The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1884-04-25

NAcNNuIs SUI Htt utlA upA uuu Ut
~ girls all dressed alike in girls
clothes aud seated around "A big
room, and asked the king TO pick
out the boys trom the girls, aud he
called for Il basin OF water and had
it carriek arOuInl to each one and
told them to wash their hands.
The girls all rolled up their sleeves
IA little bit, but the boys just soshed
their hands in any way aud got
water all over their aprons, aud SO
the king spotted every mothers
son of 'em.
The postage used to be regulated
by the distauee that Uuele Sam
carried the letters. l. was 125
cents anywhere In the State, and
lS9 cents to Charleston, and %
cents to New York. 1t was never
prepaid. a man could afflict an
other with plstareen letter that
WASN'T worth D cents. a pistareen
you know, WAS lS3 cents--that is q
Z pence and a "Trip. We had no
dimes or half dimes. The dollar
was cut up into eights Instead OF
tenths. When acOuntryman called
for letters aud got Que he would
look at il some time aud turn 1t
over aud mediate before he paid
for it, aud very often they would
say, "Where did this letter come
iromf Well | would say for in-
stance, "lt como from Dahlonega
I-don't you see Dahlouesa written
up on the corner n Then he
would say, "Well, | reckon it's
from Dick, my brother Dick. He's
up there digging gold. Don't you
reckon it's from Dick f'' 81 reckon
| it is,1 said |. "Why don't you
open it and seer "No, I'll wait
until | get homc. They'll all want
to see it, When he got home the
letter would be nm event in the
family, aud perhaps 1t would take
them.a halt hour to wade through
| it aud make out its contents.
Niue ont of ten OF those country
letters began, II take my pen it
haud to let YOU know that | an
well, and hope these few liues vii
find you enjoying the same bleS
sing My father kept store, ant
his country customers used TO ast
him to write their letters tor them
aud he always sent them TO me
aud most of them toll me 10 beglu
their letters that way. There wa'
not more than one in five c0ulo
write, but they were good, clever
honest people, and paid their debts
but they hardly ever paid up IL
full at tue eud of the year, and 81
they gave their notes for the bal
ance and made their mark. My
father used to say that he had
known cases where a man sw0re of
his written signture, but he never
knew a man to deny his mark.
Our big northern mail used tt
como in u stage from Madison
twice a week, aud | used 10 think
the sound of the stage horse as the
stage came over the hill was ont
of the sublimest things in tbt
world, and | thought that It evel
| got to be man | would be stage
driver if | could. Well, | CONT
pretty near it, tor my father had
hired man to ride the mail tC
Roswell and back twice a week
and the man got sick aud so my
father put me on a drumedary o
horse and the mail i'll some saddle
bags behind me, aud had to MAX,
the lorty-eight miles in q day and
kept itup all winter. L liked tt
have froze several times, and had tt
be lifted off the horse when go
home aud it nearly broke my
mothers heart, but | was getting
a dollar trip and it was my money
and SO | wouldn't back out. Th,
old women on the route used t,
crowd me with theiI little commits
sions aud get mo to bring them 1
little pepper, or copperas, OF bluing
or pins and needles, or get me tt
take along socks and sell them, ant
so | made friends and acQuaint
ances all the way. The first tril
| made, au old woman hailed m,
and said, care you a mail boy 7
, "Why, yes, maln,r said |, "yol
didn't think | was u female bo,
did you.n thought that wal
mighty smart, but it wasn't yer,
civil and it made her so mad sh,
never told me what she wanted
aud as she turned her buck on m,
| heard her say, "I1l bet he is /
little stuck up town boy.'
My father was postmaster fo
nearly thirty years. 1t didn't pa,
more than about 5000 q year, bu
, it made his store more OF q publ,
place. He didn't know that any
, body else hankered after it or wa
trying to get it, but all of suddel
be got his orders to turn the offlc'
over to another man, an old llnt
whig and competitor in business
1t mortified him very much an,
made us all mad, for there was NJ
fault found with his management
and he never took much interest il
} politics, but voted fer the man b
, liked the best whether he was
! whig or democrat. When h
found out that Alex Stephens ha