The Washington times., 1922-03-26
DOUBLE SAVES
+. ARMY OFFICER
HELD ASFORGER
Case of Mistaken Identity
Solved by Confession of
Man in Prison.
ACCUSED WAS HELPLESS
Guilty Man ResembIed Prison.
or and Writing Was Sworn
To BY Expert.

LONDON, March 25.-All the
material for a melodrama is to be
found in a case of mistaken iden-
tity which has Just been settled in
Wrexham, England. by the con-
fession Of a convict which freed
an innocent man.
Opened Small Shop.
What made this trial all the more
remarkable and dramatic is that
the innocent man and the convict
not only resemble each other closely.
but the natural handwriting of one
was 50 like the signature used by the
convict in his forgeries, that a pro-
fessional expert pronounced that the
innocent man signed a check which
was really signed by the convict.
Henry Milton Drinkwater entered
the British army as a private and
came out lieutenant. having won
his commission both by study and
gallantry. The end of the war
found him in bad health and straight
ened circumstances. Upon his dis
charge from the service he settled in
Leeds with his wife and opened
small shop. He was making fair
living. nothing more, when the baby
was born and his expenses increased.
About three months ago a blank
check was stolen from book on
table in the military barracks at
Wrexham. The check was signed
with a forged name, and was passed
on a woman in Wrexham. Drink
water resembled the passer. Accom-
panied by the police she went to
Leeds and positively identified Drink
water as the person who had given
her the strip of worthless paper.
Testimony BY an Expert.
On that Identification the accused
was taken to Wrexham, where he
had sold some pictures and given re-
ceipts for the payments. Those re-
ceipts wee laid before a Mr.. Smart,
of Manchester, an established au-
thority on handwriting. and with
them the forged check. Smart de-
clared the receipts which Lieutenant
Drinkwater had given had been
signed by the same hand which
signed the check.
About the time of the trial man
named Mckay, who was serving a
term for forgery, heard Of the desper-
ate situation of Lieutenant Drink
water. Mckay was a professional
forger. He travelled all over Eng
land Laying down paper" Last
November he was nabbed in Wind
sor. He was brought up at the Read
ing Assizes, pleaded guilty to a whole
string of forgeries and was sentenced
to five years. He made a statement
to the prison authorities and was
taken to the trial Of the lieutenant
as a witness for the defense.
The prosecution offered a strong
case against Drinkwater. There was
the Identification by the woman In
wrexham, the testimony Of the hand
writing expert and evidence that
Drinkwater had been in Wrexham,
where the blank check was stolen,
filled in and passed.
When the defense had it's turn
Mckay was called. His resemblance
TO Drinkwater was at once apparent.
Mckay then explained that the
Wrexham check was only one Of
great many he passed in his regular
business as a forger. He told in
detail how he got the blank and how
it hdpDtitu W pdSo II oii tiiV
an.
Lest there should be any lingering
doubt in the minds of the jury, Nc
Kay wrote out the forged name as ii
appeared on the check. That sigma
ture, tossed off in open court, along
with specimens of McKay's normal
handwriting, the receipts signed by
Drinkwater for the sale of pictures
and the forged check were turned
over to Smart.
1t is to the credit of Smart that
after a critical comparison he did not
hesitate to condemn himself out of
his own mouth. He Immediately de-
tected the unacceptable similarities of
Mckay's Handwriting in the check,
Mckay's imitation of the forgery and
McKay's normal hand. He also saw
how those three writings were dis
tinguishable from those of Drink
water. With that frank confession
of grievous error by the expert
and Drinkwater's alibi the case for
the prosecution collapsed.