The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1900-01-05
YouR HANDWRITING.

Occupation, Temperament and Environ
ment Leave Their Imprint.
No man can altogether escape from
himself, even in his handwriting, says
William J. KinsIey, a leading expert on
handwriting in the New York World.
In his signature there can be traced
unerringly the distinctive features Of
style and of method that render him
different from other men.
Among children differences in hand
writing are slight and UnnOticeable.
All write the same, large, open, copy
book style that they learn at school
An eight-year-Old boys handwriting,
like himself, is crude and immature.
But as the boy becomes a man his
writing gradually develops features
that are peculiar and easily discerned
by students of chirOgraphy. The iden-
flying characteristics Of mans writ
ing are produced by his deYiations
from the original cOpy-boOk style.
All the influences that operate to
produce variations in character also
tend to produce these variations Of
penmanship. For example, two boys
may sit at the same desk in school and
write compositions so nearly alike that
the teacher may fail to distinguish be-
tween them. But when the boys leave
school one goes to Texas and lives an
open-air life on a cattle ranch while
the other becomes a bookkeeper in his
fathers store. In ten or fifteen years
it will be an absolute impossibility for
either Of those men to successfully
forge the handwriting Of the other.
Occupation, temperament, environ
ment and all the variations of physi-
cal and mental health leave their i'm
print upon the handwriting qnite as
distinctly as upon the face or character.
The secret Of the experts success in
identifying handwriting lies mainly in
this fact, which is not commonly
known, that men do not know their
own characteristics.
This is what renders the Disgusting
Of ones handwriting an impossible
task. A man cannot avoid a hole if he
does not know the hole is there, and
neither can a man conceal the peculiar
characteristics Of his style if he does
not know what those characteristics
are.
Before one man can successfully
forge the handwriting Of another he
must know two things, one Of which it
is impossible for him to know, and the.
other he is very unlikely to know. He
must know, first, his, own pecUliarities
Of style, and, secondly, he must know
the peculiarities of the handwriting
which he wishes to initiate. Further
more, he must have the ability TO avoid
his own peculiarities as q writer and at
the same time to adopt the pecUliari-
ties of the writer whose writing he
wishes to initiate.
OF course it is not difficult for for
ger to deceive the unpractised eye. He
may use different pens, hold the pen
in different positions or vary the quail
ity Of the ink. These are slight modi-
hcatiOns which are taken into account
BY experts and which do not conceal
the essential character Of the hand
writing.
A clever impeTsOnatOr on the stage
may perso1ify 3 number Of quite dissi-
milsr celebrities and may possibly even
deceive many Of his audience; but his
makeup would not endure the close
scrutiny Of a sharp eyed sceptic, who
would pull of the false whiskers and
wash of the deceptive paint This is
just what the expert does In his iden-
tiication Of handwriting. His task is /
to trace those inevitable and INSOFAR
able peculiarities Of style which reveal (
the identity Of every writer.
While, therefore, the degree Of con
must vary according TO the |
peculiar circumstances Of every case, /
it is a fact beyond dispute that circum-
evidence Of the most convinc-
ing and unassailable kiud may be ad- /
duced from handwriting.
Ladies jackets ana Capes-