in a hurry, presents a sixty-day note, endorsed by first-class men, for
a larger amount than he has ever before requested, and it generally
happens that he gets the money without the slightest difficulty. Then
he has a sudden call to attend to important business elsewhere. When
the note or notes mature, it is discovered to be a clever forgery. This
has been done time and again, and it is rare that the forger has been
apprehended.

The forgery of checks is a common offense. It takes more than one man
to successfully perform this operation. The forger himself is known as
the "scratcher," or the expert penman of the party. The "middle man"
is the fellow who conducts the business negotiations, ostensibly as a
merchant, and the "layer-down" is the man who presents the check to
the bank and secures the cash. The middle man must have a pleasing
address, and be thoroughly posted on the commercial news of the day,
and it is requisite that the layer-down be well dressed, quick witted,
and possessed of an unlimited amount of polite assurance, a cheek that
never pales and an eye that never droops. In selecting a person to
fill this important position, the forger prefers to have a man who
has, at some time or other, been convicted of crime, so that in case
of discovery, and the turning of state's evidence by the layer-down
(who is always the man caught) his evidence will not have weight with
a jury. The latest mode is for the forger to imitate a private check
by the photo-lithographic method, after having obtained a signed
check.

The signature, after being photographed, is carefully traced over with
ink, and the body of the check is filled up for whatever amount is
desired. The maker of the check is requested to identify the person
who holds it, and as a general thing he does not wait to see the money
paid. The moment his back is turned, the layer-down palms the small
check and presents the large one. This way of obtaining money is
without the assistance of a middle man. Private marks on a check are
no safeguards at all, although a great many merchants believe they can
prevent forgery by making certain dots, or seeming slips of the pen,
which are known only to the paying teller and themselves. This
precaution becomes useless when the forger uses the camera. Safe
breakers are often called upon by forgers and asked to secure a sheet
of checks out of a checkbook. When this is accomplished a few canceled
checks are taken at the same