The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1875-04-02
The "Blind Reader'' Of the New York
POst-Oflce.

All lsrge desk, whose ton Is lined with
stack Q. directories OF all dates, and
whose hd Is covered with a bushrl or two
OF the most outrageously- directed cnvel-
oles ever written, sits from morn til
nighta quiet, proiessoriallooking gentle.
man, with a ruddy face, black whiskerg.
and a blue, dreamy eye. He is about for,
ly-hve years OF age, says little, has The
penetration Of "A microscope. and is the
genius OF the place. IL Is Mr.. William w.
Stone. lie has been twenty years I'm the
business, and Is called the .'blind reader,
FROM his ability TO looka hole through
the biindest c%hirography that ever drove n
clerk 10 madness. Sanscrit and Chinese
characters, High Dutch, Low Dutch. and
Limerick conundrums. Runic and hero
glyphic riddles, aud Camanche and Az
tee dialects are but child's play TO this ma
gician OF Inscriptions. Wonderful stories
are told 10y his associates Of his visual acu-
men, and they do not hesitate To assert
that ifhe had been in the place OF Mr.. Sam
w eler AZ the courtship of Mrs. Bardell bv
Mr.. Pick wick, he would have seen with
perfect ease through that deal door and
the pair Of stairs. only the most intri-
cate puzzles, that can De- untiedby nobody
else, are taken 10 the desk ~ MIR. Stone.
and II ie has passed upon them without
success they are consigned to the dead Of
lice as part Of that my stery which 10 was
intended mortals should never uuravel.
over ninety per cent. Of this mystical
c%hirography Mr.. Stone succ eds in olsen
tangling without difficulty, reserving the
mostdiillcult addresses for DUH days and
unoccupied evenings. There is but one
class OF envelopes that Mr.. Stone passes
over with stern contempt. and that is the
~ tuI.~. AAI~ 81 T. 80
containing a note without signature or
address. The greatest difficulty Mr.. Stone
has to contend with is not altogether
in the blindness of the writing, but In the
ignorance OF foreigners in try ing 10 strug-
gle with the perplexities OF the English
language. The Germans are especially
troublesome, generally spelling their
words by the rules Of Their own language
and arranging them In the same manner.
A German will usually direct his raissive
10 the state whittier he desires ii 10 20.
then incidentally mention the county and
city, and AT last confdingly hang up the
name OF the friend in one corner, precede
il by the word . to- and partially bury il
under the postage stamp. Their ignor-
snce of geography too frequently leads
them cstray, and they talk OF postal in
competency when letters are lost that
ttsAl tHt dAlItNetr VI bItrtO ltT NfffA~-
ka, Bensulvana for PENNSYLVANIA, zi;ig for
Tenn. for Territory, Te-istas for Tex
as, n. j. &. n. for Michigan, 60. fer Ken
lucky. But all nationalities are compelled
to yield to the Italian in the Ingenuity and
grandeur of their mistakes. one of their
most original tricks /, the habit Of address
ing their letters 10 all the places to which
their itinerant friend has travelled. and
ending with the last town which lac has
reached. For instance. II the person to
which the letter is addressed has gone
New York 10 Chicago and various
other places in the West. hi Italian cor
respondent will direct a letter TO New
York, then 10 Chicago. then 10 II. Louis.
Kansas City, New Orleans. etc. Mr.. Stone
has learned all these ttlepeculiarities and
compreheRds their purpOlt. When
he first assumed the duties OF his present
Office Mr.. Stone wasable 10 discharge them
In a short time and then taxi up other
business of the service. but now he i con-
employed and las four assistants.
N,v York SIM