The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1907-10-01
SECRET CHECK SIGNS.
Ways by Which Miiiionaires Pro-
tect Their Signatures.
FCILS AGAINST FORGERlES

IN the Absence OF the Hidden Mark a
Bank VIII Refuse to Pay-An in
stance Which Shows How the - ct
Sign May Serve Other Purposes.
If all reports be true, then the life
Of the millionaire, like that of the po-
liceman, is most certainly not a happy
one
There is little doubt that a certain
class of criminals regard millionaires
as legitimate prey, and the million
aires, knowing this, are compelled to
contrive schemes to thwart their Gun
ming
The modern method of doing bust
ness by check has to a large extent
provided the forgcr with opportunities
for the exhibition of his workmanship.
Therefore many Of the millionaire S
schemes for his protection relate to
his signature on checks, and these
schemes, which usually consist of Sc
Cret marks entirely apart from the
signature, indicate to the bank the
genuineness of the checks and are
mostly of a simple character.
Far and away the most clever idea
for protecting a check signature is the
one utilized by an American million
aire whose name is as we'll known in
Great Britain as in the States.
His idea is an extremely simple one.
1t is this On the back of each check
that he signs he makes q tiny blot,
which looks 50 innocent and natural.
But should the blot be missing then
the bank will decline to honor the
check. This little blot saved the mil
lionaire $4,000 on one occasion alone.
Early one morning he was kidnapped
His captOrS threatened violence unless
they received 10000 Immediately. The
millionaire thought. Then, after hest
tatiOn for few minutes, he offered tc
write out check for the money then
and there on the understanding that
Immediately the check was cashed he
was to be released.
The terms We're accepted. and the
millionaire wrote out the check, but
he left ont the blot. He certainly haC
great confidence in his plan, for it was
impossible to tell what might happier
payment of it refused.
However, the kidnapers went off t.
the bank and presented the check. O
course the cashier looked for the blot
and when he saw that it was missing
he suspected that something wa:
wrong. Payment of the check wa:
refused on the ground that it was in
complete, and the men went away, fol
lowed by officials of the bank, wh'
were fortunately able to rescue thu
millionaire from the desperadoes
hands.
AnothcE-snan Of great wealth dis
poses of the signature difficulty in ;
different way altogether. He protects
himself by never giving an uncrosset
check, and this fact has duly beer
notified to the bank.
Each day his bank pass book is ex
amined by his private secretary. and i
there is an entry in the book which
has no business there then the matte
can be looked into at once. OF course
if the bankers pass a forged check
then, generally speaking, they mus
bear the loss themselves.
This system has many disadvan
tages. 1t means that the man mus
never allow his check book out of hi
possession and must place unreserve(
confidence in his secretary and hi
staff.
The private secretary supplies hi
employer with any cash required, re
ceiving in exchange duly crossed
| check for the amount. 1t is the privat
secretary, therefore, who has to protec
his signature from forgery, and thi
he does in a very ingenious way. H
has had a copy of his signature Gu
| out of cork. This he uses as he woul,
an india rubber stamp, and he claim
| that it is as impossible to initiate tn
markings of the cork as it is impossi
| BILE to duplicate the impression of tn
human thumb.
At any rate, the novelty Of the ide:
has sutficed to scare off would be for
gers, for it is stated that no one ha
ever attempted to copy the cork sig
nature.
Placing a small grease spot on tn
| check is another protective idea
! though the spot has in this case to b.
! precisely in a prearranged position
In further case the check is neve
torn out of the check book quit
| straight. There is always littl
| piece torn off down part of one side
seemingly in quite an accidental man
ner.
But still all these devices may fai
at times, and in every case the expert
MI Of off al 7
afford additional protection. Indeed
this experience is perhaps the creates
safeguard of all-Pearson's Weekly