Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-02-26

lhbi nc nau cDuuce fOr business ipvnst.
ment ana would therefore ura,y IN,
SYoVO DEPOSIT handing IN TO the teller
has certihcate of deposit. Tho n,nie,.
was paid to him without Question.
q few days later ,artih ate for
SoVVV was sent TO this bank Tor coller.
ton from canada, aud then on co,npor;
son II was discovered that mo frsi cor
tiicate which had been paid lad be4a.
altered from the $50 certificate rpciycl
tine day before. Ii was done with won
deriul e4pertness. As the 5000 orrti.
n'hte lmid IN Canada WAS genuine. the
panS was compelled TO stand tho lots
But an even shrewdcr piecp 81 criini-
nalily than this, aud oue which banks
or business men anywhere Ga this cnun.
Wy may suffer from, has rccea ~ been
discovered A man, having every M,
penrauce u the habit aud lie nf n ecn.
tleinan aud a business man With letters
OF Introduction. called at country hlbk
IN New York state, saying that he had
considerable number of small olHpn-
ions 10 meet and that be- desired 90 lmy
bank drafts on New York lie bought
number, most of them for l,ss than
S@u ~ amount. Some weeks later this
bank began 10 receive those drafts. and
discovered that the amounts upon them
diu not agree with their books. Not the
slightest indication of change was M.
parent TO the eye. Chemical treatment
revealed no alteration, and vet Il was
certain that the crliuinnl. being sl,,lled IN
chemigtiy, had altered the figures. II
was his method not to incrrase the
amount very greatly. A sic lrnft he
made 500 Small amounts Ike tbeso
would not tend to create suspicion. and
such drafts could be easily negotiated
As the bank could not prove forgery or
alteration, 10 was compelled to f.tt the
drafts More than one cnse of this kind
mas occurred within the past yrHr. but
hank officers being extremely sensitive
they have paid tde LOSSES. which have not
aggregated very large amounts, and kept
quiet
Within a few weeks the power Of chem
icnls 10 aid criminals has been mnde
manifest In the ease of a Baifalo hank
This bank believed that il was amply
protected against fraud by what * called
the advice system. Its habit has been
ut the close Of euch days bushes t0 mo-
lily its New York bank correspondent
OF all the drafts IL has issued thai day.
aud the numbers aud amounts of pnch
Of them This II WAS supposed would
prevent the payment of amy altered draft
nitcr il had reached the New York bank.
liut this advice system cost The bank
Sl2,OUo well dressed mau. we'll intro
duced apparently, with the manef of an
active business man. bought two drafts
on ihis bank, one for $4,000 aud one for
$40. This transaction WIS reported
10 Che New York correspond
I ~ was received by the New York cor
~ 'pondVut It's number correspundpd
With that Indicated IN the letter of n.
formation sent from this Buffalo bank.
aud II was therefore paid. But Whcn II
few days after that rnother draft for
$l2,OUO Of the same number was re-
coived, Il was evident that frnud had
be en- prHctiCed. The last draft was urnu-
inc II had been negotiated In distant
city. Tic first draft had beoh altered
so that It's number corrcspunded with
that of the genuine draft for $1,000,
and II had been raised for Sl2,OOU. Yet
the alterations We're 30 perfect that it
was almost impossible for Mr. Slice to
detect them As the New York corr,
was, Of course, compelled to pay The
& sauine one. aud the Buffalo bank lost
It's money.
IL has been supposed that the use Of
the punch was perfect preventive OF
raising checks Bnt that depends upon
what kind of punch Is used. One check
issued for $50 was raised 10 $500, aud
laid, although the figures $40 mld been
punched In tie check lt Is probable,
however, that perfect punches will hc m-
vented which will prevent the raising
Of the amount. but this will not pre-
vent forgery.
One of the greater banks Of New York
has used for some years a patent paper
for It's checks. for which IL has been
claimed that alterations are impossible
without Immediate revelation upOn the
paper itself A depo8itOr Ia this bank
desiring 10 test this claim gave n check
to Mr.. See saying TO him he would
give him $50 II lie would alter the writ
Ing upon that check aud substitute some
thing else for IL 80 as to defy discovery
Mr. Slec declared that recent advances
In chemistry world nuke such alterations
possible, and Il day or two later he
took the check TO this man with every
trace of the original writing. except the
signature, removed and a new writing
substituted in such n manner rs TO de-
III discovery either with tie naked eye
the microscope OF by chemistry
There Rre several kinds Of safety pa
per In use, aud when they were first
made Thy dehed alteration. But chem
istry has beaten them. Mr.. slice has
made experiments with all Of them, mud
finds that IL Is possible 10 bleach writ
ing from theul In such manner az 70
make discovery impossible.
Business men EhO make many checks
are now being made aware Of these
tendency of the courts Is 90 protect
dangers, and, understanding that the
banks where the signature Is uuques-
toned and the appearance of the check
N such as 10 defy detection, are now
ndontng an sorts Of devices for their Sc
curiy. Some Of thcm have made prl-
vuto rrrangoments With Their banks not
10 nay any checks which do not have
n secret mark upon them. But this does
not prevent otlier forgerics, The Con-
nectllnt case shows that u Is possible
for 4 scoundrel 10 take a letter written
by 4 man OF tinnnaal responsibility,
o6lnernte absolutely the handwriting up
on It aud substitute for u NOTE. This
standing over an unautsnoned signature
may be- easily discounted, and unless
the business man has some other evil
dence than his testimony a. % the torg-
err the chances are that he VIII be COM
PEELED 20 pay the note,
This matter Is OF 50 much importance
ard Tho dangers seem 90 be 80 raNdiy
increasing that bankers are talking OF
drvlslng some new method OF prevent
ing these frauds. while business men,
especially Ia New York. arp 80 seriously
concerned about II that Il may be made
n matter Of convention and agreement
among them
Ii Is tia opinion Of supCrlntendent
I,yrues that aiare money las been lose
by foreeries nud other swindles hy the
expert use Of chemical knowledge IN
the past year than has been lost by bur.
giary in the past ten yeara
Il. JAY EDWARDS
relic Of ono Of the most
al