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Post by Michael on May 27, 2019 8:57:17 GMT -5
I just opened my folder containing the National Ledger filled with Hauptmann's handwriting. I reached in and randomly pulled out a page which I've linked below. I think this is a fair and non-biased way of giving examples of Hauptmann's true nature concerning the numbers and letters which he wrote. imgur.com/4toB9N1
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hiram
Detective
Posts: 124
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Post by hiram on Jul 7, 2022 18:32:54 GMT -5
Recently I have been determined to clear my bookshelves and in doing so found a book with the title "The Hand of Hauptmann: The Handwriting Expert Tells the Story of the Lindbergh Case." The author is listed as J. Vreeland Haring, and the book was published in 1937 by the Hamer publishing Company located in Plainfield, New Jersy. I have no idea how I acquired this particular book. Haring is represented as an expert in graphology. He analyzes first the handwriting found in ransom notes and later compares Hauptmann's handwriting to that found in the notes. My question is whether Haring's analysis is considered credible and also if this work is generally known.
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hiram
Detective
Posts: 124
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Post by hiram on Jul 8, 2022 7:33:58 GMT -5
Commenting here on the inconsistencies Haring detects in the handwriting evidence:
First, ordinary words are misspelled, but the longer words are often spelled correctly. Haring suggests that the writer used a dictionary for the longer words. To use the dictionary one has to know the word and understand its denotation. This does not appear likely in this case. As has already been pointed out, the greater possibility is that the ransom notes had more than one author, the second individual not writing but making suggestions and then spelling the more complex words which are used correctly in context.
Second, the problems and inconsistencies in spelling and punctuation occur in both the English and the German. For example, the English "not" is sometimes spelled "note." The German "gut" is sometimes spelled "gute." Same mistake, different language. The inconsistencies here may well relate to a brain disorder which is now recognized early in school children: individual syllables and words which are heard in speech are not correctly connected to the alphabetic symbols representing them, but not in a consistent manner. So the misspelling will vary with this disorder, and will be sometimes spelled correctly A child with this problem would not do well in school as a result during the early part of the 20th century although he/she might be very good in subjects not requiring much writing but more aimed at trades and mechanics.
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Post by Michael on Jul 8, 2022 8:05:26 GMT -5
Recently I have been determined to clear my bookshelves and in doing so found a book with the title "The Hand of Hauptmann: The Handwriting Expert Tells the Story of the Lindbergh Case." The author is listed as J. Vreeland Haring, and the book was published in 1937 by the Hamer publishing Company located in Plainfield, New Jersy. I have no idea how I acquired this particular book. Haring is represented as an expert in graphology. He analyzes first the handwriting found in ransom notes and later compares Hauptmann's handwriting to that found in the notes. My question is whether Haring's analysis is considered credible and also if this work is generally known. I wrote about him in V3, pages 453-7. I also mention this book in V4, pages 101-2. That's a good find, not many people have it. I believe he's just as creditable as any other "expert" but have reservations about the whole 'science' behind it as I've mentioned in V2, V3, and V4.
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hiram
Detective
Posts: 124
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Post by hiram on Jul 8, 2022 10:35:09 GMT -5
Thanks much, Michael. I'll check out your references.
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hiram
Detective
Posts: 124
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Post by hiram on Jan 20, 2023 14:26:49 GMT -5
The misspelling in the word "boat" has been of considerable interest, especially since the word was supposedly misspelled in the same way in one of Hauptmann's notebook, evidence submitted by Wilenz at the Hauptmann's trial. The German word for "boat" is "boot"--no "d" at the ending. In the ransom note in which boat Nelly is written (illustration attached), I suggest that the word was intended to be "boat". The writer did not cross the letter "t", so what appears to be a "d" is actually an uncrossed "t". Attachments:
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Joe
Lt. Colonel
Posts: 2,635
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Post by Joe on Jan 21, 2023 9:58:47 GMT -5
The misspelling in the word "boat" has been of considerable interest, especially since the word was supposedly misspelled in the same way in one of Hauptmann's notebook, evidence submitted by Wilenz at the Hauptmann's trial. The German word for "boat" is "boot"--no "d" at the ending. In the ransom note in which boat Nelly is written (illustration attached), I suggest that the word was intended to be "boat". The writer did not cross the letter "t", so what appears to be a "d" is actually an uncrossed "t". View AttachmentIf the ransom note writer, (Hauptmann) had crossed this supposed letter "t" in the word "Boad", as seen in the Boad Nelly note three times, then it would have looked like a crossed letter "d" all three times, would it not? Look at his other usages of the letter "t" where that letter appears within the body of the associated word (lines 2, 4, 5 and 7), which look nothing at all like his letter "d" in "Boad". His spelling of "Head" (line 6) is in the exact same form as his other use of the letter "d" in "Boad". Hauptmann was still struggling with the English language and had a set of German-English dictionaries to help him out. Yes of course, he would have know the German word for "boat" was "Boot", but he was attempting to write English here, so the resultant "Boad" is his personal hybrid spelling form, as it's also seen within his memo book, "Boad 2.25", although not quite as graphically styled in the latter location. His general confusion over where the letters "d" and "t" should be used in English language, is markedly apparent within the ransom notes, as well as his acknowledged and request writings. He verified those less frequently used and more difficult to comprehend words in his dictionaries, but appears to have been too lazy to look up those common words which he seemingly continued to spell in various forms quite indiscriminately. Hauptmann was a dead duck when it came to the ladder and attic wood evidence, and not far behind that when it came to the handwriting evidence.
