Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-08-22
EXQUISITE f
Extraordinary Luck Of an E-xtraVagant
Dry Goods man-Leve and Terri
bic disappointment. A viii
iainOus Act, n Forged letter
and Broken Hearts.

Vapid preliminary reflections are out
of place in presence of u poignant,
exquisite misery and disappointment as
the following tale declares:
A young man Of excellent morals and
intellect, and passable appearance, may
be seen behind the counter of a leading
dry goods store in this city. His hand
some face begins to be furrOwed by early
lines of care, and his abundant auburn
hair, erstwhile glossy and well kept, is
now dishevelled and sprinkled with sill
yer. Not many weeks ago he was the
beauideal of men and the admired of all
the ladies who frequented the house. he
was CAV, b~right-eyed, buOyant Of spirit
and glib of tongue, witty, entertaining,
a first-rate salesman, and altogether a
happy fellow. Having left a college q
few short years ago, and seeing that the
various learned 90 professions were
'schuck FULL and very little chance of
making his salt perhaps for years at any
of them, he manfully resolved to pitch
into commerce. He naturally adopted
the business that afforded the most leis-
ure and the most pleasure, and which
would bring him in contact with the elite
of society-in a word, he became a dry
goods man. He succeeded at once. He
rose in the estimation of his well pleased
employers, and he also became a favorite
with a very wide circle of customers.
Not long ago he established an intimacy,
through the lady of the house, with a
very estimable family that live a short
distance ON the Charleston road. He
became a visitor, got acquainted with
the eldest young lady. A mutual admit
ration very quickly ripened into a mu-
tual attachment, and in an astonishing
" short time into love. The insidiOus
growth of love, it may be truly remarked,
is like
THE COMING OF THE CHOLERA
nothing can epress it. Not to appear
prolix, let it suffice to say that they
were engaged to be married in the fall;
and they were happy. The young lady
and her parents went to the springs in
East Tennessee to spend the hot months;
but the clerk had to remain at his post.
Many tender missives passed between
them. Very recently the lady wrote a
letter on q business matrimonial bus
mess. 1t was important. 1t detailed
the final plan which she and her rela-
tons had adopted for the marriage,
which was to take place in the middle
of October at one of the great churches
here in the city, and was to be a pOmp-
Gus affair. The letteT-carrier flung the
letter on the counter where Our I'M
fortunate hero was waiting on a GUS
toner. He had just measured out a
piece Of stuff, upon the folds of which
the letter was thrown. The hero of this
sOrrowful item did not see it, and he
folded it up in the parcel which he had
sold to his grim-lOOking customer, an
old lady; and so off it went. The letter
fell into the hands of the old lady's son,
who himself was a rejected sutton for the
hand and money of the lady who had
written it. When he read it he resolved
to "put up a job' on his successful rival.
wrote a brief note to the lady, imita-
ting the caligraphy of his rival as close
ly as possible, in which he said-well,
here is the letter in full:
MEMPHIS, August /, 1872.
MY DEAR 1t is painful for me to
have to state that the Contemplated GER
emOny cannot take place. l have just
learned that my aunt, Mrs. Truehart, Of
New York, has died, leaving me prop
erty to the value Of three hundred and
se~venty-five thousand dollars, and as l
am Unexpectedly made the sole execu-
tor of her will, l must leave for that city
at once. 1 may not return to Memphis
Yours, with profound respect,
7. ;.
This was a fearful blow to the expect
ant bride. What gave color to the fraud
and madeit appear like Gods truth, was
the fact that the young man left for New
York the next morning on a leave of
absence, with the view, no doubt, of
making a little preparation for the we'd
ding himself. The father of the young
lady fastened to the city to find out the
root of the whole business. The propri-
etors of the dry goods house could only
him that the young nan was
gone. In a fit Of desperation and mad
ness, the old man concluded a bargain
with the astute rival who brought
about the misfortune, and the marriage
is to take place on the same day and in
the same church previously fixed. The
lady is in a condition of w-retchedness
not to be described, for the young man
returned last night with a beautiful set
Of presents which he purchased with his
savings. He came back full of high
hope; went to the home of his affianced
to see the old man, but he was driven
from the door. The utmost confusion
prevails, and it is thought that a hostile
between the rivals will take
place, and that the lady will commit
The whole story became known
last night about eleven o'clock in a JEFF
ferson street bar-roOm, when the hero of
his fearful item was attempting to for
get his unparalleled misery in deep
iraughts of wine.