Waterbury Democrat., 1902-05-29
. pICKS OF THE PEN.

 ful handwriting expert, rsmarked one of that limited fraternity to yne writ er and the knowledge when once gained is almost as exact in its opera 1 ton as any classified science.
 No matter how cleyerly a man may seek to disguise his caligraphy, the identity thereof will, save in the most exceptional cases, be apparent to the expert, because there are invariably certain parliamentary outlines that re- main fixed and unchanged in spite of all attempts to transfigure them.
 The majority of people are wont to believe that members of my profes- sion are employed only i'll forgery cases. This is quite an erroneous lm- Dression, as the larger part of our work is devoted to the detection Of those pests of society-anonymo let l ter writers.
 l Our usual mode of working is based on the following lines: Assume that Mrs X- has received an anonymous communication of libellous nature, the origin of which she is unable to trace. The expert whom she sum- mons to her assistance will ask her for specimens of the handwriting of all those persons whom she has the slightest reason for suspecting Of the deed in question.
 1 He will. then proceed to compare the caligraphy upon the missive with the i handwriting contained in the other documents, and by such means he will nearly always arrive at an accurate conclusion regarding the authorship of the. unsigned epistle.
 | I remember that on one occasion a lady whom will style Mrs L--, was much overcome by the receipt of an anonymous letter wherein certain scandalous charges were formulated against her husband, man of the highest character. When asked to help her in tracing the writer, fol- lowed the usual routine by demanding specimens of the writing of suspected persons.
 On such specimens being handed me | I absolutely failed 10 discover any clew, and I thereupon requested that Mrs L. should allow me to inspect the writing of the persons whom she did not suspect. This she did. and In five minutes time I had decided be- yond all doubt that the author of the ! libel was a Miss NJ, young lady whom Mrs L. had believed to De her most devoted friend. Further in yestigation proved that my conclusion was correct, but the affair was hushed up for family reasons.
 There are certain little tricks adopt ed by nearly all persons who desire to disguise their handwriting, and the knowledge of these tricks often leads to their detection. For instance, man who is in the habit of writing his words very close together will run to the opposite extreme when he wishes to remain unknown. and will accord ingly leave huge gaps between each word. Again, other anonymous cor respondents will adopt ''back-hand'' method of caligraphy, but any expert who really understands his business can immediately determine Ae nor- nal style of writing from brief in spection of the inverted method which of all disguises is the simplest to unmask.
 The most difficult disguise, on the other hand, which we experts are called upon to pierce is the printed letter. device, but even this may be traced to it's proper origin by means of a little care and study. The very curves in the printed capitals will tell their own story, and will show a certain likeness to the curves in the ordinary handwriting of the person concerned.
 Tn fact, the only absolutely success full anonymous letter writer is the in- dividual who employs q typewriter for the purpose, and 1t is a fortunate thing for gentlemen of my profession that the machine in question is very rarely used in such connection, for were such the case our occupation, l like Othello's, would be gone.
 One of the most powerful clews in our possession is the dotting of the ..i's' in anonymous communications No matter how elaborately a core spondent may alter his hand, he will nearly always dot the .i' i'll exactly the same position, and thus by com l parative measurements we can trace the identity of the writer.
 l One man will place the dot immedi- ately over the letter, another will place one-twentieth of an inch to the right or to the left and so on. Instinc- tive habit invariably locates the dot in question in the same position-a fact which is probably unknown to all save those who have made a deep study of the ethics of handwriting.
 Perhaps one of the most curious eases that ever encountered was that which took place some 10 years ago, when 1 was summoned by wealthy 4 merchant to trace the origin of an anonymous letter demanding large sum of money under threats.
 Having obtained specimens of the writing of all those persons whom my client has reason for suspecting made rigid examination thereof, but was unable to trace the .eulprit. It was only when the merchants son wrote, at his fathers request, check in pay ment of my unsuccessful labors that I discovered the blackmailer, who was no other than the son himself. A full confession followed. which proved that my instantaneous theory had been on