has plugged it and the glue is dry he punches a cipher into the place
and then punches a dollar mark after it. Of course, after punching the
little disks out of the edge of the check it is necessary to trim that
part of the paper, but that is done readily, for checks always have
ample margin.

"The check-raiser does not depend on the fact that the scrutiny of
checks in a large bank is bound to be hasty, but he knows that he need
not fear if his work is at all well done, for the paying teller simply
cannot spend much time in examining the many checks that are passed
in.

"One New York City bank sends through the clearing-house daily an
average of 3,100 checks, and as there are about sixty-five such banks
in the clearinghouse the total number of checks handled in the few
hours of business in a day is something enormous.

"It is this haste--which, by the way, is absolutely necessary in order
to keep the books posted to date--that is responsible for the passing
of one of the most peculiar checks that ever came under the notice of
the detectives of America. In this case the check was neither
falsified nor was the signature forged, but it was bogus just the
same.

"It was a check made up of the parts of two checks, and all the
implements necessary for falsification were a pair of scissors and
that invisible glue. The clever swindler had got hold of two genuine
checks from the same bank. One was for $1,000 and the other for $70.
Placing these two checks together, one on top of the other, he cut
them through neatly with the scissors. Then he pasted that portion