Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-09-28
DEAD LETTER CURIOS.
Some Strange Romances and Funny
Episodes of the Dead Letter Office.
Amusing and Pathetic Incidents OF Daily De-
currence-A Museum Worthy OF visit
Album OF War FIXTURES.

SLbUm VI war
Copyright and all rights reserved by Godfrey
For the Gazette
WAsHINGToN, Sept. 25.-Away up in
dark corner on the top floor OF the
postal department building there sits II
day long swset-faced, sweet-voiced old
lady, whose tasteful attire, diguifed yet
gracious mien and the peculiarities of
whose speech betokens III grande dame
of ye Old Dominion, and which indeed
she Is. One of those noble ladies whose
beauty OF face aud character in Virg-
inia's palmy days, ''befo' de wah'
were the inspiration that made her sons
the flower of Southern chivalry. For
more than twenty years this charming
lady, Mrs. Eldridge by name, has pre-
sided over the museum which, to enter
tain his faithful nephews aud ueices good
old Uncle Sam has established in this
room with the quaint aud curious things
enclosed by those same careless relatives
in wrongly addressed or wholly uuad-
dressed letters which Uncle Sam 5 hired
men have been unable to deliver to those
for whom they were intended or return
10 their writers, and which. after being
kept on uncle's farm for Il certain length
of time, are destroyed on one of the
lower floors of the big barn of which l
am writing.
If you desire new and positively
unique experience, do not fail TO visit
this museum and have a chat with Mrs.
Eldridge at the first opportunity. As
we stand and gaze about the room
strange feeling of reverential awe steals
over US. We feel as though we stood
among the dead in the silent precincts of
,Iu "a
for around all these countless mementoes
of love and friendship that crowd the
showcases lining the walls-these rings,
photographs dolls, rattles, baby clothes,
brooches, toilet cases, drinking TASKS,
stuffed cats and dogs, deer's antlers,
albums, match safes, watches, branches
of mistIetoe and holly berrieS, tresses of
hair OF every shade, from the bright
golden of sixteen to the silvery white of
seventy, and countless other tokens,
many of which have been here tor more
than century-there cluster myriads of
dead memories and associations.
Many of the hearts whose promptings
of generosity aud affection dictated the
sending of these gifts have long since
been stilled in death. Many of the hands
that prepared and mailed them
MoULDERED IN THE TOMB
long years ago. Yet every one eff them,
if it had the power of speech, could tell
some tale of parting or reunion, of signs
and tears, of passionate words of love
and thrilling tones of sorrowful farewell,
of warm pres.ur of the hand and of
last, long, lingering looks, of merry
Christmas evenings, passed with loving
friends by brightly burning fires, with
wassuil and good cheer TO promote good
will and kindliest feeling, and with
story, jest and song to make the time
pass gayly. Some of those who sent
them still live, while for those for whom
they were intended the veil that hides
the invisible from the material world
has been drawn aside and the greatest
of all events has been revealed.
AS L stood among all these in
visible ghosts of the dead,
silent past, realized as never before
that while all old things have q strange
indefinaple charm, old love and old
friendship have certain gentle SAVIOR
peculiarly their own.
Around everyone of these quaint and
curious dead letter relics there clusters
most interesting story il we could but
know it. Some OF these tales come to
light almost daily, and of themselves, as
well as by the strange way in which they
are often revealed, afford additional con-
frmation of the old proverbial saying
that truth is stranger than fiction. Mrs.
Eldiidge knows hundreds of these true
life romances and relates them with a
skill which makes il impossible for her
hearers ever TO tire of her narration.
One of the most interesting features of
this dead letter museum is an immense
album filled with photographs found in
letters sent by and addressed TO the vol
uuteer soldiers of our late civil war. It
is in connection with these portraits that
many of the most interesting romances
OF the dead letter office have TRANSFERRED.
Scores of people daily look over this
album, and scarcely day goes by that
some one does not recognize d father, u
husband, a sweetheart, q brother, q
sister or mother. These recognitions
are often pathetic, often humorous and
sometimes almost tragical, and in many
cases have been followed by similar con-
sequences.
Some years ago, as Mrs. Eldridge was
busy at her desk one day, she was sud-
denly startled by loud cry, and glanc-
ing hastily around she saw very beau
tiful fair-haired woman of perhaps
twenty-eight clutching with one hand
the edge of the stand upon which the
immense album of war pictures is sup
ported, as though to prevent herself from
falling, pressing her other hand tightly
upon her heaving bosom, and gazing
upon the open page with an expression
in which Jealous rage, grief and despair
were most strangely blended.
''What is the matter?' asked Mrs.
Eldridge, approaching the excited
woman.
"Do you see that pioture?" demanded
the stranger fieroely, as she pointed with
a gesture that q tieress might have en-
vieI to faded photograph of very
handsome youth in the uniform of
second lieutenana. 'Do you see those
words written in his own handwriting on
the margin and signed with his own
name? TO my first and only love, my
darling Nettie.' Oh, he has cruelty de-
ceived me! He told me that he had
never breathed one word of. love to any
other woman but me. that he had never
thought or spoken of such
thing until he met me, his lawful wife,
and now after all these years Of my de-
votion to him thus find the evidence of
his perfidy,'' and her further utterance
was checked by a passionate