8. Handwriting Reveals the Famous

FAMOUS PRESIDENTS AND THEIR WIVES: HERBERT HOOVER, GROVER CLEVELAND, WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT, THEODORE AND FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT, JAMES A. GARFIELD. MRS. THEODORE ROOSEVELT, FRANCES CLEVELAND, MRS. HERBERT HOOVER, BESS TRUMAN, MAMIE DOUD EISENHOWER. OTHERS, INCLUDING EDWIN BOOTH, WENDELL PHIL­LIPS, BEATRICE HARRADEN, THE AUTHOR OF "CURFEW SHALL NOT RING TONIGHT", FON­TAINE FOX AND TOONERVILLE TROLLEY; OTIS SKINNER, EMILE COUE, REV. CHARLES COUGHLIN, WHITTAKER CHAMBERS, AND ANDREW CARNEGIE.

You live every day of your life as part of the greatest show in all history. You wake up and listen to long political speeches on your radio; you hear the neighbors quarreling in the next apartment one minute, and making up the next. You listen to evangelists who make every effort known to public speakers to stir your emotions, and you listen to and watch the latest TV star.

All of these and countless other actors touch your life each day, but you know only what you see and hear. Your whole understanding of them might be changed if you could only see how they think, what is back of their various emotional appeals. Then you would know them, and could value or devaluate them according to the true man or woman who is back of the decorative curtain.

You can have this knowledge. You CAN. You have already had numerous keys which will be worthless unless you use them. You have learned to determine the emotional nature of a writer—and as you go through life you will find many speakers who seem to be highly emotional, who stir your own feelings, who are merely putting on a show, and are deep within themselves cool, calculating.

• GRAPHO ANALYSIS HELPS YOU REALLY UNDERSTAND PEOPLE

When you know, you will not need to worry about what someone says about someone else. It may be someone in the public eye, or it may be one neighbor talking about another. With grapho analysis you will know, and knowing you will be safe in drawing your own conclusions, and making your own plans. You will be protected against phony sales appeals, regard­less of whether they are religious, political, or a matter of offering you a chance in a lifetime to buy something that really has no value to you—but which the sales promoter is glossing over with appeals, while underneath he is planning to take you.

It will not be necessary for you to distrust someone because his hair is curly, or believe that the woman across the back fence is a thief just because she was in your living room a few minutes before your purse dis­appeared from the coffee table. If you have her handwriting you will know positively whether she can be a thief. All day long you will have protection, and much more important each day will be filled with a new appreciation of the people with whom you come in contact, regardless of whether that contact is over radio, your telephone, in your own kitchen or office.

Plate 76. Herbert Hoover. Notice the well-rounded o's and e's, showing broadmindedness.

In exactly the same way you can know your ancestors, and the people, men and women, who have made history, in music, art, literature, politics. You can check back and understand the people who are gone, and who

Plate 77. Grover Cleve­land. Analysis of his sig­nature bears out what his­tory knows of his nature. For example, short dstems show his independence.

by their activities have, in some way or another affected your daily living today. Grapho analysis makes all of this possible, and the more you learn, and the more you use what you learn, the more quickly you can read an old letter found in your attic, and know the personality of the writer, or examine a history book with the signature of some famous man or woman and know something about the writer as he lived, affected the lives of others, even down to the present time.

Here, for instance, is the signature of Herbert Hoover, the man who bore the brunt of the blame for the depression of the 30's. This signature gives a very interesting picture of the man, not merely as the chief executive of the United States government, but the man. The tall plain capitals show a man without fear, but one who would not cross the street to attract attention. The well-rounded "o's" show amazing breadth of view in regard to other people and their rights. Although Mr. Hoover is known to all Americans as a member of the Quaker faith, he would certainly never be prejudiced in regard to other people's religions or politics. This is verified by the two well-rounded "e's", the first one in the last half of the "Herbert", and the second in the "Hoover". However, one of the "e's" is closed, show­ing that he was capable of having a closed mind on matters of a personal nature. When you take the three "e's" you have the major evidence in favor of broadmindedness. He was something of a dreamer, and very much a creator. You have already learned the value of the flat top "r's", and well rounded "n's", and Herbert Hoover had the flat topped "r's" of an engineer. He was a simple, quiet man, confident rather than weak, and economists who are untinged by political prejudices admit today that Hoover had nothing to do with the depression. No more than you or I, and as an engineer he lacked the ability to do the dramatic thing to take the minds of the people off their financial problems.