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hiram
Detective
Posts: 124
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Post by hiram on Jan 23, 2023 14:38:11 GMT -5
The ransom notes may have been written by someone whose family spoke German in the home, but the writer did not receive an education using standard German. The German in the home may well have been a dialect. In any event the spelling in both the English and the German is often inaccurate, so it would be likely that the writer did not do well in school and was not accustomed to using the level of diction indicated in the ransom notes occasionally. Gardner also comments on this point. The dictionary is not a good explanation. One has to know what he is looking for when using a dictionary. Words like "hazardous" and "conference,"for example, are seldom used by the semi-literate who have trouble spelling simple words like "not" (note) and "they" (the). The notes were probably dictated in English by someone who knew English well and spelled the difficult words for the writer but did not spell the simple words for him.
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Joe
Lt. Colonel
Posts: 2,635
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Post by Joe on Jan 24, 2023 13:34:30 GMT -5
The ransom notes may have been written by someone whose family spoke German in the home, but the writer did not receive an education using standard German. The German in the home may well have been a dialect. In any event the spelling in both the English and the German is often inaccurate, so it would be likely that the writer did not do well in school and was not accustomed to using the level of diction indicated in the ransom notes occasionally. Gardner also comments on this point. The dictionary is not a good explanation. One has to know what he is looking for when using a dictionary. Words like "hazardous" and "conference,"for example, are seldom used by the semi-literate who have trouble spelling simple words like "not" (note) and "they" (the). The notes were probably dictated in English by someone who knew English well and spelled the difficult words for the writer but did not spell the simple words for him. Gardner's point doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me if that is what he actually meant. Hauptmann would have first determined what the German word was, (eg. gefährlich) looked up the equivalent English word in his German-English dictionary and there it would be, nicely laid out for him (hazardous) to write down, without spelling mistakes. Hauptmann required no help writing the ransom notes, and would not have wanted it.
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Post by Michael on Jan 24, 2023 20:24:31 GMT -5
Gardner's point doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me if that is what he actually meant. Hauptmann would have first determined what the German word was, (eg. gefährlich) looked up the equivalent English word in his German-English dictionary and there it would be, nicely laid out for him (hazardous) to write down, without spelling mistakes. Hauptmann required no help writing the ransom notes, and would not have wanted it. I'm going to jump in to say I'd have to disagree. First and foremost, I am still about 50/50 as to whether or not Hauptmann actually penned those notes. I've said it before and nothing has changed since. I totally get anyone who has made that conclusion, but as I sit here I cannot yet. I do believe that if he did, it seems clear that he had help with what's in the notes. For me, it doesn't make sense to use words like "hazardous" when other known words would suffice without having to use a dictionary. Next, this idea that Hauptmann wouldn't "want" help seems odd to me. I'm not sure what information Joe is drawing from to make this type of conclusion. From my own personal theory, I do believe the "plan" only called for the first note. Whether or not these hired hands thought ahead right from jump to extort more could also be a possibility. To futher support my position that Hauptmann, had he actually wrote all these notes, had help with its contents, the Boad Nelly note all but proves that to me. I wrote about this in V2 starting on page 357. I believe this information most likely came from Condon, but I concede it could have come from any source who was familiar with the areas described in that note. This wouldn't include Hauptmann, but I admit it could potentially include Mueller.
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hiram
Detective
Posts: 124
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Post by hiram on Jan 25, 2023 1:59:49 GMT -5
The handwriting used in the ransom notes has drawn a good deal of attention from the experts. The writing style can be evaluated with perhaps greater success. Style indicates vocabulary level, choice of words, and syntax. The German sentence tends to be lengthier than the English sentence, adjectives often following nouns, verbs placed at the end of the sentence, for example. In regard to the level of diction, a child who has completed the eighth grade is not likely to use the word "hazardous" in a sentence, whether spoken or written. Similarly, a student who has completed the eighth grade in a German school is not likely to use that particular word in German. Those who are skilled in a trade generally do not use the diction of someone engaged in a literary career. There are two different styles of writing in the ransom notes: some sentences short, resembling the English syntax and others lengthier with noun/adjective/verb arranged as in the German sentence. There are also two levels of diction in the ransom notes, indicating that there was collaboration between at least two individuals with different skills and levels of education. In my working life I read thousands of student essays (quite literally); the writing characteristics of each student do differ, just as the writings posted on this board indicate different levels of education and background.
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