Weekly graphic. [volume] (Kirksville, Adair Co., Missouri) 1880-1949, 1895-01-25
SWAMPED BY STArlPS.
Respectfully,
ALICE M. OTTo.

the chain in Edna Browns postag
stamp collection scheme is no
broken soon the little village O
Kaneville will have the who'll
world at its feet and the postmaS
ter will be a raving maniac. Unit
a bright idea illumined the min(
of Edna Brown several months agt
and was promptly put into execu
tion by her, Kaneville rested il
the obscurity which had surround
ed it since the frs settlement some
fifty years ago. Since the ides
took form and grew, all this has
changed. In addressing a letter
TO Kaneville it is no longer neces
sary to add "Kane County, il
will go straight to its destination
without it. Nay, more. leave of
"Illinois' and the mail clerks
will forward the letter at once to
the only township in Kane county
Illinois, which is without rail.
road. Even address to Miss Ed
ma Brown, without further specifi-
cation, and the chances are ii
will soon after arrive at the Kane,
vile postoffice and increase the
despair which has seized upon the
soul of Postmaster SchollhOIn. To
be sure no such person exists as
Miss Edna Brown, but the letters
would go straight as a die because
the name has become familiar to
every postal clerk in the country.
There was once Il Miss Edna
Brown in kaneville. She lives
there yet, but was induced to
change her name by young black
smith named Garman- who has a
crippled sister. Miss Garman is
in her teens and has been a cripple
from girlhood. Mrs. Garman was
always considered an inoffensive
sort of a person until this brilliant
idea seized upon her. No one
ever expected she would "seU the
river on fire. supposing that
kaneville had river, much less
did they anticipate she would set
the town by the ears and make its
name a household word through
out the length and breadth of the
country.
Her idea was, in brief, to col
lect cancelled postage stamps fol-
her crippled sister-in-law along
the line of geometrical progression.
The next day af er its inception
three very inoffensi e looking let.
ters left the Kaneville postof1ice
addressed to three different people
and signed by Mrs. Garman's S
maiden name, Edna Brown. The
letters went on to say that she
was a cripple and desired to col
lect a million cancelled po tage
stamps in order to secure treat
ment in a medical college. Each
of the three persons addressed was
asked to send Miss Brown ten OF
more Cancelled postage stamps and
to write three letters containing
similar requests: their correSpOn.
dents to send stamps and write
other letters, and so on until the
tlftieth line in the chain should be
forged. Those receiving letters
marked so were asked not to rite
other letters but to return the forty
ninth letter to Edna Brown, thus
ending the chain.
Just why Mrs Garman saw fit
to stop her chain at fifty does not
appear. Possibly some idea OF
the awful thing she had done
crossed her mind. To appreciate
what happened it must b. remem-
bered that kaneville is cross
roads town on the prairie, with
out railroad, nine miles north
west of Aurora. The nearest rail-
road station is Sugar Grove, five
miles south. In the whole thirty
six square miles comprising the
township there are perhaps thirty
houses, and % letters day would
be big mail. The kaneville mail
is sent to Sugar Grove by train and
from there is taken to the post
office by stage twice a day. A few
days after the dauntless three let
ters went forth the postmaster be
gan to receive a good many letters
for Edna Brown. 1t surprised him
knowing every man, woman, child
and dog in the town was aware OF
Iss Brown marriage. His sur
prise soon deenanad into aStoni Sh