Well before Hoover there was Grover Cleveland, with wide open "o's" and the open "d", who was perfectly frank, and had the ability to stir emo­tions in others because he was personally a highly responsive emotional man. His short-stemmed "d" registered his complete indifference to what others might think of what he did or said, while the very short points on the "n" reveal that he was not a student. Instead he formed surface opinions, based on surface knowledge, and with such knowledge possessed the emotional appeal to sell his ideas to others.

Plate 78. Compact signa­ture of William Howard Taft shows his conserva­tism.

William Howard Taft was a man who expected to rule. The slant of the final stroke in the capital "t", and the last stroke in his signature both show a desire to tell others what to do. His compact writing revealed his conservatism. He was not a man to throw away a dollar, while the initial hook that occurs in the capital "W" shows a strong desire to possess. The small "m" reveals an eager desire for knowledge, which, of course, was verified by his appointment to the Supreme Court, where he was for years the Chief Justice.

Two Roosevelts served as President, and though Franklin D. held the office for three full terms and was elected for a fourth, he did not have much more of an appeal to the voters than his distant cousin Theodore had in his day. The only difference was that Theodore followed the precedent of only two terms for a President of the United States, and Franklin D. broke the precedent. Both men loved to talk. Their neighbors could have easily classed them as "mouthy"; both were highly emotional in their ap­peal to the public, but here the difference began to show.

Theodore was more of a waster than Franklin D., whose handwriting showed his very genuine absence of generosity or freedom in regard to spending. Critics of Franklin D. have pointed out that though he spent money lavishly in government operation, he was not spending his own money. His signature shows conclusively that those critics were right. Franklin D. Roosevelt was not a generous man. He was a dreamer, with a vast amount of personal pride that at times reached the point of near-vanity. On the other hand, Theodore did not give a continental whether people liked what he did or not. That short "d" in "Theodore" shows his complete indifference to convention or customs.

Plate 79. This signature of Theodore Roosevelt would indicate that the writer of it was talkative and emotional.

Franklin D. possessed one trait that his biographers have missed almost completely. Commentators, politicians, historians since his death have all commented on his unusual ability to catch and follow public opinion long before others sensed it. This was natural. Examine the letter Roosevelt sent me in 1939 (chapter II, plate 10) when I made his grapho analysis. At that time I told him his single greatest trait of character was. his psychic sense, or the ability to feel what people were thinking before they were conscious of their own thoughts or desires. This made him a master poli­tician, not super intelligent, because his handwriting does not reveal it.

He was a weak-willed, actually purposeless individual except as his psychic sense caught the drift of feeling, and then he was determined in carrying out a project.

Where Theodore did not care whether his actions caught the public fancy, Franklin D. loved the limelight, and did everything possible to focus that light on himself. In this he was peculiarly selfish, but contrary to the insistence of many of his critics, this writing does not show he was stubborn. He was opinionated, and there was another reason he would not admit defeat. He was exceedingly self-conscious and all history shows that the self-conscious individual, having taken a stand, will not admit that he is wrong. Franklin D. Roosevelt was exceedingly self-conscious—just as the small child, speaking his first piece in the second grade may be self-conscious, and afraid of what people may think or say.

Incidentally, although it is past history now, Franklin D. wrote me saying that my findings that his self-consciousness would make him un­yielding, and his psychic sense would guide him, was correct.

Plate 80. James A. Garfield. The small d indicates independence and other signs point out that he was a good organizer.

Two presidents who were the subjects of assassins' bullets—James A. Garfield and William McKinley—are next analyzed. Garfields signature (plate 80) shows a man capable of organization with the same independence that is revealed in the Theodore Roosevelt small "d". Garfield, however, was not the talker that either of the Roosevelts were, instead was more likely to keep his own council in many things. We know this from the fact that the capital A is wide open, but the small one is closed, although not tied. Garfield was an organizer, a trait that was not true of either of the Roosevelts.

Plate 81. William Mc-Kinley's m's and n's are almost shapeless, indicating a man who gathered only surface knowledge.

He was not a particularly brilliant man. The point on the "r" is nothing more than a tiny hump, and the small "i" is very short. However, Garfield stood up well in comparison to William McKinley (plate 81), whose "n" and "m" were almost shapeless, indicating a man who merely gathered surface knowledge. The two men had another trait in common. Although Garfield had organization ability he did not have any interest in details, and this was even more clearly shown in the William McKinley signature where not one of the three "i's" is dotted.

