The main deterrents to counterfeiting nowadays are, first, lack of
good engravers who will take the risk; second, the difficulty in the
making and the assembling of first-class plates, and third, the
difficulty in the securing of suitable paper. As to the last, the
fiber paper now in use with the two silk threads running through the
note lengthwise presents a hard proposition for imitation, and lastly,
and an important provision, is the fact the public is now pretty well
educated on the question of counterfeits, and know how a spurious bill
both looks and feels. As for the bank tellers, they scent counterfeits
by instinct. Things have changed for the counterfeiter, too, and they
are not for the best from his point of view.

The secret service of the United States is without a question the best
in the world.




CHAPTER XVIII

CHARACTER AND TEMPERAMENT INDICATED BY HANDWRITING

A Man's Handwriting a Part of Himself--Cheap Postage and Typewriters
Playing Havoc with Writing by Hand--Old Time Correspondence
Vanishing--Two Divisions of Handwriting--Fashion Has Changed Even
Writing--Characteristic Writing of Different Professions--Handwriting
a Sure Index to Character and Temperament--Personality of
Handwriting--Handwriting a Voiceless Speaking--A Neglected
Science--Interest in Disputed Handwriting Rapidly Coming to the