played on unsigned bank notes,
but on the bank notes almost any name will do, as no person looks at
the signature, as long as the note appears genuine.

The ingenuity of a countless army of sharpers is constantly at work in
this country, devising plans to obtain funds dishonestly, without
work, but, in fact, they often expend more time, skill and labor in
carrying out their nefarious schemes, than would serve to earn the sum
they finally secure, by honest labor. Every banker must, therefore, be
on his guard, and should acquaint himself with the most approved means
of detecting and avoiding the most common swindlers. This is just as
necessary as it is to lock his books and cash in his safe before going
home.

Next to the counterfeiter, the forger is the most dangerous criminal
in business life. Transactions involving the largest sums of money are
completed on the faith in the genuineness of a signature. Hence every
effort should be made to acquire the art of detecting an imitation at
a glance. This can only be done by considerable practice. It is
asserted that every signature has character about it which can not be
perfectly copied, and which can always be detected by an experienced
eye. This is problematical, but certainly a skillful bank-teller can
hardly be deceived by the forgery of a name of a well-known depositor.

A banker and business man should accustom himself to scrutinize
closely the signatures of those with whom he deals. He should cut off
their names from the backs of checks and notes, and paste then in
alphabetical order in an autograph book devoted to that purpose, and
compare any suspicious signature with the genuine one.

In consequence of the numerous frauds committed by forged checks, some
of the European bankers have adopted the custom of sending with their
letter of advice a photograph of the person in whose favor the credit
has been issued, and to stop the payment when the person who presents
himself at the bank does not resemble the picture. If this practice
were to become universal, the object of preventing frauds could be
well attained.

It is probably a fair statement to make that any draft issued can be
raised, but it is unquestionably true that some can be much more
easily altered than others, and as in the last ten years additional
safeguards have been thrown around the bills of exchange of banks, so
the forger has become more and more expert and proficient, just about
keeping the pace