Summing up this evidence as it was written by each man about him­self, there is nothing to identify an unusually strong character, or man of unusual ability so that the old joke about the average American looking forward to the time when his son may be president is not to be discouraged. Indeed, the average president has been just an average man, and as as leader of the United States has been just as subject to mistakes as any man in a lesser plane of influence. With the exception of William Howard Taft and Herbert Hoover, all of these men were strongly responsive to emotional appeals, and so capable of appealing through their own emotions to the emotions of the great mass of voters.

Their wives, too, are interesting not merely because they were wives of presidents of the country, but because, as every wife is well aware, the wife has an influence on her husband and what he does. Mrs. Theodore Roose­velt was a brilliant woman shown by her sharp pointed "t's" and wedge shaped "m's" and "n's". She was decisive, and just as independent as her husband.

Frances Cleveland possessed more of a learning mind than her husband, although his grasp of surface ideas was much quicker than that of his wife. It was Mrs. Garfield, though, who had concentration as indicated by the very small handwriting. She could give her entire attention to one thing at a time, and this little specimen of her writing shows that she was very frank in all of her dealings with family, friends and even strangers.

Plate 84. Mrs. James A. Garfield's small hand­writing indicates concentra­tion.

You will find it interesting to compare the Hoover handwritings. This specimen is part of an autograph, and reveals Mrs. Hoover's high emotional response, friendliness, warmth and brilliant mind. Study the m-points which reveal her exploratory thinking, and the down-stroke showing determination.

Plate 85. Lou Henry Hoover (Mrs. Herbert Hoover) reveals exploratory thinking in her m-points and determi­nation in her downstrokes.

Plate 86. Interesting sig­nature of Mrs. Harry S. Truman.

Both Bess Truman and Mamie Doud Eisenhower make an excellent showing as wives of men in the chief office open to Americans. Both show keen, exploring minds, a genuine eagerness to learn, that has fitted them for the tremendous work that is part of the job of being a President's wife.

THE WHITE HOUSE

WASHINGTON

PLATE 87. Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower shows a sense of humor in her hand writing as given in this signature. (Thorough analysis is not possible from a signature only.)

Mrs. Eisenhower's signature shows a stronger sense of humor. Certainly there are few places in American life where such a trait is as valuable as it is to the First Lady of the land.

Presidents and their wives are, of course, only a small part of our American life. There have been bankers, doctors, business men, each of whom has had a terrific impact on the country as a whole. Each is worthy of your study because after all each has had some influence on your life and the world in which you live.

One of the early financial wizards in America was Clinton B. Fisk, who, according to this page, plate 88, was both a brilliant and a selfish man.

There are no generous strokes in this entire page, and the points indicating keen comprehension are long and sharp.

Also he was an irritable individual, as well as a sarcastic one. The irritability shows in the arrow-like i-dots, the sarcasm is the knife blade-like t-crossings, but there is something highly significant about these cross-bars.

Plate 88. Financial wizard, Clinton B. Fisk, shows not one generous stroke in this holograph. Notice the arrow-like i dots.

Quite a good many of them are made like inverted basins. Clinton B. Fisk was attempting to control his sarcasm, and so he bent his t-bars time and again, just as you might attempt to bend a steel bar. However, the Fisk writing does not show any real purpose in the t-bars. They are light, so that you know, as you examine the writing, that he was not a purposeful man; rather he was selfish, brilliant, irritable, and naturally sarcastic, but had made an effort, possibly only half-heartedly, to control the latter trait.

One of the greatest of early American actors was Edwin Booth, brother of Lincoln's assassin. As you examine his writing you will immediately re­cognize the strong emotional response the man had for emotional situations —a natural quality for a man who was to portray highly emotional scenes back of the footlights. The writing does not reveal a brilliant scholar, except under pressure. Compare the sharp points of the "n" in "Edwin" with the rest of the specimen. The signature "n" shows remarkable comprehension, but it is the only place you will find it in this page note. This is significant.

