The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1907-06-19
DETECTING 4 FolRGl;iE:Rs

Pen Scope and Slant canncts se 'f7'-
tatedeWit ith a Free Stroke.
In many criminal trials the charge
Of forgery is proved OF disproFea %
handwriting experts. a mamma De
convinced that a signature is his oiSE'
when along comes a handwriting ex-
pert who, never saw. him; before to sei,
him that it was written BY some o12
else.
How does the expert knoF:5Ap7
entity by a few general principles. bg
marked power Of deduction q
Sherlock Holmes. and by: a aneasure ci
common sense. Earold N.TSandbers.
a well known expert, explained so2ee
Of the methods Of his profession il >ae
Chicago Tribune:
'sThe expert in chirography may cut
juror to the proof that out Of d,o.:=a
signatures Of his own name no $50
will be alike in general form. Thei4 &c
may turn TO the authentic. and focge,.
signatures in almost: any case aac
show to the laynan that the tirsr
question OF forgery arose from sie
fact that these two signatures q. a
first glance are identically alike to
almost the minutest detail. WitD a:
the skill which the forger puts into his
crooked work, he keeps to the old ,rr:I2-
ciple Of copying the authentic s:@aa-
ture which ae has in hand, and lbe
more. nearly he can reproduce the sig
nature in every proportion the more
readily the forgery can be proved.
zone Of the most important TactS
from which the expert may begin his
investigations Of possible forger7 IS
that every man using pen -in@wr.t:ng
has his pen scope This tesssicai
term describes the average stseh O.
paper which man may cover with
lifting the pen from the paper and
shifting his hand to continue the HE.
.sIn the case Of the signature Of ores
name, it should be one Of: the easIest
|. and least studied group Of words whlc:i
5he3is called on to put uponpaper. 4:
writing a:leHer, for example, the eea
scope through it may show an average
stretch of one inch for the textzof ,ile
letter, while in the signature the whole
length Of the signature, twice as ;ons.
may be covered, but IL the writer ccy-
ers this full stretch Of his name In tc:s
way the expert may prove BY cae
shorter pen scope Of the copyist ti1t
the studied copy is q forgery OF It's
face, for, however free ofastroke tee
forger may be, naturally his eRorc 20
produce facsimile ofIanotherg mans
signature Will make his scope shorter
than that OF the original signer.
cone Of the commonestsmeans OF re-
producing a. signature IS tosput :hse
genuine signature on apiece ofse!ass,
lay another piece Of glass on top Q: Il
and fasten the piece Of paper thaS IS
/: to receive the forgery on top OF: ttaa {
Then by holding the glass$srtps; to
bright light the original signature casts
shadow through. whichma 0a
traced In pencil From: this tracins 1he
lax forgeryyis completed
ttBut when "a forgery done In sais
way is put under: strong magnf? :s'E:: Z:
lens It viii not bear scrutiny Il tie
original has asstrong down stroke on
the capital letters the movement VII!
be free and will leave the pen lines
with smooth edges. The mansw'o IS
tracing; uchrletters cannot tust n'i'1-
self to the same free movement OF cne
pen, and the result under the glass
shows hesitation and uncertainty