The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-06
EXPERTS on HANDWRITING.
ImpossibiIity of the Accurate Imita-
ton of AnOther's Chirosraphy.

George H. johnson in the Scientific Amer
lean.
d. T. Ames. who is an acknowledged
expert on handwriting, says: "Of all the
l'4o00oo0OO of human being on the earth.
same in their personality, but we venture
TO say that there are much closer approx
nations in this respect than there are be-
tween the handwriting of any two per
sons" The handwriting of pupils under
one teacher sometimes closely resemble
each other but every one knows that the
penmanship acquired at school rapidly I'M
dergoes changes for a few months after
leaving school. The personality of the
writer appears. The circumstances and
environment of the penman and his dom-
nant object in writing, all play important
parts in the evolution sufficiently fixed TO
be recognized among thousands for years
after. So many muscles and nerves are
exercised, even in the plainest handwrit-
ing, that it is obviously extremely i'm
probable that two individuals should make
all the motions In the same way Indeed,
il IS practically impossible that any one
should write his own name twice in fine
lines so thai one can be superposed on the
other. The existence of such a coincidence
of form is always an evidence that one
or both have been traced, and there can be
no better circumstantial proof of forgery.
Every letter of the alphabet, wherever
written, may be examined for the follow
ing characteristics: Size, shading, position
relative to the horizontal line, inclination
relative TO the vertical line, sharpness of
the curves and angles, proportion and rel
alive position of the different parts, and
elaboration or extension of the eXiremi-
ties. In scarcely one of these particulars
can man make two letters so much alike
that they cannot be distinguished by mi
croscopcal examination. Still less can a
forger, with different ink and paper, dupli-
cate single letter. Now, when letters are
joined in words the difficulty of precise
duplication without tracing or photogra-
ply is vastly increased, so that no micro
scope is needed to distinguish the differ
ences between the original and the copy.
Although a man may write his name
thousand times and have no two sigma
lures alike yet if he writes naturally and
rapidly, each will have so many charac-
teristics in common with all the. others
that it is very difficult for even a skilful
forger to initiate any one so perfectly that
an expert cannot detect 1t. This is particu-
larry true if the writing is legible and pro-
duced with a free forearm motion. Yet
forger can easily produce the same gen
eral pictorial effect, so that the paying
teller of bank, when his suspicious are
not aroused, may accept il without ques
ton. Sometimes the imitation is so good
that a man cannot tell his own signature
from the forgery, when he knows that one
of them is a forgery. In such cases the ex-
pert examiner is called in. The expert de-
clnes 10 make an immediate decision from
the general appearance, as bankers are ac-
customed to do; on the contrary, he sub
lects every word and letter to a severe
examination and analysis which is just as
scientific in its way as a chemical analysis
of any compound.
Some of the principal tests applied to de-
lermine the genuineness of handwriting are
these: The actual and relative slant of the
letters, or the angles between their stems
and the base; the constancy and accuracy
with which a straight line is followed as
base; the amount of pressure used on the
pen and the part of the stroke where it is
applied, and the positions of the lines as
whole relative to the edges of the paper.
The simplest punctuation mark under
the microscope has its own individuality.It
would be difficult to find two writers
whose seni-colons and quotation marks
cannot be distinguished at a glance. The
dotting of and crossing of afford an in
finite number of relations between points
and lines and in both of these the time
element and the freedom of muscular
movement play important parts. Even
The health and self-control of the penman,
as well as the physical circumstances,
show their influence on these little strokes.
William J. Kinsley, editor of the Pen
mans Art Journal, is another writing eX-
pert who has been employed In hundreds
of cases in the United States and Canada.
He says: Il firmly believe it to be an
utter impossibility for one person TO imi-
tate successfully $50 that the imitation
cannot be determined by an expert, page
OF writing of another" Mr.. Kinsley rec
ommends, as a signature, which is most
difficult to initiate, legible writing which
is produced rapidly by a forearm motion
without lifting the pen from the paper.
The style of signature once adopted should
never be intentionally changed Under
these conditions bank tellers and others
who know the signature will have no ex-
cuse for accepting a forgery. On the
other hand, an ilegible scrawl, such as
many bank cashiers have adopted for a
signature. is very easily Initiated by a
skilful penman. Here the general picto-
rial effect is what makes an impression
and it is not necessary for the forger to
initiate each curve, as is the case in legible
writing. AS soon as all bank officers and
customers realize this, the profession
of forgery will be less profitable.
-e-o-S