Information for Those Who Handle Commercial and Legal Documents—­Peculiarity of Handwriting—­Methods Employed in Forgery—­Means Employed for Erasing Writing—­Care to be Used in Writing—­Specimens of Originals and Alterations—­Means of Discovering and Demonstrating Forgery—­Disputed Signatures—­Free Hand or Composite Signatures—­Important Facts for the Banking and Business Public—­How to Use the Microscope and Photography to Detect Forgery—­Applying Chemical Tests—­How to Handle Documents and Papers to Be Preserved—­The Value of Expert Testimony—­Using Chemical, Mechanical and Clerical Preventatives.

The following chapter is written by Mr. William C. Shaw, of Chicago, the well-known handwriting expert and expert on forgery, whose services are called in all important forgery and disputed handwriting cases in the country.  It is replete with facts and suggestions of the greatest importance, and will be found not only interesting reading, but an instructive article throughout.

The comparative frequency with which checks, drafts, notes, etc., are being raised or altered, as well as deeds, wills, etc., forged and substituted, has naturally created a widespread interest in the subject of “disputed handwriting.”  The importance of practical knowledge in this direction by those who are continually handling commercial papers and legal documents is at once apparent, but others engaged in any business pursuit may be saved considerable loss, trouble and annoyance by observing the principles and suggestions explained and illustrated in this article.

In approaching the subject of detecting forged or fraudulent handwriting let it be understood as a fundamental principle that there are hardly two persons whose writing is similar enough to deceive a careful observer, unless the one is imitating the other.  Hands, like faces, have their peculiar features and expression, and the imitator must not alone copy the original, but at the same time disguise his own writing.  Even the most skilled forger cannot entirely hide his individuality and is bound to relapse into his habitual ways of forming and connecting letters, words, etc.  The employment of extreme care can be detected by signs of hesitancy, the substitution of curves for angles, etc., which appear very plainly when the writing is critically examined with a magnifying glass.  When a signature has been forged by means of tracing over the original, the resemblance is often so exact as to deceive even the supposed author.  In these cases the microscope is generally effective in detecting the forgery, as well as the methods employed.  Perfect identity of two genuine signatures is a practical impossibility; if, therefore, two signatures superposed and held against the light completely coincide it is almost certain that one of them is a forgery.

The methods employed in executing forged handwriting are varied and depend largely on the individual skill and inclination of the party attempting it.