Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-06-08
THE LETTER THAT WENT WRONG.

-T,Sedo Bade,
THE LETTER THAT WENT WRONG.
Poor Man. Experience In Chicago Ir
the Panic OF 1873.
Mr.. John Olson. well-tO-do busincs,
man. was at his office engaged i'm open.
ing and reading letters. Mr.. Olson had
made the long journey from his resi-.
dcncc To his place of business i'm "A very
comfortable frame Of mind. The steady,
cold rain had kept many people nj
home, and he had had n seat in the car
oil the way down. n something that did
not occur very often. With his wills
kers still damp from the short walk
from the point where he left the car 10
his office, with his feet comfortably near
the hrc In the CRATE. with the drafts,
moncy-orlcrs aud bank notes turning
up frequently in his letters. Mr. Olson
was happier, possibly. than II mo- storm
had been raging outside. The contrast
caused him to feel delightfully."- secure in
his comfort, and he smoked his morning
Cigurand lcisurcly read letter after letter.
Mr.. Olson was an enthusiastic and
energetic business man. but there were
times when he liked Ca take things easy.
and this morning was one Of them. He
could not recall n morning. rs he read n
letter inclosing n check for fifty dollars.
when he had felt more inclined to take
his ease, or enjoy his cigar and fire and
easy chair. The next letter. opened
lnzily and with eyes half shut. did not
contain any money, and the opening
words, " MY dear Husband" caused n
general change 1T attitude on the part
of the reader.
Mistake. Not for me-" thought Mr..
Olson. ~ he looked again at the address
ON the envelope. Eyes. IL i. John
Olson, Esq plain as.thc nose ON man
lace. And Olson is not common
name. Our family was the only one i'm
our state. In the East. and since we
came here. seven or eight months ago.
have not heard 1T man of tho name.
Let's look at the signature"
This was the tenor Of Mr.. Olson's
thoughts, as he took up the letter again.
turned To- the last page and Rad: your
loving wife. Mary j. Olson"
My wiic's name. What's my wife
writing To- mc fur?' questioned the
man. In confused way, and for the
moment entertaining only the Thought
that the letter was from his wife, he was
reading.
wv DEAR ifuspAND-t have not tho heart In
writo much. ~ l. all trouble here I am dis-
- ,,,,,, s ,l, gndurancc. Tho mon came
las, nlTht aud TOOK away the scwinE.mnchinc
hh" talked HORRIBLY Ia me hCcausc I insisted
We had pail twcnty dollars, when they said
", wv ~, tnl pald i've dollars, and am SURE
mon could tain tO me ~ they did. Then the
nun who owns the house abused me and
Eruccr have hullicd and insutod mo. have
no moueN-uoi u cent, when nav postnse ON
this lcttcr-aud there Is scarcely u thing i'm the
noH-c 70 cht ! tried tp pawn my bracelets
aud pin this morning. and the man offered nm"
Ihtr" dollars Tor thcm and yOu know thcv cost
NV e9,ars. And he hullicd me, aud
unyuhnt SHOULD 20 distracted. obi Il rs ter
rihlc, John. ! don't see why all tho had hick
cumrs tn W., while others prosper. / wish
n mi. 1 r,,,,, what I DO. DO send me
nitle money, " ~ only a dollar. and tell me
"hat to du. Your loving wife,
MANY ]. OLSON.
Mr.. John Olson, Of the easy chair.
was shocked beyond measure. He
pushed the letters with money aside for
his book-kccpcr. and thinking the man
to whom the letter was addressed must
be found Immediately (Mr. Olson had
resolved To go 10 him, explain how the
letter came into his possession. and helm
him, II need bel he called:
Mr. Bradford. take the directory
and see how many Olsons there are i'm
town. will your
Mr. Bradford, from behind his high
desk, In the next room, said: eyes.
sr, ana there was quiet. Mr. Olson
had been married two years. Here was
woman who wrote almost ~ rood n
hand ~ his wifc-in fact, the writing
oi thc Two was very much alike-desti
tute AMI desperate. lie could not inn
ngine what his wife would do under
Ike circumstances. and vet. with hank
rupt firms all about him, he understood
that present prosperity Afforded little
guarantee against poverty. He Also
lutcly shivcred rs he thought of the liz
Tie woman who had followed him 10 the
Ioor mat morning To Hiss him and eau
ton him about going down the steps
NM anout getting ON the CarS--hc shiv-
ered rs he thought Of her. desperate
anu destitute and subjected To rude
ness anu he was shaking his fist, men,
Wl'y' ~ the offending rullians, when
INC crisp voice Of Mr. Bradford eiacu.
lated With statistical hluntncss: Two
hunarcd AMI scvcnty-iivc. sir"
what do You meanP' questioned
WV "hh'AiAaiiE W.T. OisOn.
That there arc two hundred and
scvcnty-iiyc Olsons in town, SIR"
"WhatP'
There was so much astonishment in
this tremendous "what" that Mr.. Brad
ford came forward to explain.
How many John OlsonsP" uucS-
toned the thundcrstruck owner of the
much-uscd name.
Two. four. eight, twelve. sixteen.
twenty. twenty -four-no. twcnty-three
sir. Two artists. ono blacksmith. four
carpenters, five clerks. two book-kccp-
ers. one glazier. seven laborers. two mcr-
chants and"
That viii do. Let me take the di-
rcctory, please"
One glance at the directory convinced
Mr.. Olson that Mr.. Bradford had stated
the ease correctly. He looked nj the
long list Of Olsons I'm stupid astonish-
ment, not unmiNed with INDIGNATION.
Herr was n muddle. How could ne
md the right man in such n town. He
settled one question. however. He in
closed five dollars i'm n sheet of blank
paper, and putting this in an evelope
mailed u at once 10 the unfortunate
Mary j: Olson, saying to himself that
he would look up Mr.. John Olson at his
leisure. He returned the letter to the
post-otice, with the Endorsement.
aOPened by mistake by John Olson.
for the day.
he told the story TO his wife that
evening, and she was intenselv in
terested, and. practical little woman
mat she was, she proceeded 10 consider
plans Tor finding the man. IL was
nnally agreed that the campaign should
De opened by inserting an sdvert;ss-
ment IN the morning papers. Mr..
Olson knew that thousands "a r.rson.
were out Unemployment and that an 81
those who could find opportunity eager
~ scanned the 'swantf coluD,r. "a 49,,
great dnilics In hoce - 4, = ls- "a nc