Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-06-12

cling letter to the reigning sovereign, and so
bring my employers into discredit."
'Do you them" l inquired, "wrte letters
original letters-ior people who require your
services"
Chats about the style, but / do not think
however, that you exactly understand it yet
know all about the professional writers abroad
for in my younger days | had three. In Italy
half the correspondence used 10 be carried on
that way There is a little kind of an eXcreS-
cence-like building, that seems like fungus, to
have grown out the decay of some Old church
don't be surprised at my language, | can do
quite as well as that at much shorter notice)
where there is an old man who can write letters
for those who can't. 1t exists still in France
and Spain, but here, where most everybody can
read and write, it would not pay. The little
Stationers, who will retail you Il sheet of paper
and an envelope for a penny, will for that price
throw in a letter for nothing Perhaps before
the war in the south in Il large towH like Rich
mond, there might have been some opportunity
for letter-writer TO compose niger letters, but
the war has ended all that, and by-and-by they
will be educated better than we are"
"But,' | interrupted, you are telling me
rather what You don't do than what you really
do"
"Well, l don't mind giving you some Of the
details, a kind of sketch of the thing. only the
real names of the parties must remain a secret.
Let us take a suppostious firm; we will call
them Blink & Scratch. Their business is TO
sion, like anything else. They are prepared TO
offer for one dollar or for five, something which
may be worth untold thousands. Say John
Smith is dead, and has left a handsome proper.
ty. Blink & Scratch pick up his name in sim
Gle paragraph OF not more than two lines in the
obituary column of some country newspaper
They come TO me, and | write them fifty, one
hundred letters, to all the Smiths they have
.ound out TO exist in that immediate locality. |
possess a hundred different styles of writing
IL IL g
handwriting. There are untold themes which
my imagination prompts me to play on these
various Smiths. One particular Eteng one, of
which am the inventor is the doubtful style.
Would you like to hear it? have written it so
often that have il quite by heart, although it's
always fresh for human credulity. It's some
thing in this way:
Dear sir--We have Just learned of the demise
of the late Mr. John Smith. In looking over
some old papers of ours, we are almost satisfied
that You have some collateral interest in the
property of the deceased. We may be mistaken
mistaken underscored. AS we candidly CON
fcss to having indited this without any other
examination than that ordinarily under
taken by the legal profession, of which we are
members of long standing, we do not wish you
10 build up any hopes on this communication of
ours, as we may be in error, (underscored) but
still believe that it would be worth your while
to send us lin blank in order to make further
examinations, when we can speedily determine
whether other researches may be necessary.
! have known a letter of this kind, slightly
varied, to bring in $500 before it had worked it,
self out A California Smith, who should die,
is capital placer If letters have to be writ
ten to women it requires more care. They are
dreadlully suspicious, but once they have taken
the bait, they are apt to gorge themselves.
have had, under instructions from my employ
ers to write one blessed woman ten times be-
fore it paid. Generally, however, TO men, one
letter Suflces, and that's the end of it. Now,
my patrons, who are i'll this business, must
say, are mostly very uneducated people, as
bright as can be as to schemes and laying out |
the plans constructing the ScaifoldingS, but un-
able to do the filling in. There are exceptions
though, but as most of them would display their |
ignorancekand as they are not over particular |
about having their handwriting known-I am |
their correspondent.
GLOW are you paid for tP
"For an original letter, whether it fetches
or not, | get fifty cents; after the first copy,
ten cents have made as much as SO day
at it,"
But" ventured to remark, "this seems to
me to be very dirty work."
-"lps just according to how You look at it."
Here be took another glass Of wine 81 would
much rather write prospectus, and maybe it
would be better pay; you might recommend me
for that kind OF work. But if letters of the char
acter write 1.-THE begging letter, you have no
idea how powerful | am in that line,) NAV
eOAuCttliCs hbl NC iCAhlticu III tue most LaNOr
able light, consider them as set of by my
resolutions"
"What is tha;2" l inquired.
"You see, i am pretty well known about the
corner gr0ggerieS, my clubs, and there | am
thrown in more or less with politicians. 1t has
been mighty slack that way with me lately,
however, but it used TO be a great field. There
Is ward meeting, or a meeting Of any kind
OF course | am IN attendance-aud q committee
on resolutions Is formed, or somebody has 10
have ready, sprung for the meeting, a regularly
hashed-up SCI OF resolutions They an kBos
me. Bless You, | have attended meetings the
very same day Of precisely the most adverse
have made both sets OF resolutions
and have pUcketed my so tor them sitnout
counting on tue liquor thrown in. 10 facr.
without any pride, for the time has long gone
past when | TOOK any interest in M own zT-srsrv
productions, they were quite as good as any |
body eiSe's, and, what is more, StriSty gram
NAUTICAL. | have often seen them copied, with
the most eulOglstic comments, in many of the
leading papers. | can make them adapted to
all circumstances. have often thought of
making a whole series of them rs an appendix
to some book on parliamentary proceedings,
somewhat in the ready letter-writer' style. Just
slight modification here and there would
suffice, and act as Il safety-YaYe for most any
kind of popular ebullition, whether for temper
ance, political or labor movements. II is won
derful what a soothing effect the word RE-
in big capitals, has when heading an
empty sentence. 1t is like a big general pre-.
cedmg meagre retinue of crippled soldiers. |
You don't see anything amiss in the resolution
business, do your
81 must confess | do not, but are you not
afraid of being implicated with the principals
tiers ?"
He laughed. "Why, you couldn't catch them
if you tried. | even don't know their real
names. | don't seek the busness-thev come TO
lg.r,g Mt. 1, ,l.r.. -.
but must live somehow. have thought some
times that, if a man would make speciality of
writing taiors' putfs, only to begin with, and
get his name up for it, in time he might have
quite large round of trade, and the business
might develop into something quite good
There must be thousands of people in New
lork-quite correct and honest people-who
know they can't write ten lines of English and
who want to show up their goods through ad.
vertlsements in the leading papers, who might
employ me- have been thinking over it a long
time"
Ought you not, then, in order to bring
yourself better before this public 10 advertise
yourself in the capacity OF an advertisement
wrterP
yes" he said, chat would be the only way
to do it. will think the advertisement over.D
And saying this he left me. | have since then
been waiting TO see this advertisement in the
papers, but it has not yet appeared. | have,
though, acquired some knowledge of what a
correspondent is, but must confess | wish no
further acquaintance with No. 54,-Nelo York
Times.