The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-08-12
OUTWITTING THE FORGERS.
now An EXPERT CAN TELL A GENUINE
SIGNATURE FROM A corr
He Uses the Stereopticon. tho Camera, and
the Mioroscope-The Ink and Paper Have
Their Own Particular story To Tell

the Mieroscope-The Ink aud Paper Have
Their Own Particular story to Tell
When two signatures purportirg to have
have boon written by tho samo person are
precisely alike 1t is sale to conclude that one
OF Thorn Is n forgery"
30 says David N. Carvalho. the handwriting
expert. who has given n great many object
lessons In penmanship in Now York court
rooms with the aid OF tho storeopticon. No
man docs or can write his signature twice
alike. This is tho opinion OF all competent
experts. and 1t has been so clearly demon-
Rtratcd that the New York Court OF Appeals
has accepted It as an established fact. Two
signatures by the same person may be and
Ditch are so nearly alike that In a casual eS-
animation by q layman no difference between
them can be detected: but let IN expert take
them and examine them under the microscope.
and the difference will Instantly be seem"
When an export is tosdfying or operating
before Il jury-for questions of disputed sigma
lures involving large sums OF money frequent
ly come before the oourts-it Is not enough
that he should ace the strong or weak points
himself: no must be able to make them plain
to the Court and jury. 1t is not sufficient for
him merely to tostify that the signature is
genuine or is forgery: he must. IL he can.
show tho jury the points upon which he bases
his opinion. After becoming familiar with =
mans handwriting On expert can quickly de-
eide for himself whether signature Ia
genuine or forgery; but 1t Is not
80 easy. without appliances. to dem
onstrate this to jury. Ono Of tho early
methods was to put a disputed signature un-
der the microscope. and let the Court and Jury
examine it: but this was always unsatisfac-
tory. because in the largest microscopes only
one or two letters can be examined at 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. Tho export can do this Satis-
factoriy. but not the average Juror. unaccus-
toned to straning his eye at tho tiny portfolio
OF a microscope.
1t was this difficulty that led Mr.. Carvalho to
bring the stereopticon into use in tho court
room. and he has given q number Of judicial
exhibitions in this city that astonished tho
courts and tho public. The stereopticon in
court was purely for purposes Of demonstra-
ton. The expert had in every case studied
the signature. and was familiar with every
curve Of every letter. But with the stereopti-
con he could make plain to tho 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 were admitted to BIO genuine
apd put them by the side OF the signature in
question. blankets were then hung over the
court room windows till the room was dark rs
night; large sheet was hung against the
WALL and. with the stereopticon ut the other
side OF the room operated with a powerful
calcium light. the genuine and the disputed
signatures We're thrown upon the sheet in
juxtaposition. all SO greatly enlarged that
even near sighted Jurors could not help see-
The use OF tho stereortcon for this purpose.
1t will be noticed. Is spok ken OF here in the past
tense This is because 1t has been superseded
nv anOther and much Sim Dler and ia
now very seldom used. The stereopticon does
its work well. but there are several strong OBJ
JectionS to its frequent USE 1t Is IN expensive
process. and only cases involving very large
sums OF money warrant its employment The
not for snS
into an oven. More than all. the new PROCESS
n SsesPs Sha Es h
fnstyrs to ry hy hphT0tSSHraPhy
master he has had, or.what system Of penman-
ship he he has undertaken to follow: These pc
becomes. in a sense. a part Of the man. Some
son, would not recognize t. but the expert will
the character of u signature. Many men who
write 50 differently whom they take up a
pointed pen that. at first glance. the signature
the same: all the characteristics are the same
and they nre so pla in that after examination
Does not u mans condition at tho time Of
writing have great influence upon his sigma
exced s or Ms or an
man. would not make the same signature AS
the q same ,, man when calm or sober"
Hia the rsPy easssd
man. or man who has been drinking II he is
al .llI 4
il he is in tho habit of making flourish after
bolder and deeper but tho flourish viii Wits Still
be there. If he makes the Greek Q or neglects
there will be the same pecullnritie5 when he
is excited or partially intoxicated. man
than he can a set from lis
The apparatus used by z handwriting expert
sade court as Wh Hs
make the signature or other scrap Of writing
large enough to stretch across u circle from
four feet to twenty feet In diameter. The cir
Gle generally shown IN no, cHnrt room has q
another important instrument. One of those
magniiles 1870 times. another 400 times. The
handwri{ns but about the ink and paper too.
A complete photographers Quilt is necessary.
Or ana
arc bottles Of acids for testing inks, and bot
tsS of other for restoring words
an uncommon thing for m expert forger t.
obliterate with acids some word or line In
made to suit his own PURPOSES. The hand
writing expert. by the use of his own chem-
calls. will cause tho obliterated words to reap
pear. He can often make them disappear and
reappear a number Of times. and do 1t before
tho eyes OF IL jury. He Is IA juEgler with siS-
natures or any other handwriting. Write your
nanio for him. and he will take, a lttlo brush
and make an enlarged COPY that you would
swear to for your own. Write it again. fifty. u
hundred times, and he will show you wherein
each signature differs from all tho others.
Under the xpert's eye tho handwriting Of q
disputed paper Is tho first thing to be con-
sidered. For this purpose it is necessary that
he should have not only tho writing in ques-
ton but rs much other admittedly genuine
writing of the person ms he can get. He
faniliariZes himself with the undisputed
writing first; becomes accustomed to it. and
learns all the writer's peculiarties He
studies the genuine signatures. Sometimes
this work takcs days and weeks. In an impor-
tant case. What tho export shows his client
or tho court is only the result; the hard work
chat It has taken to arrivcat his conclusions
Is NIL in the background. Tina di sinnn