Men who handle a tremendous amount of mental work frequently reach the point where they skim over ordinary everyday activities, and do not exercise their great mental capacities. However, when you find such writing, and other lines of the same writing, or a signature that is as greatly different as in this case you know that the writer is merely skimming the surface, and is actually exceedingly brilliant. It is a striking fact that the brilliant individual will show that brilliance in any handwriting that he completes. He may show that he skims the surface but there is something in his mental make-up that rejects letting such a picture of himself go out to the public, and he will reveal his true mental ability somewhere in a page or even in a few lines. Edwin Booth did it, and though the writing seems contradictory it is not. It represented the two sides of the man's nature: One to hurry, give little if any attention to matters he considered un-informative, and then draw on the vast reserves of his mental ability when he needed to do so.

Plate 89. Actor Edwin Booth, brother of Lincoln's assassin, shows a contra­dictory handwriting—but it can be explained.

This specimen is included here to show you that you should in fairness to the writing you will attempt to analyze have enough evidence to draw an honest conclusion. For a great many years men and women who had read a book of some kind on handwriting analysis would set themselves up to analyze handwriting from a line or a signature. It cannot be done accurately. For instance, if you had only the Edwin Booth signature you would see the truth about the man's ability, but you would not have the complete story, i.e., that there were many times that, though brilliant, he was entirely indifferent, actually did not take the trouble to use his mind on matters that he considered unimportant.

Wendell Phillips was an impassioned orator a hundred years ago. He was—but why discuss the man's past? You have his character shown in this five-line specimen, along with his signature. He, like Edwin Booth, was capable of feeling and showing how he felt—and so capable of stirring and swaying the feelings of others. He was capable of mild enthusiasm. The reason we know that his enthusiasm was not strong is because the long t-bars are very light. He could feel enthusiasm, but he had to depend on his emotional appeal to stir his listeners.

Plate 90. Wendell Phillips, famous abolitionist, had long t-bars but as they were very light his enthusiasm was not strong.

He lacked imagination, but he had a consistently eager mind when it came to learning. As he learned he had the ability to take what he learned and turn it into a message that was based on his capacity to stir the feelings of others. He has three "e's" made like the Greek "e", showing minor, but not a dominant interest in culture. Combine this quality, however, with the frequent breaks between letters in words, and we know that it was easy for him to appreciate, and possibly write music or verse. If you check the man's history you will find that his speeches, and his life reflected both of these traits, so that living now you can look back and understand the man AS HE WAS while he was living, and making his part of history.

• "SHIPS THAT PASS IN THE NIGHT"

When I was in the grades, many years ago, our country school had a library of possibly a hundred volumes which I read and re-read. "Vanity Fair", and the poem* of Robert Burns, and many others, but one volume stood out in my memory, and though the book is long out of print, you may find it in an occasional library. If you do, read "Ships that Pass in the Night", by Beatrice Harraden. It was a psychological novel, written long before psychological novels were thought about, and long after reaching adulthood I offered rare book dealers $25 to get me a. copy. The offer did not bring results, but one day browsing in a Chicago book shop I found a copy for forty cents, thereby saving twenty-four dollars and sixty cents.

Why did that story make such a lasting impression on my memory? Let us see what the handwriting of the author says about her. First of all, you will recognize the remarkable concentration. This intensifies every other trait shown, just as if you were using a high powered magnifying glass. Much of the writing is without formation, the habit of many who do a vast amount of writing that is necessary but unimportant. Here and there you will find a large but never completed lower loop—an imagination never put to its full use. A high percentage of her small "g's" are made like badly formed figure 8's, a sure sign of literary adaptability. Such writers frequent­ly succeed without any seeming reserve of ability, because of the talent they have for weaving word patterns. There are numerous tiny ticks or dashes that may not reproduce well in this plate, but which reveal a consistent state of irritation. Not vigorous, not apparent to others, but still annoying like a bug that gets under your collar on a spring day.

Plate 91. This handwriting of Beatrice Harraden, author, is revealing in many ways. For one thing, it shows almost complete absence of emotionalism.

Some of the "d's" are looped, showing sensitiveness, and of course the concentration increases the sensitiveness, but even the most liberal interpre­tation of the looped "d's" will not give Beatrice Harraden more than a mildly sensitive nature. There is one trait that you have all the way through this writing that explains the quiet calm of her story.

There is an almost complete absence of emotionalism. The book left a cool, quiet, soothing effect. It told a story. It did not have any message, it was not an appeal to feeling, but rather a story well told. That must have been the reason that book made such an impression on the boy of twelve who read it, re-read it and remembered it all through the years. This may be a free endorsement, for a book you may find entirely too late, but if after a hard and distressing day or week, or longer period in life, if you can locate "Ships that Pass in the Night", it may give you relaxation that you will not find in any book published in the last half century.

