The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-11-12

doctor proposed that captive me-
tallic balloon be sent aloft and said
electricity, would have rain attract
ing power of '.21, 6S6. 1858 acres of forests
or mountains"
This communication from the doctor
was followed by others attributing
epidemic Diseases, insanity and other
ills and nisfortunes to "the physical
destruction of the earth by the ice
accommodating round the poles exert
ing unequal pressure and forcing the
water through the planets crust to
explode and confiagrate her. Daniel
vii, p, 2 Peter, iii, Holy Bible
In another letter, the doctor pro-
posed to render Sahara fertile and
to establish there an independent
colony of tthe ultra national Irish, =
that the energy now wasted in dis
cord and agitation be given a lawful
VENT
So far as known, DR.. Cahiil was the
original ''rain-maker." He began
writing to the commerce committee be-
fore Dyrenforth was heard of.
| Just as the White house is the Mecca
Tor all cranks, so the president is the
target of probably one-half the crank
letter writers of the country. Every
tiers. Of course very few of them get
past the visilant Mr.. O'Brien and none
lof them go beyond the watchful Mr..
Thurber. Most Of the letter writer's
have claims against the government
They have an idea that Uncle Sam
owes them a great deal of money and
that the president can pay it to them.
There is one crank in Canada who has
been sending letters of advice to the
cabinet officers for many years at a
valuation fixed by himself and who
now figures that the government owes
him about half a million dollars. Then
| there are modest crankS who want
much smaller sums.
| There are a great many cranks who
send photographs to the president and
ask him to send his photograph to them
in return. One of the old-time corre-
spondents of the president is the man
who thinks that he is "the most won
derful scientist in the world" He
thinks that the destruction Of the
world is to come by ice. He believes
that the icebergs which float about the
Arctic seas are to float up against
| the world in time and crush it into
atoms. He thinks that the president
ought to have these icebergS blown UP
with dynamite before they do this dam
lage. The photograph which accom-
panied this letter represented the
crank correspondent sitting on an
empty candle box in an attic. with a
barrel head for a table, a piece of
mating for a tablecloth and tallow
candle stuck in a bottle. Before him
was a scroll of paper. This picture
he explained, represented him 'in &C
ton"
People who want offices and who
have no possible claim on them some
times send their photographs to the
lpresident with the idea that he may
be Impressed favorably with their per
sonal appearance. One crank who
sent letter to the president asking
an appointment in the diplomatic SER
vice. forwarded a. photograph of a ven
cradle man with the signature: Yours
with becoming dignity He had an
Idea. that the president would be sc
Impressed with his dignifled appear
lance that he would Immediately ap-
lpoint him to a diplomatic place.
Senator Henderson says that letters
from crankS are SO numerous ana III
such endless variety that a newspaper
could be filled with contributions from
the mail of any member of Congress.
The most threatening letters whlch
the senator has received was this:
St. Paul, Mimi, Oct. 16, 1893.
Senator Henderson:
The writer is Republican and
wishes to express to you the sentiment
of all good men everywhere, Republic
cans and Democrats that the present
silver bill is the cause of all our
| troubles. which cry to heaven for re-
lief 1t is only little handful to the
great people, who favor any compro-
| mise whatever The silver bill must
be repealed, or blood will flow pres
entity in such streams as you never
heard of. Your act is fostering anarchy
and bloodshed. and it is amazing that
! YOU can't see it. Are you so much
wiser than Grover Cleveland and Sen
ator Sherman and the majority of the
Senate and the brain and Drawn of
the whole country that you must con-
tinue to daily with compromise while
| thousands are suffering and starving
| as the result. If your reason can't
be appealed to, it won't be long before
a stronger appeal will be made, for
lit is fast becoming evident that your
cause is traitorous as well as ruinous.
perity and rights Of ones country de-
serves bullets, and it will be blessed
relief when some of you damned trait
nrs receive them.
w. S. RICHARDS.
! Late of st. Louis.
Expressing almost universal senti-
ment.
| INlCndIQS Se0u0Q 70 IlIlS6II
on a large number of senator's said
Mr.. Henderson. IF insane, he should
be locked up; if sane, a good horse
whipping would probably do him good. -
Senator Cullom is absent from Wash
lingtOn, bat his clerk tells me that he
has received a, great many crank let
tiers. The latest, which came about
two weeks ago, was from Martinsburg,
W. Va. The writer thought he had a
few billions of money somewhere, mix
ed up with other peoples, and the good
lpeople of Kansas City, Kan. had wor-
ried him about the matter. He stated
that his correspondence with Attorney
Generals olney end 1Iillss 5e7S %
! Eas1ksczs1ag-sza6 l2EggRSztSssee sSSs
not bean satlstaGt0Ey sR aGSSUlat 81 ais
woman IN the case
| Senator Teller is another favorite
isubject of crank attacks. He has re-
ceiVed several letters from cranks
Threatening physical violence in case
he did not desist in his opposition ia
the repeal bill, but has invariably torn
them up when received and given
them no further attention.
GEORGE GRANTHAM BAN
Got r lrashing.
| A marty s;tInnosad n No ,o,,,,o.4,