Mr. Cole.

Yes, sir.

Mr. Eisenberg.

And the Document 773 is the "questioned" item?

Mr. Cole.

Yes, sir.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Now for the record, in the future I will refer collectively to 774-783 as the standards.

The Chairman.

They were all written by the same person?

Mr. Cole.

Yes, Your Honor.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Mr. Cole, were these the only standards or potential standards from which you had to draw, or were a larger group of potential standards furnished to you?

Mr. Cole.

I saw a larger group of papers of potential standards.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Can you state the circumstances under which this larger group was given to you?

Mr. Cole.

I came to your office and reviewed a very large group of papers and I pointed out what I would regard as a cross section or representative sample from that larger group of papers.

Mr. Eisenberg.

And can you explain the basis on which you took the actual standards 774-788, that is, on which you selected those documents from the larger possible group of documents which might have served as standards?

Mr. Cole.

Well, two bases: One, that the writing is fairly clear and legible; most of these documents are not stained or multilated in any way; all the writing can be seen clearly. And, two, I think that this group of papers gives a complete, reasonably complete record of the writing habits of the author.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Mr. Cole, continuing on these standards for a moment, have you examined other questioned documents besides Commission 773 at my request?

Mr. Cole.

I have.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Do the standards which you selected, that is, items 774 through 788, in your opinion provide a sufficient basis for comparison of the other questioned documents which you also examined?

Mr. Cole.

They do provide a satisfactory basis for comparison.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Are they sufficiently close in time, both to 773 and to the other questioned documents which you have examined?

Mr. Cole.

Yes, sir.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Does handwriting change over the course of time, Mr. Cole?

Mr. Cole.

Handwriting does change over the course of time, but usually fairly large periods are involved, 5 or 10 years or such.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Is there any variation in the writing instruments which were used to produce the various standards?

Mr. Cole.

Yes; I think a variety of instruments were used.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Does this affect your ability to use the standards as against the questioned documents or as against those questioned documents produced with other writing instruments?

Mr. Cole.

It does not adversely affect my ability to make a comparison.

Mr. Eisenberg.

That is, you are able to compare a document produced by a ballpoint pen with a document produced by a fountain pen and vice versa?

Mr. Cole.

Yes, sir.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Do the standards show both cursive writing and handprinting?

Mr. Cole.

Yes.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Can you explain meaning of the term "cursive writing"?

Mr. Cole.

Cursive means connected writing, as the term is used, with a running connected hand, whereas handprinting refers to the separate writing of letters without the connection of letters and usually involves a somewhat different style for the formation of letters, that is Roman capital letters or the lower case letters.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Cursive writing then is the type of writing which we normally use, which connects--in which the letters are connected, the type which is taught in schools?

Mr. Cole.

Yes, sir.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Mr. Cole, some of the standards which are in the group 774 to 788 are photographs rather than originals.

Mr. Cole.

That is correct.

Mr. Eisenberg.

Does a photograph in your opinion provide a sufficient standard