Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1874-12-24
S Selsfteo Story.
Dead Letters.

Oeau IettelS.
\ short space of two days and his vaca
ton would commence. Two weeks, But
TWO weeks were two years of fun. twu
| centuries Of real enjoyment. two eteinities
OF rest. compared To the constant drag.
ura". IN that lonely business winch took
up all his day hours in work, and all hi ,
night hours in dreams. Two weeks away
from the constant reading of letters which
were written for other eyes than his, How
he ever got into the Dead d.leitcr Office he
couldn't say, and how lie ever siaid there
without growing wild To the extent of
pulling out all his hair and ramminy pen,
lLto his brown eyes. he couldn't Tor the
lie OF him tell. lie had stad on two
years. and was much honored. in small
way. as sklliul clcrk in the department
lie couldn't tell WAY again. In fact. hi,
career was q series of ''couldn't-tell-w " nv. -
which, however. were the cogs to the
wheels which kept his life a-.oing. Cas-
ual Observer might have told why he WAS
considered one of the best clerks In the
department, and said Observer would
have salI that il was because he-Therr I,
We got Just 80 far without using a name
and l hoped Id get clear through the
story without committing mvseif; but lis
No use These prononn> are terribly ex-
sb'hcN. anu sudEi nave 10 get a
name ioi the he before the last dash
or shall be unable to proceed any iurth
er. Well, Tom will do won't iry Toms
name, and there are lots OF Toms in
" a>hiDgton. and several Toms in the
D>ad-ietter Office. Now. then. we'll take
another start with Tom and th. Observer
lsay that the Observer W, uld have re-
marked that it (go back Il few lines for
the eAplana' ion OF the ''t') was because
Tom had IA very tender hear. in hi, DOS
session. A sad thing 10 have a tender
heart when you're dealing with persons.
they say. Tom thought it WAS saddrr
when dealing with letters. He would
choke hity times each day while reading
some earnest heartfelt epistle which. des-
had buried in the lines, had iAiscarrird..
nor would ever reach a dear sons eyes.
Or perhaps 1t was Il fathers strong call.
strong in tears and strong in love. which
would never bring back to tie home fold
"A straying daughter.
The letters Tom read with a heartache
which spread like neuralgia, aud some
how filled his whole body with untold
pain, were by the thousand yea-; but
his interest in the sad cases was never
nagging, and he always made a good push
TO have the letters which came from low
ing hands Tor loved ones take one more
chaLce OF reaching their destination. II
Toms successes had been each block of
granite, the Washington Monument would
have been completed over eleven months
ago.
,y,o ,.aats o,',.;, " ~ "eon. 'ae.''''
80, - ;1,,a' Sn II, NJ. ."o ua.s. nc
va oiten iuie out tnis morning ne
~ ~ on' Vi 'ae oa'en Vi e.'eis-eP's'o'ary
hu, ~ - ~, .n'I,h'ns oi any .hins
s,;as oat n's " IT, nei snou,u ne go lh va
or or ,.ai,,rr ~ Nv" hoa"e', ~; w u,o.a .'.
rha,o - n 80. ."' MN a,N ~ oo''e no'ne
t,r hin, aroons, 80, Siu. oo ~, i.
sh;nin., u,,a Whi Ills " =! ptn' n ,
u.;.,he IT, ti'.., sH"u.u II. "a
W. 49, I;,.' man up i'as 'n''u ~,
c.,"a 800 ~, ,,;s -, %. "M , MaAei'ns ne
nI b -. ,io,n man! III pne oe'o'e nun nun
- ",;o ~ ~" ,o,.S ,asen up nc
Nv" '' '"' 'e'''' was as 'o''o"s
Miss Clara F. bennett,
St A,h.ns
-,
IT.. "o"''
deuce. Rhod. Island and dare or Jnlv On
| On the other side of the euvelope was :,
pretty monogram of tbr.e Iett.r,.
| w. or w. H.F or n ~ ar some
combination. Tom couldn't decide which.
| So he opeD.d the Ietter and read
| Clara NV hear Is niyh brealin.
Nav l not come back? was wholly
wrong: but NV love Tor Won made M, M,
reasonable .yac,ipy and unw;Il;ng m
Weld. Forgiy,. me for Heavens sata
and saw / NAV come 10 vou' will wnIr
one week in Prevalence io hear from von
Do write. Franz"
No date and no signature. lust like a
man m love =, said Tom ..Tha o,,l,
thing settled i. that the t;rSt letter of ,n,
monoyr,m Is am F :, him. = tha, don.,
amount 70 anv,bin1 don,t Inow m,
s..con1 ,..,,.r-I ,nan ,vi,;oh :, l. So
hox n. WAS ,..d ,o nnt ,ha I.,t.- ON. 81.
Instead n, tbrnw;n,s !, into rho Vs.. 'a
c.nracIc lie ,hon.h, h. wo,,J Ill g.. >,
LOOK NJ that monoyr,,n one. ,,,or, i, IVA.
such a nr..,tv ono
FIVE six seven e;ght nina NOR. ,e,
ters road and no,hiog IN rho she,a ~. ~
business ret Nnmhar ,.,,, W,,,,har ~,
was in :. small d..iio.,a h",.a ,I;n.o,.,a g.
follow: ''"'' o'e0''N :"
Mr. E,,nL II w.rd.u
N""'
81. Adams,
vermont.
Ihis ietier pore GATE OF July Il, ant
Pos.-iiiark; fNchourg' massachusetts,.
ION nau quite forgotten Tor the momen
the other 81; Aioans letter, but OF sud
aeh ne cried 10 himself, "Huilo!. st. Al
l a a