Checkmate

“ When a player gives check, and fails to give notice by crying "Check," his adversary need not, unless he think proper, place his king out of check, nor cover.
[If it is discovered that the king is in check, and has been so for several moves past, the players must move the men back to the point at which they stood when check was given. If they cannot agree as to when check was first given, the player who is in check must retract his last move, and defend his king.] The player who effects checkmate wins the game. Stalemate constitutes a draw game. ”

“ If you can fool the cashier into giving your messenger a check book you can gamble pretty safely on his paying a check signed with the same name. In that way, you see, you can get all the blank checks you need and test the cashier's watchfulness at the same time. It's too easy. The only thing you have to look out for is not to overdraw the account. Still, you find so many checks in the mail that you can usually choose somebody's account that will stand the strain. ”

“ Workmen who receive their salaries from their employers in the form of checks often are tempted to make use of the signature to forge others and have them cashed.
Under this class of criminal we have also to contend with what are known as bogus check operators, who, when writing and passing checks, use fictitious names of banks and persons; also the worthless check opera [43] tor, who, after gaining the confidence of his employer, or of some bank, writes and has cashed a check in excess of funds he may have on deposit. The detective must not confuse forged checks with bogus checks. ”

“ There is a rap at the door and the postman brings a letter which is a message from a former employer who tells him that he has just learned of his distress, that he will help him, and that in the meantime he incloses his check for a sum of money which he hopes may make him comfortable. A check is simply a promise to pay. The young man, says General Booth, looks at it a moment and then begins to rush about the room in great excitement. ”

“ After the bogus customer's check has passed through the clearing house it is returned to the bank on which it has been drawn and the fraud is at once discovered.
Another part of a signature clerk's duties is to see that no checks are post-dated, as of course no drafts must be paid until they fall due. On occasions a careless man will post-date a check, but as a rule the mistake is purposely made. This spotting of post-dated checks, however, is the easiest part of a signature clerk's work, and it is very seldom that a check so dated escapes him. ”

“ That if the defendants had no suspicion that the check was raised, and sent it to plaintiffs for examination without specifying the particulars to which they wished the examination directed, the plaintiffs had a right to presume that it was desired in relation to such points as the law presumed them to have knowledge, namely, the genuineness of the drawer's signature and the state of his account, and if they answered in good faith and had no means other than those of defendants of knowing that the check was raised, they were not estopped from setting up that fact. ”

“ As night approached he entered the Kendall store, and related the whole affair in a quiet tone to Mr. Bradley. That good old soul could hardly contain himself for righteous indignation; but Checkers cut him short by telling him he was in a hurry.
"There 's two things I want to ask of you, Mr. Bradley," said Checkers. "I want that package of bonds you have for me in the safe, and I want you to cash a check for two hundred dollars—it's just the balance I have in the bank here. I 'm going away to-night—for a while, at least." ”

“ When a check is made payable to John Smith or order, John Smith must sign his name on the back of the check—left-hand end and about an inch from the top.
Never sign a check until you are ready to collect, or to bank it.
The payee can endorse the check to another by writing on the back as follows:
Pay to the order of
Thomas Brown.
John Smith.
A check payable to "bearer" may be negotiated by any one. When such checks are presented by a stranger, at the bank of the maker, the paying teller always insists that the stranger be identified. ”

“ The genuineness of the payee's name and of the sum filled in the body of the check were as well known and as easily ascertainable by the payees themselves as by the bank officer, and unless the inquiry was so framed as to call his attention to these points, he had no reason to suppose, in the nature of the transaction, that he was expected to give information in regard to them. So the response of 'good' should not on sound principle be held to extend to them. ”

“ If a check is not protested, the maker of the check must prove that he has suffered loss by not receiving notice of non-payment. But the drawer of a draft, or the endorsers on any check, draft, or note are released, whether they suffer damage or not. Generally speaking, a check is a written request of a depositor to his bank to pay a certain sum to a certain party; whereas a draft is a written request of any one to a firm or individual, to pay a certain sum to a certain party. ”

“ If you make your check payable say, to William Armstrong or order,
nobody but William Armstrong, or some one to whom he indorses the check,
can collect the amount, and if through fraud or otherwise some one not
entitled to it gets the money which the check calls for, the
responsibility is not yours, but the bank's. It is for that reason that
bankers and business men use such great care in accepting checks. ”

“ A check requires no presentment for acceptance as distinguished from presentment for payment. If once presented and payment refused, it is dishonored. [1] To constitute a bon a fide holder of a note or check it is necessary-1. That it should have been received before maturity; 2. That a valuable consideration should have been paid for it; and 3. That it should have been taken without knowledge of the defences sought to be made.
Whatever defences could properly be made to these checks in the hands of the original holder could be made while they were in the plaintiff's hands. ”

“ Never cash a check for a man whom you do not know to be square.
The same applies to the endorsement of checks.
IN TRAVELLING Always be courteous in travelling, but never take the chance acquaintance of the steamboat or car into your confidence.
Keep an eye on the man who "fortunately is going just your way."
Watch out for the fellow who knows the leading men of your town and is a cousin of Judge Smith.
Do not respond if such men ask you to cash a small check or make a slight advance till his draft arrives.
Do not accept the invitation of strangers to visit any place. ”

