|
119
V"e erasures on the large note shown.]
ley could not have been made with a pen, for the same reasons
given with regard to the letters. I see in them traces of a fibrous
substance. They were not made with a pointed instrument.
~ The $400 note shown.]
he marks of the fibrous substance are here very distinct.
[The Court here took a recess for a few minutes, and the Jury were
allowed to retire.]
Cross-examination. I have seen these specimens of writing before
to-day. I have seen other anonymous letters, which I think were all
addressed to Mr. Tukey. The letter addressed to Mr. Tukey, which
I have examined, was evidently written in haste. The " Civis " let-
ter is one which is not disguised to my eye. It is in Dr. Webster's
usual hand-writing; though somewhat rounder, if anything, than
Dr. Webster's usual hand.
It is impossible for me to say a whole letter is disguised. If it was
shown to me, I could not say it was intended to be a disguised hand.
I observed that there were, in the °° Civis " letter, three letters dissim-
ilar to Dr. Webster's hand-writing. I could n't take my oath that the
others were the same as his hand-writing. I should say the other let-
ters were his hand-writing, but could not swear to every separate one;
but as a whole.
I only say that they all appear like his ordinary hand-writing, ex-
cept the letters which I have enumerated; but I cannot say he
intended to disguise them. I couldn't say all the excepted letters are
alike. The d's are peculiar. I think here he has made his d's
as he has usually done, with a curve to the left. He usually makes
a u for an a, and does not connect the opening at the top. I
have examined a number of his specimens. I have not seen some
of his a's joined at the top, in his genuine hand-writing. The
letter R is made without a hook to it, as we say. Sometimes he
makes an R that looks very much like a K. In his usual writing,
he makes a character which one would not consider an c-. There
is not, at the first sight, an appearance of its being disguised. With-
out something in the letters very unaccountably formed, I do not pre-
tend to say any hand is disguised. I first take some of the ordinary
hand-writing, and then compare the two. I do find the writings of
some other persons where there are some things the same. I have
taken up writing, casually, wherever I have beets-anybody's to com-
pare with. I have compared these letters with even the writing of
my own family. The '° Civis " letter is not exactly like Dr. Webster's
hand-writing, when you come to examine it closely. It struck me, at
first sight, as being his.
The °' Dart" letter does not appear like Dr. Webster's general
hand-writing.
[The letter called the °1 Dart letter " was here handed to the witness.]
The letter T is peculiar. The o's are similar to Dr. Webster's;
so are the r's. 'The d was similar, at first, but connected afterwards
at the top. The w and f are similar also. The f 's are all peculiar,
and not peaked at the top, and are also peculiar in the final strokye.
I think it an unnatural hand ; for when the letters are made very
strangely, and others - the same - not, then I judge that it must be
feigned. I think it is a disguised hand, and Dr. Webster's.
|