Plate 92. Rose H. Thrope in her d's and t's, especially, shows many interesting traits. She wrote "Curfew Shall Not Ring Tonight."

Another writer of the long ago who made a name for herself in every home in the land was Rose H. Thorpe. Her name is not well remembered. But her "Curfew Shall Not Ring Tonight" was a favorite on public school closing days when Johnny or Mary stood before the room filled with parents and loudly spoke a piece—and that piece was the ballad that Rose H. Thorpe wrote while still a school girl. It was published in 1870 and from a Detroit paper that used it the verses went all over America.

The slant shows emotional response, and appeal. The letter structures are close together but are evenly spaced, showing rhythm. Your attention is called particularly to the way in which most of the "t's" and "d's" are made. There is an upstroke, and then a downstroke that is well separated from the upstroke. When the two strokes are made as they are in this specimen, you have positive evidence that the writer will not hurry; he deliberates. This does not mean the writer puts off doing things; instead, he or she merely takes her time, and does not hurry. The slant, the rhythm and these "d's" and "t's" tell a story that should provide a basis for you ,to find many other interesting traits in the author's writing.

You may be interested in comparing the writing of Ella Wheeler Wilcox (chapter 2, plate 5), and Mrs. Thorpe. Ella Wilcox was the most popular romantic versifier in the early days of the 20th Century. She was read and admired all over the Western Hemisphere and in Europe. She was extremely impulsive, a woman who hurried all the time, who had a brilliant mind, but never took time to relax. Mrs. Wilcox wrote me while on shipboard bound for Germany. "I deserve no credit for my success. I write because I must. All her life my mother wanted to write verse. Instead she had the hard work of a Wisconsin housewife, with a family. She worked, and I write because she wanted to do so. People say that I am writing something that helps them, that makes life happier for them, but it is my mother who deserves the credit. I do not."

• PRACTICE REGULARLY TO GAIN SKILL

You may find this specimen interesting, just to work it out for your­self, and get your own analyses. After all, you have had a great many principles explained to you and there is nothing in this writing that you cannot handle. You can determine how much of a learner Mrs. Wilcox was; you can tell whether she was sarcastic or domineering—and if so, when. You can determine for yourself whether she was a frank, or inde­pendent woman, and finally you settle for yourself whether her emotions were deep or short-lived. Do these things for yourself, and you will gain confidence in the rules you have studied.

Your next two specimens provide the work of two great artists, each famous in his own field. The first specimen is the writing of Landseer, the great artist, whose writing gives you a most remarkable illustration of one particular character trait. Study those cross-bars for the "t's"; long, sweep­ing, the first exceedingly heavy, showing great force of will. The second lighter, but each is made with a long bow-like stroke, which is proof of great conscious self-control. A professional analyst could take this page of writing and tell you exactly what the great artist was controlling, but the point of real value to you is that these two strokes illustrate in an effective way how self-control is shown in cross-bars for the "t".

The second specimen is from my collection secured from one of the great autograph dealers who have been locating specimens of rare hand­writing for me during the many years that grapho analysis has been de­veloping. The comic strip artist, Fontaine Fox is gone. James Montgomery Flagg, who made this drawing of Fox has been forgotten by all except our oldsters, but the Fox handwriting still endures a permanent picture of the man, and how he thought and worked.

Give attention to the cross-bars of the "t's". There are just two, and they reveal much that would have been important to anyone working with the great cartoonist. In case they did not understand the trait of character expressed by these two t-bars, they might have run into trouble. Fontaine Fox wanted what he wanted when he wanted it. Both t-bars are written well up on the stem, one of them almost at the top of the stem.

Plate 94. Three words and a signature tell you much about Fontaine Fox who made friends of millions of readers who followed his "Toonerville Trolley" cartoons.

The man was working toward a goal. He was not exactly a dreamer according to the evidence in the last t-bar, but he was not a chap who sold himself short on what he could do. As a result, he knew that he going some place, and the weight of the t-bar is strong enough to show that he had a very clear picture of where he was going. When he wanted help he wanted it. Anyone working with him would have been better qualified if he had read Elbert Hubbard's "Message to Garcia" with its terse message to the young worker to get things done, and not stand around asking questions. These two t-bars within themselves give you a picture of an important trait the artist had and which directly affected his associates, and those around him. Get it done. Get it done now.

