Show identification by handwriting A good handwriting is is getting to be cue one of the lost arts the fathers and grandfathers of the present generation pene ration as a it general thing aro wrote te a handsomer and more legible hand land than do the children and grand children there ia is one point in penmanship to which I 1 have just been een giving gome some attention it relates to the testimony of handwriting ing not long ago a man was hanged banged in new england by handwriting experts As a class such experts ought not to have influence enoi enough ugh to hang a cat ali and now it ia is claimed that bome brussels murderers have been run down by telltale tricks of their penmanship the readers of this little note may be assured that the writer of it knowd individual individuals who can write other I 1 peoples names so cunningly that the these so other people cannot decide whether the signatures arc are their own or not I 1 have actual cases in mind where this puzzle has been tried one notable instance cmunt mention the state of massachusetts not many years since had two of its bonds presented for redemption which precisely alike one was a forged bond throughout the officers whose names appeared upon these bonds could not tell 69 which was which but this is nothing I 1 have a man near me who can write your signature and mine or the signature of any person that may bo be placed before as a stud aoudy I 1 so cunningly that neither you nor t can tell which is which it is lucky that he is an honest man or he might do dangerous work with your name on a big check or note bankers in the united states place little reliance upon signature i as a means of identification in payment of checks etc the person who presents a check to a boston bank for payment must be positively identified before the money will b be paid to him it ia is in vain for him to offer as evidence that he be i id 4 the right man any any handwriting testimony and it does not make any difference whether the check is p payable a y to bearer or order didenti identification fic a in both cases is demanded in england one finds a most marked dif difference ferenee from this way of doing business the paying teller of a london bank tries to assure himself that the face of a check is is all right both in point of signature of drawer as regards tho the drawers balance and then slaps out the acne mcney to whoever presents the check it matters not whether the check is payable to order or to bearer he ile demands no identification in cither either case he ile only looks on oil the back of the order cheek to see if it has the name indorsed endorsed indor sed this check paying custom did not always prevail in england at one time the english practice in these premises waa was the same as oura ours is now at that time wa we copied our custom from them they have since progressed out of it we remain tied to their old style we shall get out of abi this rut one of these days the great bankers of london long ago lound they could never get through their business if the identification responsibility was to remain upon them they pres pressed s ed the matter upon t lie attention of parliament parliament came to their relief it said pay checks to whoever presents them and your whole duty is done if 1 I today to day I 1 drop my check in london made 1 payable to the order of wymor W B mor rill the first rascal that picks it up in the streets and puts M r name to the back may collect that check cheek and get imprisoned for life for so doing it is of course the imp imperative curative duty of any person who has lost a check cheek to have its payment ay stopped at once |