St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-10-29
MINNEAPOLIS.
LESSONS IN FORGERY
DR.. TolmaD Explains the Diff
fieulties Which Surround
the APT.
Viewing the Blaisdell Sigma
lures Under a Powerful
Microscope.
Judge Shaw Insists Upon APP
plying His Right Eye to
the Aperture.
The Prosecution Making Slow
Progress in Entering In
Its Case.

natures were offered with like result
and exception noted for the defense.
Judge Hooker said 10 the Jurors that
if they had any business which needed
immediate attention they had best at
tend to it at once. This was taken as
an intimatiOn tn al they would here
after during the continuance of the
case be given in charge of the sheriff
during the hours that the court Is not
in session.
One OF the signatures presented to
Mr.. Ames yesterday morning was writ
ten in pencil, and County Attorney
JamiSOn objected TO it on that ground,
and for the further reason that it was
not in evidence. Judge Hooker an
nOunced that he would give his decision
after the noon recess. Mr.. Ames con-
tinued:
Il believe these fOrgeries to have been
made by the tracing process. have
made some tracingS of Mr.. BlalSdeliS
signature, and have them ID my
Satchel."
The witness was then released, and
DR.. H. l.. TOlm2n, of Chicago, was
called. On being sworn. he said:
~ am a Photographic and micro
scopic expert. ] have been sworn in
about l2j cases as an expert"
The witness was then shown the pho
tJLreph containing copies of exhibits A,
j.. &. ID. + and +. and asked if, in his
opinion, the OrigidalS were all written
by the same person.
They were not" was the quick and
decisive answer.
And then exhibits A TO A 52-were
they written IN the same hand as the
signature in exhibit A?" inquired the
county attorney.
NO, sir, they were not" said Mr..
TOlman.
At this point the court adjourned I'M
I'll p. Ia. After an intimation to the
Jury by Judge Hooker that after the
neon recess they would be restrained
of their liberty. This action, " said the
Judge, lis taken on my own motion
without any intimatlOn from the counsel
on either side that it is desirable"
At2 D. IN. Mir. TOlman again took the
stand. ard with his blackboard. the
bromide. photographs of exhibits 4, B,
c. ID. f and +, his pointer and copies of
exhibits in the hands of the jury, pro-
ceeded TO give his reasons why lie
thought exhibit A was not written by
the same person who wrote the other
exhibits, or rather their originals.
He proved TO be VOluble and ready
witness, and dwelt with great emphasis
upon the fact that in all of the genuine
signatures there was always an uDniS
takably heavy downward stroke. that
the curves were almost invariably
curved. while in the disputed signatures
they were wedge-shaped or acute an
giles. He said:
''Mr. BlaiSdelfS signatures are all
regular within the rules which govern
them. The pressure of the pen is re-
markably regular and even, while in
the disputed signature this popularity
is lacking. One is natural hand writ
ing, and the other is an imitation. There
is a remarkable eYenness in the length
of Mr.. BlaiSdell'S signatures from 1884
to 1859, which covers the period for
which ! have examined them. They
run from two and ODe-eighth inches
down to one and five-eighths inches in
length. The pressure of the pen upon
the paper is very even throughout all of
the signatures, and the depth of the
burrows in the paper is nearly the same,
varying only according to the underly-
ing material upon which the paper
rested when they were written. Mr..
BlaiSdell's habit is 20 make inverted
triangles at the top of his letters. This
young man or trained writer does
not usually do"
Speaking Of the tremOrs I'm writing.
Mr.. TOlnian said:
They are the effect of natural causes,
and hence they are comparatively regu-
lar in their appearance and difficult of
imitation. They appear in curves and
not in angles. An angle indicates a
mental variation and purpose. 1t is
an indication of an effort to cover up.
''In my opinion Exhibit A was traced.
M- InnS FOL
is with the same motion of the pen.
When he gets 10 the lowest point of his
} he finds it difficult to make the last
Upturn, SO he takes his pen off of the
paper. commences at the top of the hook
and brings it down to Il point Of juno
ton. Sometimes he succeeds in FORM
ing a perfect junction at the bottom and
sometimes he does not. This peculiar
Ity is wanting in the disputed signature.
''In tracing signature it is not pos
Sible TO get all of the shading which Oc-
ours in the original. In the former the
trem0rs are unnatural and affected. In
the latter they are natural and Tecur
with almost unvaTying frequency. One
is assumed and the other is constitu-
tiOnal: one is artificial and the ether is
natural"
Iere the witness entered upon a
scientific and interesting exposition of
the cause of these tremorS. He said
that in Mr.. Blaisdel's case they were
not the manifestations of palsy, but of
advancing age; that while their effects
were not always exactly the same, but
would vary with the mental and physi-
cal condition of the writer, the paper
upon which he wrote, the kind of a pen
which he used, and the underlying
substance, yet i'm his signatures there
was found remarkable coincidence in
the number of their manifestations.
a large compound microscope was
called into play and placed upon the
table used by the attorneys. Different
apecimens of Mr.. BlaisdelPs signature
were placed under the lens, as well as
the signature III dispute, and the jury
and council applied their visions TO the
aperture while Mr.. T0lman explained
the differences.
Mr.. rolman said that the glass was
arranged for the right eye, but Judge
Shaw said his right orb was no
good. so he was permitted to apply the
left one.
The Jury slowly fled back and forth
several times to look at the exhibits
under the glass. reminding one Of the
manner of looking at a corpse at
country funeral.
On the crOSs-examination different
letters and combinations of letters of
the genuine and disputed signatures
We're placed under the glass and sub
mitted TO the same solemn examination.
Mr.. TOlman admitted that ia some of
the admitted genuine signatures the
same angles were found as in the dis
puted signatures, but on the redirect
examination explained that in all of
them the heavy downward stroke and
eyenness of pressure of the stroke was
lacking. Before he would risk an Opin-
ion upon this subject, however, ht. in
sisted upon placing the samples under
his microscope.
He Soid that tho forgar night hava