Who May Testify As An Expert—­Bank Officials and Bank Employes Always Desired—­Definition of Expert and Opinion Evidence—­Both Witness and Advocate—­Witness in Cross Examination—­Men Who Have Made the Science of Disputed Handwriting a Study—­Objections to Appear in Court—­Experts Contradicting Each Other—­The Truth or Falsity of Handwriting—­Sometimes a Mass of Doubtful Speculations—­Paid Experts and Veracity—­Present Method of Dealing with Disputed Handwriting Experts—­How the Bench and Bar Regard the System—­Remedies Proposed—­Should an Expert Be an Adviser of the Court?—­Free from Cross-Examination—­Opinions of Eminent Judges on Expert Testimony—­Experts Who Testify Without Experience—­What a Bank Cashier or Teller Bases His Opinions on—­Actions and Deductions of the Trained Handwriting Expert—­Admitting Evidence of Handwriting Experts—­Occupation and Theories That Make an Expert—­Difference Between an Expert and a Witness—­Experts and Test Writing—­What Constitutes An Expert in Handwriting—­Present Practice Regarding Experts—­Assuming to Be a Competent Expert—­Testing a Witness with Prepared Forged Signatures—­Care in Giving Answers—­A Writing Teacher As an Expert—­Familiarity with Signatures—­What a Dash, Blot, or Distortion of a Letter Shows—­What a Handwriting Expert Should Confine Himself to—­Parts of Writing Which Demand the Closest Attention—­American and English Laws on Experts in Handwriting—­Examination of Disputed Handwriting

CHAPTER XX

TAMPERED, ERASED AND MANIPULATED PAPER

Sure Rules for the Detection of Forged and Fraudulent Writing of Any Kind—­European Professor Gives Rules for Detecting Fraud—­How to Tell Alterations Made on Checks, Drafts, and Business Paper—­An Infallible System Discovered—­Results Always Satisfactory—­Can Be Used by Anyone—­Vapor of Iodine a Valuable Agent—­Paper That Has Been Wet or Moistened—­Colors That Tampered Paper Assumes—­Tracing Written Characters with Water—­Making Writing Legible—­How to Tell Paper That Has Been Erased or Rubbed—­What a Light Will Disclose—­Erasing with Bread Crumbs—­Hard to Detect—­How to Discover Traces of Manipulation—­Erased Surface Made Legible—­Treating Partially Erased Paper—­Detecting Nature of Substance Used for Erasing—­Use of Bread Crumbs Colors Papers—­Tracing Writing with a Glass Rod—­Tracing Writing Under Paper—­Writing With Glass Tubes Instead of Pens—­What Physical Examination Reveals—­Erasing Substance of Paper—­Reproducing Pencil Writing in a Letter Press—­Kind of Paper to Use in Making Experiments—­Detecting Fraud in Old Papers—­The Rubbing and Writing Method

CHAPTER XXI

FORGERY AS A PROFESSION