The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1895-01-31
ARITHMETICAL PROGRESSION.
Its Partial Effects Result in q Deluge
OF Postage Stamps-The Post
Master objects.

Master ODJects.
EDITOR NEws-H ERALD-I wasinterest-
ed in reading an editorial from the North
Western Christian Advocate, which l en-.
close. This week l received letter
which made me member of the "chain." !"
Perhaps your readers would like to
know the wording of the letter that has
been so extensively copied and has been
so successful in its mission. 1t was ad.
dressed to me at Hillsboro, Ohio, bear.
ing date of January "a, so the "cbain"
is evidently progressing. The letter is
as follows:
"a medical institute has offered a
young lady of Knoxville, Illinois, treat.
ment if she would collect 100000 can
celed stamps. She has been cripple
ever since she was six years Of lge. So
we have started the chain of letters in
which we ask your aid. Make three
copies OF this letter, as I have done,
only change the name and date, that is,
sign your own name to the letter and
putting the next higher number to the
three letters, numbering each alike.
Return this letter with ten or more can.
celed. stamps to Miss Edna Brown,
Knoxville, Kane county, ILL.,, and also
return the name and addresses Of
of the three'you havs written to. They
in return are asked to do the same. Any
one receiving No. SO will please return
the letter without copies, that ending
the chain. Any one not wishing to
write these letters, are asked to return
to Miss Brown their letter that we may
know the chain is broken. This may
seem like small matter, but any one
breaking the chain will involve serious
loss to the enterprise"
Some one, not knowing its loss has
evidently broken the chain, or one OF
its many divisions has travelled faster
than others. My number was 27. If
every one had written his or her three
letters up to No. 81, Miss Brown would
have received, to date, over twenty tril.
lion stamps, and every man, woman and
child, heathen and Christian in the
world, would have been written to over
a thousand times. No one can imagiue
what would have been the result if the
chain remained unbroken to No. so. 1t
would have been impossible. The en-.
tire population of the globe could not
write small portion of the letters in
their life time. shall break the cham
out of consideration to the mail carrier
at Knoxville. As the following from
the Advocate was written week ago, his
burden must now be greatly increased
The postmaster at Kaneville, ILL.,, be.
lieves in the universal spirit of philan.
thropy. Kaneville is crossroads town
on the prairie, without railroad, nine
miles northwest OF Aurora, Ill. The
nearest railroad station is Sugar Grove,
five miles distant. The mail OF the
ordinarily does not amount TO
twenty-five letters day; but Kaneville
is the postoffice of Edna Brown, who
started "chain by means of which she
sought to collect million stamps, stat.
ing that for that number of stamps a
medical institute had offered to cure free
of charge, young lady who had been a
cripple since she was six years OF age.
Edna Brown is the maiden name of Mrs.
Garman, wife of a young blacksmith,
whose sister is the cripple. Mrs. Gar
man one day wrote letter to three diff.
ferent persons, asking each to make
three copies of this letter and send to
three of her friends, and each of these
persons was requested to do the same |
N turn each recipient of letter being |
asked to send ten or more Cancelled |
stamps to Miss Edna Brown, Kaneville, |
Iii. This line of astonishing progress |
sion has extended until the postoffice at |
kaneville is completely overwhelmed. |
It is said that Miss Brown has already |
'eceived upwards of 100000 stamps,
md the deluge promises to continue for |
:ome time. The mail carrier is up in
arms because he has now no room in his
stage for passengers. The government |
g receiving daily 5000 to $500 postage |
IN the letters sent to Miss Brown. Some
)f the letters contain money orders
others contain whole sheets OF stamps |
lust as they come from the postoffice, |
Except with an ink line drawn through. |
The mail, being too large for one per.
Jon to examine, is parcelled out among |
neighboring farmers wives, who, for |
he pleasure they find in reading the |
ettere, open them and trim the stamps |
Tor the young cripple. Notwithstanding |
the chain is only about half completed,
an average OF from 5000 to 10000 letters |
q day is received at the postoffice for
Miss Brown, besides boxes and bundles |
Of stamps by mail and express. One
day the number received was 1900
The mail clerks on the train are asking
when this thing will end, and the post
master shakes his head, and mournfully
replies that he also would like to know.
FIG