The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1888-02-23
BEGGING EPISTLES.
Some of the Queer Letters Translated foi
the Presidents Benefit.

-
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, the official translator for |
the State Department. MIR. Cleveland
rarely sees the whole of any of these
letters. and seldom any part of them.
Translator Thomas runs his learned eye
over them, finds out what the request
and who the beegar is, and makes
brief note in abstract of each one of the
missives. These then go over to the
White House to be looked over by the
correspondence clerk, and, as the re-
quests are usually even more absurd
than those which come written in the
English tongue, they are never shown
to Mr. Cleveland, except, perhaps,
when a 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 a day the
year through, but oftener run up to
forty month. then fall to twenty-five.
They come both from Europe and
| America, and are most commonly writ
ten in German. Those which come
from abroad are the funniest, because
the writers display not only their own
cranky notions, but the most eccentric
ideas of the way in which the govern
ment 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, even on an i'm
aginary geographical trip.
One came only recently from an in-
ventor in France. He wrote to inform
the President that he had discovered
new method of facilitating travel by
canal He was sure that his method
would make the United States a great
deal of money, and he was only wait
ing to receive the necessary funds for
his voyage over. A man in Switzer-
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. Il demands money and
in considerable sum. asking $4,000
for the purchase of q house. 1t evident
ly 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 large per cent
, from crazy writers. He finds that ii
has tendency to make him melan.
choly.
!, OF more laughable sort are the let
ters from writers who imagine the
, President has minute knowledge OF
the whole country and its people, like
, q postmaster in a country town. The
;. man in Spain. whose letter asked Mr.
q ! 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 tnat h
had the disposing of very large sur
% plus of money in the Nations Treasury
Il and as she was poor and deserving sh'
;, thought that in all justice she shoult
have some. The western Germans writ
f queer letters. A man who signed himsel
Krausskopf and dated his letter Allegal
- County, Michigan, has been a persist
r. ent correspondent of the President eve
since he came into office. In spite Q
. never receiving reply, he has write
y again and again in ungrammatics
W misspelled German, demanding par
II of the Presidents salary. He neve
Sc mentions any particular sum. but
ut always holding out his hand for shar
G. of it. A boy, evidently Norwegia
70 from his name, wrote from Minnesot
40 not lonn ago. He said that he lived b
~ the shore of lake and was poor. u
- needed to earn mouey and was tryin
",' to do it by shooting ducks on the lax
at He had only an old gun and wished.
III it were possible, that the Presidel
would send him rifle.
Mr. Thomas does not always get frt
'S. from Lhe potltiohihS loieiShoI "h0.i
"A leaves his Office. 1t is not long sin'
m GU he was besought fervently by Gree
en- then staying in the city to bring
I'M about in the State Department that
les fine estate in Greece, which he d
" clared belonged to him, should con
ry into his possession. There was n
es. any evidence of his ownership beyol
Il. his own statement, but he assured NJ
~ Thomas that if the State Departme
-, - could only secure the property NJ
.h- Bayard should have clear $4,000 I
NY his services. After many assuranc
in that nothing could be done for him.
eft. began to write to the Senators entire;
all ing them to interfere in his beha
Bile There was no satisfaction there, and
ar tried the same method on the Hous
,ra asking this body in fact to compel N
- Bayard to act for him. Rebuffed agai
,o' -, he turned to the Supreme Court.
'ie- visited Chief Justice Waite. ''WE
'id- did he say?'' was asked of the crank
ON he returned from this mission. q
aid would not say a word,'' was the {
epail.ino rnply