Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1918-06-19
TYPEWRITER HELPS
SOLVE F0RGER|ES
MACHINE FOUND TO HAVE "HU.
mAN. ODDITIES.
Expert With Aid OF Ruled Glass Can
Discover the Guilty Operator.

an open book aud enable him To tell.
afte. some study. on just what make
of machine, of which vintage. d0cu.
nent has been written and, if he can
find il, he can tell on which particular
typewriter il was hammered out
Wherefore it would seem that, with
the typewriter detective on the trail,
the iorseF, the poison pen writer
and others who seek to cover their
tracks by resorting TO the typewriter
would have TO give it up.
A lawyer of Herkimer. y. ". was
charged with having altered an atfida-
Wit in the case hinged upon seven
letters which, il developed. hal been
inserted in the document in typewrit-
ing. These letters not only established
that the two words which they made
had been inserted seven years after
the original document had been writ.
ten. but resulted in the Identification
of the machine on which they had
been written and the conviction OF the
lawyer who owned II.
A man named Bennett had brought
suit against manufacturing company
on the grounds that il was illegally
manufacturing a seamless basket
which he had invented. Alter two
trials and as many reversals, the suit
finally reached the Appellate Court
again. There it practically deyolyed
on whether the baskets were the same
as that patented by Bennett.
In an affidavit by the manager of
the company appeared a statement 10
the effect that the company had man
ufactured metal baskets on which no
royalties had been paid Bennett. The
lawyer FOR Bennett said that he would
no. argue the case. as the court could
see that he affidavit admitted that
the company manufactured the
same" baskets as that manufactured
by Bennett. The courts copy, 1t was
found, had the words 1.-The same
while other copies did not, The ques-
ton Immediately arose as 10 who had
inserted the words "the same" in the
courts copy of the affidavit
A typewriter expert was called into
the case, He had the words copied on
several machines and submitted TO
BENEFITS lawyer and after an eXami-
nation swore that the words had been
inserted by one of them. He pointed
out that the body Of the affidavit had
been written on one make of machine
with one kind of type and that the in
serted words. had been written on an.
other machine with slightly different
type.
Then he astonished the court by
showing how he knew. A glass plate
ruled with horizontal lines was laid
on the photograph of the disputed
words. Viewing the photograph
through this glass, 1t was seen that
the disputed words were in slightly
smaller type. 1t also showed the lines
at the bases of the letters to be
thicker
Promoters of "get.rich quick" tricks
seem to turn to the typewriter as q
simple means of protecting them
selves. AS matter OF fact, they ar,
piing up evidence against themselves
and have about as much chance o
/ hiltnu babind tvnnurttnp ~
trich has of escaping his enemies BY
sticking his head in a hole in thI
sand.
I The typewriter just few week
/ ago solved what at first blush woul,
have been regarded as mystery no
to be dispelled except by happ
chance. The postmaster general a
Washington had sent out an order l.
ali postmasters. II incurred the al
ger Of one postmaster who immediate
" wrote an anonymous letter back I
Washington in which he very plainl
stated his views of the matter. A We
eran inspector was detailed to fin
the writer.
Deducting that the writer had Sci
the letter almost Immediately afte
receiving the orders the inspectC
next tsrned 10 train time tables. H
discovered that between the time til
order was mailed and the time the r.
PLY had been received it would hay
been impossible for postmaster Q
the Pacific coast to have written IL
letter Assuming that his deductic
was correct that the writer had indl
ed his letter in the first blush of a
ger over the order, the inspector Xix
wise eliminated the postmasters eio'
TO Washington. After considerab
figuring he was enabled to fix a sms
zone through the middle west, exten
ing from north 10 south, in which
believed he would find his man.
Next he obtained from the post'
flee files a list of all Offices with
that zone in which the postmaste
were supplied with typewriters.
ready he had determined by caref
examination on which make OF n
chine the letter had been write
Then he called for any reports. /
ters, etc, from those Offices which {
department had on hand. He eya
ined them through the glass plat
ruled with horizontal and verti,
lines. In a report from Texas Off
he found peculiarities similar to the
0 in the typewriting of the letter
was investigating and the next d
y he took a train for Texas. The 20
o master, confronted by this proof,