“ You might just as well ask a strange bank to cash your check as to offer it your uncertified check for a collection on you. You would hardly cash a check for a stranger. Why should the bank take an equal risk for you? Yet nothing seems to rouse the ire of the average man more, than for the collection clerk to ask him to have his check certified. ”

“ Have you a check-book?”
“How curt you are! I thought you’d like to help me. Men ‘most always do. Yes, I have a check-book,—that other clerk gave it to me. But I don’t like it, and I want to exchange it. See,—it has a horrid, plain black muslin cover! Don’t you have any bound in gray suède, with gilt edges. I’m willing to pay extra.”
“We have no other kind, Miss. How much money do you want?” ”

“ There is hardly a store of any importance in the city but what is provided with a public telephone, and in every instance, they are inclosed in a booth, where one is enabled to secure privacy. Upon my calling him up again, my attorney informed me that he was experiencing some difficulty in the matter of getting the check cashed, as the bank officials expressed a desire to confer with the firm having drawn the check, before they would pay it.
I instructed him to stay with it and do the very best possible to secure the money, and further to get my grip at whatever cost. ”

“ The force of the check is indeed such as often to capsize one or more of the men. He now renews his efforts; he kicks, foams, bellows; and his companions, at first startled, return and join in chorus; the men shout, the dogs bark furiously, and the affair becomes at once dangerous and highly exciting. ”

“ Raised checks are an extensive source of loss and annoyance to banks and individuals. Many checks, after being written, mailed or sent, fall into the hands of persons who make a practice of “raising” the amounts for which the checks were originally intended and written, and then pass or have them cashed. For instance, a check written for ten dollars will be raised to one hundred dollars, or to whatever amount the raiser may believe it can be passed without arousing the suspicions of the bank, merchant or individual upon whom it is to be passed. ”

“ How to write this check in order that it may not be tampered with and "raised" is something that has held the attentions and invited the inventive talents of many people, in and out of business. Even when the best of the chemical papers are used in the bank check the drawer of the paper may have not the slightest protection from "raising" at the hands of an expert. The manner in which the written and figure amounts on the face of the check are placed makes the material alteration of the amount easy beyond question. ”

“ The stub of your check book will
furnish a permanent memorandum, and when the check is canceled and
returned to you by the bank, it is an indisputable evidence that the
debt has been paid, or that the remittance has been made. The making of
a check is a simple matter, but even the best business men make mistakes
sometimes which are as difficult to remedy as they are easy to avoid.
The hints here given and the facsimiles of checks printed in
illustration will repay careful study. ”

“ If the maker of a check has his check certified, he is jointly responsible with the bank for its payment, but if the receiver of the check has it certified, the maker of the check is released from all responsibility. ”

“ In the view which we take, the demurrer, which was general, was properly overruled, if the checks were within the second section, as the 18 bills or drafts confessedly were. Simons v. Butters, 48 Ill. 226. Daniel comprehensively defines a 'check' to be 'a draft or order upon a bank or banking-house, purporting to be drawn upon a deposit of funds, for the payment at all events of a certain sum of money to a certain person therein named, or to him or his order, or to bearer, and payable instantly on demand.' 2 Daniel, Neg. Inst. ”

“ Altogether, though the work is interesting, and even fascinating in a way, the responsibilities are so great that the effect on the nerves is often very trying at times. One thing we are particular about, and that is to take no chances. If we have the slightest doubt about the genuineness of a check we at once communicate, either by telegraph, special messenger, or telephone, with the supposed drawer of the check, and in this way turn doubt into certainty. ”

“ Great care must be exercised by the detective when it is left to him to have warrants issued for criminals of this class. It often happens that one person will forge a signature or endorsement to a check, then delegate a confederate or other person to present the check for payment. ”

“ 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. ”

“ If the maker of a check has no money in the bank, perhaps he may not be a depositor, he commits a fraud in making and giving his check to another, and the offense in many states is deemed a crime: likewise a person who receives such a check knowing its true nature is equally deep in the wrong. ”

“ Of course the marked "sucker" knew nothing of the deal, and, believing a mistake had been made would return the check and letter. He at once received in reply an apologetic letter, stating that the first letter and check had been inserted in the wrong envelope through the carelessness of a clerk, it having been the intention to mail to the recipient a circular instead of another man's check for dividends. It was enough. Ten per cent a week was not to be resisted. The "sucker" almost [Pg 532] invariably opened negotiations on his own initiative and was landed. ”

“ In the van was Checkers' surly acquaintance—surly no longer, but radiant with a smile which extended from ear to ear. Checkers broke from the line, and grabbed him by the arm. "What 's up?" he exclaimed. "What's the yelling about?"
"All bets off," was the glad rejoinder; "the favorite was 'pulled.' The judges are onto a job in the race. It was 'fixed' for Remorse. We all get our money back. ”

“ There's the check in your hand—the same thing. It's an order to the bank to hand you the amount—the usual way of paying money in business affairs. If you would rather have the money paid here, I can send a clerk to the bank to get it. ”

“ In looking at the check-roll it is forbidden to point at the names with the finger. No one may examine the check-roll at night with an open light, owing more probably to the fear of setting it on fire than to superstitious prejudices. ”

“ The moonlight was beautiful; the old trees stand mournful and black against the luminous sky; there is for him a fascination in the solitude, as his noiseless steps lead him alternately into the black shadow cast on the sward by the towering foliage, and into the clear moonlight, on dewy grass that shows grey in that cold brightness. ”