Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1909-08-11
SOME GOOD ADVICE,
ev 7. BLAIR EATON.

1
When left the law school with q
diploma and fine standing in my
class one Of my preceptors, who had
| taken an interest In me- said:
tom. you have learned a lot of law
here. but In the world you don't want
to practice law. You want to practice
common sense. At least common
sense Is three quarters of the fight.
| There are all sorts Of things In the
| profession that certain lawyers set
| great store by, such as decisions, deli
cate differences In law principles, ex-
| pert testimony. etc. Such men, il they
have any success. usually land on the
bench. while the practical attorney
| gets rich"
Soon after entering upon my pro-
fesssiop a Mr.. Arbuckle, very rich
man. gave me one Of his small cases,
involving $780, Peter Winfield had
! sued him for the amount as part Of
an account due, and Arbuckle claimed
that he had never ordered the goods
1t represented. Winfield was a small
dealer, Arbuckle prominent capital
ist. When the case came to trial all
could do was to ask for a voucher.
To my surprise. plaintiffs counsel pro-
duced letter from Mr.. Arbuckle or
dering the goods. When | informed
my client of the fact he was as much
surprised as l. He did not remember
| writing such a letter and was sure
he had not written 1t. After consulta-
ton we became convinced that It was
forgery, and ! claimed in court that
1t was forgery. Winfield thereupon
hired the best handwriting expert to
be had, who pronounced the document
genuine.
"How do you know that 1t is genu-
ineT asked the expert.
1.-THE question" replied the expert,
looking at me patronizingly. involves
a statement Of how I reach my pro-
fessional conclusions. When the doc
+, ument was submitted to me I sought
to determine its dissimilarities from a
conventional standard. Every person
writes with one of a class Of move
ments we call forearm, wrist and I'm
ger movements. can tell at glance
under what general system the writ
ing has been penned.
II analysed the letter before the
court, dissected every letter and not
ed each departure from the standard
Such dissimilarities are invariably
| found to be characteristic Of the writ
err He cannot depart from them.
| After analysing the letter took up
other bits Of writing Of his as fur
nished by my client and dissected
them Just as In the case of the letter
submitted to me for my opinion.
found in every one Of these other speci-
| mems the characteristics Of the letter
before the court"
Flow about disguised writingw
asked.
"In such cases the difficulty Is not
greatly increased. A person may sue
cessfully disguise few letters. but
| in the main his natural variations
from the accepted standard will be
unmistakable. Ia cases of disguised
handwriting ! must first determine the
methed of the disguise. separating the
real from the unreal features Of the
! disguiser's natural handwriting. Hav-
ing determined this, the rest is easy"
took from my pocket a package of
letters.
Here are specimens Of chirogra-
| ply" said. presumed to have been
written by my client. VIII you please
examine them and tell me If they are
genuine?"
The expert asked for time and was
| given till the next morning Then he
came into court and testified that Of
three letters had given him one was
genuine and two were not. asked
| him to mark the letters. and he did
So l took them and, selecting the one
that he had pronounced in Arbuckle's
handwriting, examined 1t carefully.
Then l called Henry Harley.
"What is your profession. Mr.. Har-
ley" / asked.
"Engraver."
l handed him the letter held. told
him to examine it and asked him If be
| wrote 1t.
| He replied that he did.
| The court, the jury and the specta-
tors pricked up their ears.
| Diminishing the witness, l called ia
| cob Untermeyer.
| "What Is your business. Mr.. Inter
meyer?" I asked.
|. paper manufacturer"
Examine the paper on which that
letter is written and tell me if you rec
| ognize it."
at is from a small lot we have had
! in loft for many years, an old water
mark Of our firm not now used. |
J furnished 1t to you week ago."
/ 'That will do. Call Stephen Munger.
Mr.. Munger. did you see Henry Harley
write that letterT
| 81 did"
when and where?'
Three days ago in your office"
"That will do. Gentlemen of the
jury, hearing of an engraver who could