Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1909-01-20
THUMB PRINT PLAN
UNUSUAL METHOD ADOPTED BY
WYOMING BANK.
Saves Much Trouble in Identifying Jap
anese, Chinese, Indian, Lithuanian
and Other Depositors and Is
Found to Work Well.

Cheyenne, WyO.-The old Chinese
system OF Identification by thumb
marks has been adapted to modern
banking, and the method is now in
practical use in the First National
bank of this city, as a means of identi-
flying the signatures of the many for
eigners who carry deposits at that in
stitution. In fact, the thumb-mark has
become as necessary on checks drawn
by this class of the banks depositors
as is the written signature of the
drawer Of the check. The system has
been in use for more than year, and
in that time the bank has had not the
least trouble with its foreign deposit
ors, but instead has found that the ar
rangement works to perfection.
There are probably more nationali-
ties represented in and around Chey-
enne than in almost any other city of
the country The great mining camps
of the state have drawn every nation
ality of Europe to themselves, while
the Union Pacific and Burlington rail
roads have brought hundreds of rail
road laborers from Asiatic countries.
Korean ditchers, Japanese section
dams, Lithuanians, Czechs, Poles, Hun
garians, Bohemians, Welshmen, Irish
men, Greeks, Italians and about every
other nationality can be found around
Cheyenne in the course of a day.
search. Many of these persons deposit
their savings in the First National
bank of Cheyenne, and very few of
them, comparatively speaking, can
write their own name, especially in
letters which can be read by an or
binary American business man.
An additional source of trouble to
the banker is the great resemblance so
many foreigners bear to others of their
own nationality, resemblance SO
strong that Identification in many
cases is almost impossible. To the av-
erage American every Japanese resem-
bles every other Japanese, while Chi
namen are as much alike as peas. I'm
less well acquainted with each depos-
they were having great deal of trou-
BILE identifying either the drawer or
the payee of checks which came to
them
At the time of opening an account it
is always customary to have the depos
itor file his signature with the bank
the more readily to detect forgery
should one be attempted. But the bank
attaches were '.up against it, when
many of their depositors placed sigma
lures on file which would throw the or
binary typographical expert into fit
One day Assistant Cashier A. D.
Johnston bethought himself of the
thumb-print method and Immediately
put the scheme in operation in the
! bank.
AS result each foreign patron
when he deposits money is required to
place his thumb on an linked pad and
| then make an impression on card
which, with his ordinary signature and
his name as written by the bank cash
| Ter, is deposited in the records of the
| bank. Whenever check is presented
drawn by this patron his thumb sigma
| ture must appear on the check and
must correspond with that on the card
| in the record If it does not so CORE
| spond the check is thrown out as a
| forgery.
The assistant cashier has become SO
proficient in reading thumb signatures
that he can recognize the prints of a
great many of the bank patrons with
| out reference to the records.