The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-07-05
MILLIONS OF AUTOGRAPHS.
{ a thousand Signatures an Hour. and inc
Hard wor,. Of Writing Them.

Hero j. - sigrature, that Of G. n. lor'
dan. which has been written millions
and millions N times. and years ago
the writer learned TO write it small,
smoothly and without any shading. IL
has been printed millions and millions Oh
times on LEGAL tender notes, bank notes
and checks. The writer has been signing
il nearly all the time for over quarter OF
a century first as q cashier then as
bank president. and later as treasurer Oh
the United States 1t now adorns the
notes Of the Western National bank of
New York
Il fonnd out" said he, that it was ex.
hausting to bear too hard on the pen, ana
YOU will notice hat this il written easily
and rapidly. and its only peculiarItyis the
fact that ia making the n the pen makes
a circle twice instead OF All up and down
stroke
Year, and years ago found 1t neces-
sary to make the work as easy as posi-
bic. and To do it as regularly and system
a,ically as ! could. In signing notes,
which. as yon know, come III sheets Oh
four, would set my watch open before
me. and If | could not sign 100 sheets,
Iaakiug 400 signatures, every fifteen MN
utes knew that | was running behind
hand could keep that up hour after
hour and some DAYS | have done II, J
think. for nine hours. with only an inter
mission for lunch hold a pen easily.
md so avoid any cralnp Of the ringers
but have had TO lie down on the hoor
and stretch myself 70 get the kinks OUT
Of my back. As for position III writing
| have found it easiest to sit so that the
weight OF the arm rests on the edge OF
the table. and the hand works with the
least possible strain upon the muscle. 1t IS
possible 10 get some relief by turning
round more nearly facing the table, which
gives a little relaxation to the muscles OF
the back aud Of the neck
The greatest number of signatures III
a day2 presume that when was sign
inc notes of the Third National bank
with which to pay of soldiers | wrote my
name between fourteen and fifteen thou
sand times a day The muscles Of the
wrist became a little tired, but the hand
was seldom stiff. though curiously
enough. the sorc-t place would be my
forearm. the skin Of which would be worn
thin by the inccssaut grinding against my
clothes. OF course the wear Oh the sleeve
raS great dead worse. but could stand
IL great deal easier than the soreness Of
the flesh. which neither yasollne nor cold
cream would alleviate. used TO start Ill
tith good supply Of pens, and the INK
hottie was duly lopicnished. used q
smooih fine steel pen and as ! have said,
bore on 81 Very lightly. As soon as 1t be
IAN go scratch took new one The diff
ference would BE- pcrceptible after five
hundred ora thousand signatures. In
ouch wotl. ms consumption Of steel pens
ran from fifteen to thirty day. There
would bo very few lett III a box after
week work
1T seems ludicrous, he continued at
this day ID think Of Gen. Spinner and ,.
3 Colby undertaking to sign with a pen
all postal currency that vas issued. II
wa bad enough Tor Sir. Acton to have 10
sign tie gold certificates at first or the
transfers Of the 8 per cents when they
were extended by Secretary Window
And vet Cen. Spinner actually started out
10 put that crlmpcd signature OF ms on
all the postal currency The natural con
SEQUENCE vas that his hand began to
~ CIl lf lllti lilt iilrfA1 VIZ a. NA'S~-y
uncomfortable. it was physical impos'
ability and he became incapacitated very
much sooner than he otherwise .%Qpd
pabIe Of easy and rapid production. One
would not suppose that the amount Of ink
used in signing ones name would be 80
very porceptible. but Spinner used mp
more ink than any Of his successors, and
followed a line OF treasurers who We're
in the habit Of shading letters rather
heavily. You remember how Giltillan
and WYman used 10 sign their names. |
vas rather surprised when my attention
was called 10 the fact that had intro
duced new economy into the treasury de-
partment was using only about one
thiId as much ink as my predecessor
This was before the amendment OF the
laws governing the treasury requiring the
signature Of the treasurer himself TO 50
many routine papers Before the war the
work was easy enough for one man, but
1t grew SO that the treasurer OF the United
States probably had occasion to sign his
name ofteuer than any other man in the
country In my time the law was amended
permitting the deputy treasurer to sign a
large number of papers necessarily pass.
,ng through the Office Of the treasurer. |
dave seen it stated that Mr.. Hyatt has
adopted a stamp but have seen 40 evil
dcncc Of it. / certainly should never
cash a draft, pay check or respect an
Endorsement that was not written with
,,o,, md i,,I- 90 No,y Narl- Would