The Red Cloud chief., 1888-02-10
BEGGING EP1STIES.
\ Some Of the Queer Letters Translated Toe
b P~resident's I3enent.

BEGGING EPISTLES.
Some Of the Queer Letters Translated Toe
the President's nenedt.
Perhaps the most curious begging
letters to the President are those in for
eign languages. The President never
sees these in the original. They are
sent in patches of nine or ten to Henry
L. Thomas. tho official translator for
the State Department MI. Cleveland
rarely sees the whole of any Of these
letters. and seldom any part Of theri.
Translator Thomas runs his learned eve
over them. finds out what the request
and who the besgsar is. and makes \
brief note in abstract OF each n Of the
missives. These then 60 over to the
White House to be looked over by the
correspondence clerk. and. as the re-
quests are usually ven more absurd
than those which come written in the
English tongue. they r Fever shown
to Mr.. Cleveland. except. perhaps.
when . particularly funny one drops in
and the clerk or Colonel Lamont thinks
it would be enjoyed all round. The
letters from people who beg in foreign
languages average about one 4 day tho
year through, but Oftener run up to
forty . month. then fall to twenty-five.
They conc both from Europe and
America, and are most commonly writ
ten in German. Those which come
from abroad are the funniest. because
the writer's display not only their own
cranky notions. but the most eccentric
ideas Of tie way in which the govern
lei of this country is managed. The
authors are frequently foreigners who
have had some residence in this cOun-
try. but also come from persons who
have never been here. wen ON an inn
aginary geographical trip
One came only recently from an in
ventor in France. He wrote to inform
the President that he had discovered 4
new method Of facilitating travel by
canal. He was sure tina: his method
would make the United States Il great
deal Of money. and he was only wait
ing to receive the necessary funds for
his voyage over. A man in Switzcr-
land wrote asking for money in an inn
perative way. He put his plea on the
ground that the President had once
been very kind to his mother. and that
on this ground he should take particu-
lar pains that her children did not suf-
fer. This letter is like the majority in
two respects. 1t demands money anil
in u considerable sum. asking $1,000
for the purchase Of a house. 1t evident
" came from q man who had lost his
wits. Translator Thomas does not like
the reading Of the epistles when
they turn out to be in a large per cent
from crazy writers. He finds that it
has q tendenc7 to make him melan-
chOly.
vi u more laughable sort are the let
ters from writer's who imagine the
President has a minute knowledge If
the whole country and its people. like
o postmaster in u country town. Tho
man in Spain. whose letter asked MI.
Cleveland if he knew whether his Sec
Ond cousin, who came to this country |
nearly ten years ago. was still here is =
fair sample of its class. A German
woman in New York wrote in sober
earnest. saving that she understood
from the Presidents message that no
had the dispOsinS of a very large sur
plus of money in the Nations Treasury.
and rs she was poor and deserving she
thought that in all justice she should
have some. The western Germans write
queer letters. A man who signed himself
Krausskopf and dated his letter Allegan
County. Michigan. has been u persist
ent correspondent of the President ever
since he came into office. In spite Of
never receiving a reply. he has written
again and again in ungrammatical
miSspelled German, demanding = part
of the Presidents salary. He never
mentions any particular sum. but is
always holding out his hand for a share
of it. A boy, evidently q Norwegian
from his name. wrote from Minnesota
not long ago. He said that he lived by
the shore Of q lake and was poor. He
needed to arm mOuey and was trying
to do it by shooting ducks ON tie lake.
He had only m old gun and wished. if
it were possible. that the President
would send him = rifle.
MI. Thomas does not always get free
from the petitioning foreigner when he
leaves his Office. 1t is not long since
he was besought fervently by u Greek
then staying in the city to bring it
about in the State Department that a
fine estate in Greece. which he de-
belonged to him. should como
into his possession. There was not
any evidence Of his ownership beyond
his own statement. but he assured Mr..
Thomas that if the State Department
.-.I1 z-l,- e,,,o Nkc NJ.