Plate 95. Long under­scoring shows self-reliance in the signature of Otis Skinner, great American actor. Tremendous capacity for colorful expression shown in this heavy writ­ing.

Plate; 96. All these marks that look like v's, upside-down and right side up, point to brilliance. This is the handwriting of the famous French psychologist, Emile Coue.

Otis Skinner was not afraid. That long underscore shows his self-reliance. It is long, sweeping, and grows heavier at the right of the long stroke. That indicates a man who was not only self-reliant, but forceful, overcoming obstacles. The increasing weight of the stroke has the same value as the long, sweeping t-bar that grows heavier from left to right. There is increase of purpose, or force to overcome obstacles, or objection.

Otis Skinner's comprehension worked like a needle. His i-dots show irritability and his down-strokes reveal determination. Otis Skinner was self-reliant and the things he started he would carry through because of his determination.

Right after World War I the western world was treated to a visit from an eminent French psychologist whose books became household musts in millions of homes. His suggestion "Every day in every way I am getting better and better" was repeated by hundreds of thousands of old and" young who believed that the suggestion would set their world right. This French psychologist was Emile Coue, whose handwriting is exceedingly interesting because of his impact on the post war years in America. As you examine it you find that there is a preponderance of sharp upper points, and that the base joinings between strokes are sharp wedges. Actually Coue's writing was largely a matter of "v's", rightside up and upside down. You do not need to read French to know that this man was brilliant, one who would do endless research, who was not a dreamer, but a severe analyst of everything he learned. Although he was friendly, he was not an emotional extremist, he did not plunge into any project impulsively nor rush headlong into any decision. It is interesting, isn't it, to understand a man whose message you may not be able to read, but whose picture of himself is so clearly defined in his handwriting.

Plate 97. Handwriting of Father Charles Coughlin, radio priest of the mid-thirties. On the emotional scale this writing measures vertical to slightly back­hand, indicating a cool objectivity.

During the depression years of the 30's there was no more vigorous radio speaker than Charles Coughlin, a Catholic priest in a suburb of Detroit. His enemies called him a rabble rouser, his followers swore by him as a great man. Let us see what his own signature reveals about him. First, this writing is vertical, to slightly backhand. Such writers are cool, objective, rather than impassioned. And if they make high emotional appeals it is because their judgment says it will be productive of results.

Such writers look after themselves, especially if there is no evidence of generosity in the writing, and there is none in this signature. The small "a" and "o" are completely closed with ink. The n-points are sharp, but they are exceedingly short. The same sort of point is used for the "r" in "Charles". The closed "e" in the first name is made into a point, but it too is relatively short, considering the height of the writing. All of this evidence shows that Charles Coughlin was a man whose information was gained from the surface rather than from scholarly research, and his messages were studied appeals based on his own best interests. He may have been an advocate'of many reforms, but this writing shows a man who was interested in reforms for his own personal interest, not for the good of the world.

After World War II most of the world was in a dither regarding what the Communists would or would not do. Plate 98 is taken from a letter written by a man who acted as a spy, turned reformer, and became one of the most controversial figures in spy history of the 50's. The writing is exceedingly heavy. Much of it is muddy. Almost every circle is closed.

Plate 98. Whittaker Chambers wrote this. He was involved in the Alger Hiss spy case, as you will remember. What do you make of this handwriting?

There are no upper loops showing a complete lack of philosophy or spiritual outlook. Instead the writing is that of a rank materialist whose appetites are strong. The "d's" an<3 "t's" are short-stemmed, and time and again the "d's" are looped, but the sensitiveness would never have much affect on the writer's conduct. He was too completely indifferent to what others might think and say to be hurt easily. The vertical writing revealed a writer who was ruled by self-interest, who acted only in his own interest. This would be true when he was a spy, and later when he confessed and participated in an effort to reveal what he knew as a spy for Russia.

This is the writing of Whittaker Chambers, one time a member of the staff of TIME, the man involved most deeply in the Alger Hiss case that has made spy history in a land where politicians, ministers, teachers, and business men alike are subject to the strain of worry concerning a possible next World War.

Plate 99. Andrew Carnegie wrote his own autobiography in this specimen of his handwriting, although he was not aware he was doing so.

