Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-04-08


mont of the bank official who scans the
check usually in merely general way.
IF there is something about ii Whlcn
looks odd. he separates the body from
the signature and then consults the
signature book which every bank
keeps. and which is supposed to estao-
lish for a certainty the genuihehesS Oh
spuriousnesS of a signature.
During the past Is years large
amount of handwriting has come into
disnute and it is getting to be a COM
mon thing for person, when he wants
70 evade payment. to insist that hote
is forged. One expert is authority Tor
the statement. and a rather surprising
one il is. that fully five per cent. OF the
paper and collateral lying in vaults TO-
day bears forged signatures. He states
that il is not an uncommon thinS 1of a
merchant. when hard pressed for funds
and averse to having his temporary
embarrassment known to his friends.
TO forge the names OF some Oh ms IN
inmates on a note, instead of getting
them to legally indorse 1t. The man
being well known at the bank, no queS-
tions are asked and the paper Is dls-
couuted. If when the note falls due he
meets
aood. If he be unable to take care of
il when due. he has the note renewed
until such time as he can take it up.
II Is through such cases as these that
banks often suffer losses.
Forgery is by all odds the commoneSt
method of fraud; and one reason for
its being so prevalent is that ii requires
no accomplices, and on the average is
an easy means 10 a desired end. If the
would be fOrger occupies a position Of
confidence and trust, he is the more
likely 10 meet with success in his law
full practice; a success. however. which
in the long run ends in disaster. In
former times the raising of a check
was Il favOrite means to unlawful gain.
but such precautions do the banks take
in these days, that comparatively few
eases go through undetected. The
written figures, however. can be most
clrvcrly changed by the application Of
acids. which are in the possession Of
every professional forger in the cOun
try. by their use any ordinary writing
can be completely effaced. When this
method was first resorted 20. il was
thought to be a permanent ink remoV-
er. and such ii is as long as nothing
else is applied to the spot where the
figures We're written; but subsequent
experiment proves that the original ink
was only turned into a white oxide.
and that by the use of another chem
zeal it could again he brought TO the
surface. A case was instanced where
payment was demanded on a note for
$l2 900. The matter was taken into
| - a1pNf-fal -
signature. but insisted that the amount
of the check should rightfully he but
$1,000 As a last resort the check was
experimental upon. with the result
that the stated original amount Of $1,000
was brought 10 view.
according To the methods employed. ev-
cry iOrger belongs TO one nf three classes
| although in recent years a fourth class
| has appeared. To The first belongs the
| man who works with the copy before
! him. reproducing il line for line. Then
| there * the man who prdctiseS the sigma r
! ture until he is able TO write ii with a
| free hand or from memory. To the third
| set belong the men who trace the sigma
lures by placing the original underneath.
| The torgers who might be Catalogued i'll
| the fourth class are those who resort to
| the Photographic process, ana experts
say that 70 those who are familiar with
! this method il tells its own story. The
most common way. ana the one which is
usually adopted by professionals. is that
| OF learning the signature by heart"
| This method calls for the least human
! skill Of any and thus the chances Of de-
lection are correspondinglv lrSsened,
| Professional forsers commonly use In
| dia ink on which the TWO acids usually
employed have no effect. Aniline and nj
| grOsin when in solution are sometimes
/ employed. the latter, when placed on pa
| per. being very permanent. Ii is not af
| fectcd by acids but is by alkalieS. One Of
! the most famous cases which ever came
| into the courts and in which handwriting
| experts played prominent part was
that Of the disputed will OF Andrew ].
/ Davis. the Montana millionaire. which
| case is not vet finally settled. The will
/ itself. as well as large amount Of other
| writing. was submitted to an expert for
I examination. and though the will was a
| brief document four days Were spent III
! examining il, When an opinion was
| asked. the expert declared ii to he a
| forgery and gave twenty-five reasons
| why in his opinion ii should not be adj
mitted to probate. At the present time
| there are pending in the courts many
| which one wel-known handwriting cx-
| pert has been called to testify. involving
a total of some sl1,00Ooo0.
| BY way OF illustrating one method %
| forgery. interesting material which had
! played an important part in a court case
| was carefully examined. Ii consisted OF
| five or six graded Photographic enlarge
ments Of the duplicate signature. The
| person and the forger had used the trac-
| ing process, To the naked eye ii ap-
| peared to be "A capital COPY; in fact, ii
| seemed TO bear every semblance of being
| genuine. In the first enlargement Of sew
cral diamcteTs certain Inaccuracies Of
| tracing could be discerned, only. how
| ever, after attention had been called Ia
| them by an expert. In the next enlarge
ment these same errors We're more APP
| parent. and so on through the series
| The largest photograph was magnited
several hundred diameters greater than
the original and stretched across quite
| an area of paper, From an examination
| Of this largest one it was cyidcnt that
the forGer first had traced his COPY with
pencil, afterWard going over ii with ink
| but 50 irregularly had his pen followed
| the pencil lines that in certain portions
Of this enlargement there was room for Il
| mans fist between the first tracing and
| its inky covering,
| In the prosecution Of such u work the
| utmost secrecy has to be preserved and
every expert therefore has his own little
| laboratory and Photographic outfit. The
| business of an expert in handwriting is
not one which is followed TO any great
extent and in the whole country there
probably are less than dozen who en-
JOY any marked reputation, and there are
even fewer on the other side Of the
water.
| An English paper recently conducted
an inVeStiGat ion to ascertain what the
working classes think of kiplng, and