but is SO tall aud mar
row that al first glance you don't COM
prehcnd what it is,
1--WE come across some very curious
signatures, and some mighty bad ones.
Those of Ben Butler and Horace Gree
ley are famous for their urincss, but
they would fall into insigniIicauce along
side of the scrawls that pass through
here on drafts and checks.
''How do you make them outPn
"Gcporally the contour suggests the
name though no letters may be formed,
Sometimes ! know Il name at first
glance, when, if try to analyzc it |
am thrown OFF the track entirely. Prob
ably once or twice We have had to
write to find out what name was, but
generally, when they are too much for
me, the register Of the banks will give
the name. When we come across
new signature that is particularly hard
to make out, we make a record OF it, so
that whenever we Zee that same combs
nation of odd characters we know what
it stands for
"Is bad signature sign of isnor-
ancc?'
'By no means. The worst signatures
are those OF educated men, generally
bank officials. They are always writ
ten freely and quickly. Write your
name rs last as you can and see what
it looks hike, That's the way it's done.
Ine,o men have TO write their names so
ol.cn that they get 10 making the
quickest combination OF characters pos
sible, and accept it us their signature
What is the easiest signature to
forge?"
zone that is extremely bad or re-
markably good, Spinner used 10
write the worst signature of any man
in this department. Yet there vera
dozen clerks who could counterfeit it
so perfectly that no one could tell the
difference. The perfect Spenccrian
signature, however, is the easiest to
initiate. One OF the best American
signatures have ever seen is that of
.he new treasurer, Jordan. 1t is beau
tiful to look at-as clear and lcgible as
cngraving-but don't think it could
be countcrfcited. He can write his
name quicker than any man | ever saw
Assistant Secretary Fairchld and Third
Auditor Williams writ" their names
well, too.
"rhe most pondcrous signature |
ever struck was that Of Drake De Kay,
who was assistant adjutant general un-
der AicC lellan. When he signed letters
and papers OF various kinds they used
to be spread out on the floor, where the
sun would strike them to dry. This is
Il fact don't know what he used to
write with, but | think it was a stick"
"Do you ever come across any for
gerioS?n
"Yes; but the largo majority of them
are innocent. They grow out oil Ignorr
ance. Sometimes checks come in with
q mans name signed to them, and
when we come TO look over the papers
in the claim against which the check is
drawn we find ne can't write at all and
has used mark only. Then, of course,
we know there has been forgery COM
mittcd. But it generally turns out
that the man has had someone sign his
name for him, and the parties have
been led into a forgery innocently-
Theodore Thornton" he said,
breaking off suddenly and casting his
eyes over check that was laid on his
desk. Make a record Of it Then
he put away his magnifying-glass and
began making sketches on the blotter
of some of the bad signatures he had
been describing. II can't tell you how
it is, he added, after minute, "but |
can always tell u forgery from gen.