The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1910-02-03
new NEWS n Of YESTERDAY.
Story Of David Davis, Linco|n's
Circuit Judge.
Fraudulent Promlssory Note Case In
4 Which Abe Was Concerned
Taught the Magistrate Better
. Business Methods.
BY e. J. EDWARDS.

.Lt
BY e. J. EDWARDS.
First as a justice of the Supreme
Court of the United States from 1862
to 1877, and then as a senator from
Illinois until 1883, the late David DAY.
is, who presided over the senate fol-
lowing the accession of Chester A.
Arthur to the presidency, was for
many years prominently in the eye Of
the country. But long after his name
has been forgotten as that of a SUI
preme court Judge or a United States
senator, it will be remembered as that
of the Judge before whom Lincoln
tried his cases when he rode the cir
cult of Illinois. The histories of Lin
coins life are full of anecdotes telling
Of Judge Davis's partially Of Lin
coin and of his eagerness to hear Lin
coins stories when the days work
was over. !,
I got to know Judge Davis well in
Washington when he was a senator
from Illinois, and at the time that
he went south to marry for the second
time, I Travelled with him.
"Do you know" he said to me as we
were nearing the end of the journey,
ut was a case with which Mr.. Lincoln
was connected that had a very impor-
tant effect upon my methods of doing
business?
"This particular case involved the
Inon-payment of a promissory note.
The note itself was in evidence and
the defendant admitted that the sig
nature on it was his. But he denied
lever having written the body Of the
note. He also swore that he could
not explain how it had got into the
hands of the man who7was suing up
on it.
1T was not an uncommon practice
for business men to sign notes in
blank, which their partners might
utilize, and that would explain the
difference between the handwriting in
the signature and in the body of the
note. It was written upon ordinary
letter paper-and that was not uncom-
mon in those days-but I noticed that
the strip of paper used was much mar
rover than that usually employed in
making out notes. Upon closer ex-
animation it looked to me as though
the bit Of paper had been cut off the
bottom of a sheet of writing paper,
letter size. l had an expert-a watch.
maker, I think-make a microscopical
examination of the upper edge of the
note and he testified that in his opin-
ion the paper had been cut off the
bottom of a sheet of paper with a pair
Of scissors.
"As a result 1 asked the defendant
to produce several letters which he
had written. Then I discovered that
in each case he had placed his sig
nature at the bottom of the page, sew.
eral inches below the bottom of the
latter itself, leaving plenty of space
on which a note could have been writ.
ten above his signature. Various rep
utable witnesses had testified as to
the defendants good character and
integrity, SO I gave him the benefit
Of the doubt and decided the case in
his favor. Afterwards 1 learned the
name of the man who had got hold
Of one of the defendants letters, cut
off the signature and on the two
inches of blank paper above it writ
ten in the note, which he has sold, the
defendants credit being excellent.
"Well this case set me to thinking
I realized that I frequently signed m.
name a considerable space below thu
bottom of a letter or document. I
might not be easy to prove, if som
one cut off my signature and fllet
in the blank paper above it with
note or something, that the documen
was a fraudulent one. So 1 decided t,
make a radical change in my method
of writing, and from that day to thi
I have always written from one edg
Of the paper to the other, both acros
and down, and whenever I sign m.
name to a document, I place it S
close to the last line of the text tina
it all but runs into it, making an
interlineation between text and sigma
.ture impossible. And any interlines
ton elsewhere is made impossible b
the fact that I cover the page conn
pletely with my writing, and writ
the lines as close to one another a
legibility will permit.
"This is the method / followed a
the time I was on the Supreme bench
and all the time I have been in tn
senate, and I recommend it as a goo
rule for any business man to adopt
Copyright, 1909, by E. ]. Edwards.)
Yielding to the Majority.
A Philadelphia physician, in d.
claring that insanity was frequent
productive Of sound logic tempere
by wit, told the story Of a patient
once met IN an asylum.
He came across this patient wifi