Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-01-01
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CHIROGRApHN OF PUBLIC
III sGN,
Signatures That Even Experts Find it Diff
ficult to Dpcip,ipr.

81 think it's Simmons" said the sig
nature expert OF the treasury, as he
laid aside the magnifving glass and
wiped his eyes with asilk handkerchief.
He had for half IN hour been eXamin-
ing a curious scroll on the back OF a
check, writes Il New York san CORES
pondent. 1t consisted of a black stroke
of a pen, tapering off to an irregular
line, and was there to represent the
name of some bank cashier.
''There is not a letter in it," he said.
holding it up to the light, but it means
Simmons
'.Do you have many of that sort?n
''Worse than that. Five or six hun
drcd different signatures pass through
here in q month, maybe. and two
thirds of them are illegible. Bank
cashiers seldom make amy letters in
their signatures. They adopt a certain
form OF scroll, generally, and always
use it for their signature. Some Of
them are very curious. This, for in
stance, and he took from Il drawer a
paper across which was scrawled
a character that looked like a
schoolboy's sketch OF a whirlwind.
The line had been spun around and
around in one piece like a 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, sis the sigma
ture OF the cashier of one of the New
York banks. OF course there are no
letters in it, but we knowwlat it means,
and could swear by it at any time. L
wouldn't want a better signature. But
ii you want a longer one. here it is"
and he handed out another draft.
1.-The length OF this" he said, sis
regulated by the width of the paper on
which it Is written. 1t always extends
from margin 10 margin. 1t consists,
you see, merely of high up-and-down
strokes, perfectly pointed at the top,
and all of about the same height.
you have no name at all. 1t is
the sign of a name, but it is
just as good for us. 1t is always the
ana, as simple as it may SEEM, l
don't think.it could be counterfeited.
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 across
the face of a cheek. At first glance
nothing can be made of it, but il YOU
follow the line carefully you can un-
ravel the name, and you Will be sur-
prised at its p%lainness. Each letter is
i'll itself, but is so tall and mar
that at first glance you don't COM
prehend what it is.
1--WE come across some very curious
signatures, and some mighty bad ones.
Those OF Ben Butler and Horace Gree
are famous Tor their ugliness, but
they would fall into insignitieance along
side OF the scrawls that pass through
here on drafts and checks.'
GLOW do you make them out?n
"Generaily the contour suggests the
though no letters may be formed.
| know Il name at first
glance. when, if | try to analyze it l
I'm thrown off the track entirely. Prob
ably once or twice we have had to
to find out what Il 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
% make out, We make q record of it, so
that whenever We see that same combs
nation OF odd characters We know what
it stands for"
us q bad signature a sign of ignor-
''By no can The worst signatures
are those OF educated men, generally
bank officials. They are always writ
Ten freely and quickly. Write Your
as last as You can and see what
t looks like. That's the way it's done.
These men have to write their names so
often that they get to making the
combination of characters pos
'lbIe. and accept it us their signature.
What is the easiest signature to
zone that is extremely bad or re-
narkably good. Spinner used to
write the worst signature of any man
II this department.. Yet there were a
tozen clerks who could counterfeit if
% perfectly that no one could tell the
Inference. The perfect Spencerian
lgnaturc, however, is the easiest to
One of the best American
lSnatures have ever seen is that of
new treasurer, Jordan. 1t is beau
lful to look at-as clear and legible as
'ngraving-but l don't think ii could
'e counterfcited. He can write his
quicker than any man l ever saw.
Assistant Secretary Fairchild and Third
AUDITOR Williams write their names
veil. too.
"Ihe most ponderous signature I
yer struck was that of Drake De KAY.
Who was assistant adjutant general un.
-er Mcclellan. When he signed letters
nd papers of various kinds they used
o be spread out on the floor, where the
IN would strike them to dry. This is
TACT. | don't know what lie used to
'rite with, but l think it was a stick"
DO you ever come across any for
Yes; but the large majority OF them
re innocent. Taey grow out OF igaor-
Sometimes checks come in with
mans name signed to them, and
we come to look over the papers
4 the claim against which the check is
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