You started this chapter with the study of a great engineer, and now you have the handwriting of a man responsible for scores of libraries across the country—a man who was mighty in the steel industry in the early days, a man who was accused of many bad traits by those who hated him, and lauded by those who benefited by their dealings with him. You can make your own discoveries about the man, and know him, not as his own age and generation knew him, but as he was, and as he revealed himself in his writing almost a hundred years ago.

It was the great British dramatist and author, Oscar Wilde, who wrote, "The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it." You will be redoing history as you get an objective understanding of Carnegie, one of the western world's first great millionaires.

First of all, he is not selfish, nor stingy. He was kindly, but not intense­ly sympathetic. He was not in any sense stingy, nor selfish, but neither was he generous. His thinking was not that of a great scholar, but a man who skimmed the cream of information, and went ahead. His writing shows a very considerable development of imagination that was never put to active use. He was broad-minded, with a highly developed sense of philosophy or spirituality. He was exceedingly diplomatic, and his tastes were simple. If given the food that he would like he would have chosen plain fare, and his clothing and surroundings would have been in line with his choice of food. His pride was strong, sometimes almost reaching vanity. He was frank, talkative, rather than highly secretive.

He was quick to see an opportunity and take advantage of it, but though he was one of the world's richest men, he was not impatient, domineering, nor sarcastic. His determination, once he started a venture, was very strong, but he was not strong-willed, nor capable of seeing a long distance purpose, and working toward it. Instead he had to see opportunity as it existed, take advantage of it, and push forward rather than being far-sighted in business or social life. In simple language, he was something of an opportunist, who did not hesitate to push forward when opportunity developed.

This is Andrew Carnegie's story of himself, written more than sixty years ago. It is a true picture because he created it as he wrote this note which you have reproduced here. So you see you can actually rewrite the history of men, when you have their own stories of themselves as they put those true pictures into handwriting.

EXAMINATION FOR CHAPTER 8

(Correct answers for this examination will be found in the back of the book.)

In this chapter you have had a great many rules. Some of them you will undoubtedly miss on first reading, yet each is important and will make it easier for you to understand vital facts about any writer.

In preparing these chapters it has been the purpose not only to give you rules, but to present them as they are illustrated by the handwriting of men and women who have made a place in history. This has been done because to merely give you rules would mean very little. You must under­stand how the rule applies to individuals and the way they live. If the president of a great corporation is sarcastic, it means that he will be less successful in handling a highly sensitive employee. On the other hand, if the employee whose "t's" and "d's" are made with large loops is carrying an unnecessary burden, he will suffer many times without reason.

Your own knowledge of grapho analysis as you gain it will be of little use to you unless., you can put it to use. When you get a hand written letter, go over it letter by letter and check it for everything you can find. When you do this you will be surprised many times how much the handwriting has helped you understand the reasons back of the letter. This is true because people act and write as they think and you are gaining a key to under­standing how they think. Learn every rule and do not be satisfied with any­thing less than a perfect score on these questions.

EXAMINATION

1. . What does the flat topped "r" indicate in connection with the
writers* natural aptitudes?

a.Literary ability.

b.Creative ability as in engineering.

c.Analytical ability.

2. . What would you look for in a handwriting to determine if the
writer had "hunches" or a "psychic sense"?

a.Large writing.

b.Small writing.

c.Flat topped "r's" and well rounded "m V and "n's"

d.Connected writing.

e.Frequent breaks between letters of a word.

3. . What letter structure reveals frankness?

a.Closed "a's" and "o's".

b.Large lower loops.

c.Looped "t's" and "d's".

d.Wide open-mouthed circle letters.

4. . What reveals the ability to concentrate?

a.Writing slanted far to the right.

b.Large writing.

c.Tall d-stems.

d.Small writing.

5. . What stroke reveals an effort to gain self-control?

a.Long sweeping t-bars.

b.T-BARS BENT DOWNWARD AT EACH END.

c.Dish shaped t-bars.

d.Short t-bars.

6. . What does a Greek "e" signify?

a. Musical ability.

b.Stubbornness.

c.Cultural tendencies.

d.Sensuality.

7. . Sensitiveness is shown in what letters or letter?

a.Large lower looped "g's".

b.Looped "d's" and "t's".

c.Retraced strokes for "p".

d.Sharp pointed "m's" and "n's".

8. . How are t-bars that show sarcasm made?

a.Arrow-like strokes, heavy at the start, thin at the

FINISH.

b.With blunt, club like ends.

c.Long, sweeping strokes.

d.Curved like a basin.

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