The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-08-15
OUTWITTING FORGERS.
BOW AN EXPERT CAN TELL A GEN
UINB SIGNATURE FROM A COPY.

| story TO i ell
From the New York Sun.
"When two signatures, purporting to
have been written by the same person, are
precisely alike it,is safe to conclude that one
of them is forgery"
So says David F. Carvalho, the hand
writing expert. who has given great many
object lessons in penmanship in New York
court rooms with the aid of the stereopti-
con. mo man does, or can, write his sig
nature twice alike. This is the opinion OF
all competens experts. and 1t has been so
clearly demonstrated that the New York
court of appeals has accepted it as an estab-
lished fact. Two signatures by the same
person may be, and often are, so nearly
alike that in a casual examination by a
layman no difference between them can be
detected; but let an expert take them and
examine them under the microscope and the
difference will instantly be seen.
| When an expert is restifyng or operat-
ing before jury-for questions Of disputed
signatures involving large sums Of money
frequently come before the oourts-it is NOS
enough that he should see the strong or
weak points himself; he must be able to
make them plain to this court and jury.
I 1t is not sufficient for him merely to testify
that the signature Is genuine or is forgery !;
he must. if be can, show the jury the points
upon which he bases his opinion. After be.
coming familiar with a mans handwriting
an expert can quickly decide for himself
whether a signature is genuine or
forgery; but it is not SO
easy. without appliances, to demon
srrate this to jury. One of the early
methods was to put a disputed signature
under a microscope and let the court and
| jury examine it; but this was always I'M
satisfactory, because in the largest micro
scopes only one or two letters can be exam
| ined at a time and the appearance of the
complete signature must be to some extent
imagined from the appearance Of the letters
| seen separately and in succession. The ex-
pert can do this satisfactorily but not the
average juror, unaccustomed to straining
his eye at the tiny portfolio OF micro
| scOpe.9
1t was this difficulty that led Mr.. Car
valho to bring the stereopticon into use in
the court room, and he has given number
Of judicial exhibitions in this city that as
| tonished the courts and the public The
stereopticon in court was purely for pur-
poses OF demonstration. The expert had in
every case studied the signature and was
| familiar with every curve of every letter.
| But with the stsreopticon he could make
plain to the jury what he had previously
! discovered In his own way. When such an
exhibition was to be given the plan was
| to secure number OF signatures of
the person that we're admitted to be genuine
and put them by the side of the signature in
question. Blankets were then hung over
| the court room windows till the room was
/ daF T1for iarF hr3N,
against the wall, aud, with the svereopticon
| at the other side o. the room operated with
| q powerful calcium light, the genuine and
the disputed signatures were thrown upon
the sheet IN juxtaposision, all so greatly en~
iarged that even near-sizhted jurors could
not help seeing the experts points.
The use OK the stereoptieon for this pur-
pose, It will be noticed, 10 spoken Of here in
the past tense. This Is because 1t has been
superseded by another and much simpler
process, and is now very seldom used The
stereopticon does its work well, but there
are several strong objections to its frequent
use. 1t is an expensive process, and only
cases involving very large sums Of money
warrant its employment. The instrument
itself, the lime light, the assistants neces-
sary, all COST money; and the expert docs
not work for nothing The darkenlng Of
the court room takes time and trouble aud
in hot weather tie room ia temporarily con-
verified into an oven. More than all, the
new process is easier, cheaper and equally
effective. The modern way of showing the
ins and outs OF signature to q jury is by
photography.
Every man who is in the habit Of writing
has his own peculiarities, no matter what
writing master no has had, or what system
OF penmanship he has undertaken to follow.
These peculiarities are most marked In the
signature because the sig nature is oftenest
| N a Nor%fn NJ
the man. Some men can, when they try,
30 change the appearance Of their signature
that the ordinary person would not recog-
nize it, but the expert will find In il pes
culiarities that mark its author. The use
OF different pens does not at ell alter the
character of signature Many men who
are accustomed to writing with stub pen
write so differently when they take up a
pointed pen that, at first glance, the sigma
ture seems TO be entirely different But 1t
is still the same; all the characteristics are
the same, and they are 80 plain that after
examination even q layman would recog-
nize them.
"Does not mans condition at the time Of
witing have great influence upon his sig
nature" The. expert was asked. "A nervous
or excited man, for instance, or an intoxi-
Gated man. would not make the same sig.
nature as the same man when calm and 80.
ber"
| III WOuIu make no QlIeFe0Co Tor Dur-
poses of Identification was the reply IAN
excited man, or a man who has been drink.
ing il he is still sober enough to write al
will write his name with all its peculiari-
ties exaggerated. II he Is in the habit OF
making flourish after his name, the half
drunken man will make 1t holder and
deeper, but the flourish will still be there.
II he makes the Greek or neglects to cross
his is when in his usual condition, there
will be the same peouliarities when he is ex-
cited or partially Intoxicated. A man can.
mob get away from his signature any more
than be can get away from his shadow"
The apparatus used by a handwriting ex-
pert is not bulky, but it is delicate and
expensive. The ssereopticon is rs useful in
an experts studio as in a court room. With
1t he can make the signature or other scrap
of writing large enough TO stretch across a
circle from four feet to twenty feet 10 diam
eter. The circle generally shown in a court
room has a diameter of fifteen feet. The
microscope is another important instrument.
One OF these magnigss 1870 times, another
400 times. The microscope tells tales not
only about the handwriting, but about the
ink and paper too. A complete photogra-
piers outfit Is necessary. There are com
passes or dividers and other tools of the
architect aud draughtsman, there are bottles
OF acids for testing inks, and bottles of
other x preparations for restoring words
or lines that have been obliteratei. Ii is not
| O.,