Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-10-21
TIE TALE OF \ TAB.
Which Shows that Young Men should
Read the labels on Their Coats.


Several weeks ago. says the Pittsburg
Dispatch, gentleman. known in this
transaction rs Eugene Reading, bought
a dark gray Norfolk summer coat while
making n flying trip to Boston. On
the inside of the collar of the coat was
fastened the manufacturer tab bear
ing the insignificant characters: Lot
21,733 b. 49," When Reading tore the
tag off his eye caught some writing on
the side which had been next 70 the
coat. He read melissa Policy, West
Bowdoin. Maine" He put the tab into
his pocket, transacted his business, and
a couple of weeks after his return TO
Pittsburg decided to make test of this
gentle hint to mankind in general. lie
wrote letter 10 Miss Policy, in which
he told her that he had discovered her
name upon the tab and congratulated
her upon her excellent workmanship,
saying that one who could sew so neat
" must, indeed, be Il young lady OF
other commendable and loyable quail
ties. He emphasized his sincerity by
calling her a 'pretty tailoress, and
protested the strange awakening with
in his heart of something akin to genu-
inc regard, if not affection, for the lady
who had made the garment.
The letter carried safely, and in due
time came the following frank, yet
modest reply:
Friend: l received your letter of congratula-
lions. and thought l would thank you for II:
and hope the coat is made nice. But /
should like TO know what kind of coat it is
i n Az I
there is no such word in the book; but do
not know what the male sex would do If it
were not for the old maids TO do their tail0i>
lug. So / will close with many thanks aud
''' = ''0oO "'9''' MELISSA s, POLICY.
II. S-You say you purchased your cont
some time ago. Have you been thinking i,
over all this time? Excuse me for being So
saucy, but hope you have got it settled
MELISSA.
Mr., Reading had evidently ''got it
settled" and, if any doubt had remain
ed in his mind, the gentle hint in the
postscript had wiped it away, for the
return mail carried letter full of burn
ing words and such other nonsense as
a lover, or one ambitious for that posi-
ton, is apt 10 use. A correspondence
followed, and letters passed each other,
going and coming between them, at an
average of twice and then three times
week.
The conclusion finally reached by the
Young Pittsburger. had received
ample encouragement, n his suit, was
that life would be burdensome without
his ''pretty tailoress,n for she has
proven to be such from her picture,
which he got one day recently; and af-
fer all, the term "old maid, . which she
had applied TO herself, was ruse 10
test the interest Of her PIttsburg al
mirer She has his picture, and from
the dissertation she wrote upon 1t has
certainly concluded that her strangely
captured lover is man of handsome
face and kindly features, for she writes:
''lf YOU are just half rs good rs you
look. | am proud Of your protested adj
miration and interest in me.
That sentence is what clinched the
matter as far as Reading was concern
ed. He Immediately wrote proposal
of marriage and asked that her accept
ance or refusal be sent by telegram lie
received the following:
Eugene Reading; Yes with pleasure Re-,
The overioycd lover almost Rugged
the district boy who delivered the mes
sage to him, and, after reading it over
and over, wrote the following with
trembling hand:
Good. am coming as soon as can get
leave Of absence
And Just now there is q clerk about
the City Hall who is fretting under re-
straint and every day he prays his chief
of department for vacation OF two
weeks TO 90 10 Maine.