Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1896-12-17
NO DISGUISE is POSSIBLE.
Faces Change, But a Mans Handwriting
May Betray Him.

Faces Change, But a Mans Handwriting
May Betray Him.
ut is impossible for anyone to dis.
guise his handwriting so that the at.
tempt cannot be detected" says an ex.
pert. "Let me give you an example
Before me at this moment are the pa.
pers in sensational case shortly to he
tried. The writer of series of letter.
has attempted to disguise his hand SC
that the letters might appear to hev,
come from several different people. In
all there are marring indications that
they were written by one and the same
person.
For instance, the habits of the maj
show in the manner of the beginning OF
the lines. In each case they are begur
close to the edge of the paper, this evi
IDENTIFY being one of the mans peculiar
tiles. Then, the conjunction and Is in
each sentence made with the sign g..
Even when he has gone to the trouble OF
printing the letter, so that he may b,
sure that the writing is effectually dis
guised, the writer forgets to disguis,
this one word, and the signs are sc
much alike that there is no mistaking
them.
ut would almost seem as II natur,
had made even the cleverest criminal
weak in some point or other that hii
crookedness might be fastened upon
him. This man has disguised his hand.
writing, but he forgot to disguise tb,
fact that he is fond of the exclamation
point and the interrogation mark al
marks Of emphasis to his words. Over
all the letters both exclamation and in.
terrogation points are th;ckly
sprinkled, in some instances the marks
being repeated two or three times. Nc
two men in hundred would have this
peculiarity.
"Then, again, when he printed the
letter IS this stupid writer forgot that
he was in the habit Of printing this let
ter in his ordinary writing; so that
this mistake makes it possible to com
pare the two to detect the similarity
When put them together, no one could
doubt that they were by the same hand
AS matter Of fact, the writing OF the
world is as marked and varied IN its
peculiarities as are the features OF the
writer's. The close observer distin
guishes between nationalities by thcii
writings as readily rs he does by
speech, physiognomy or any other race
peculiarity. Even when one has
learned to write another than his ma.
tive language the race distinction re.
mains to very perceptible degree,
The writing Of German or French
man or other foreigner who has learned
to speak and write the English Ian.
guage will retain a style rs perceptible
to the expert as will be the accent ia the
foreigners speech; and the one can nc
more be overcome or avoided than the
other.
although II is fact TINT writing III
timately becomes the automatic pro,
duction of the hand, it is equally fact
that it does so as the pupil and agent OF
the mind, and in the molding process
peculiar qualities of its tutor and mas.
ter enter unconsciously into its compo.
sition, and it becomes mirror Of its
creator-the mind. An inspection ot
the autographs of famous people would
reveal the fact that they illustrate how
persons whose mental characteristics
are matter of history clearly exhibit
those characteristics in their land.
writing. g."-Boston Traveller.