The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1895-04-19
the one for whom they were in

the one for whom they were intended.
So the chain was started, but no one
of those Immediately connected with
the enterprise stopped to realize what
the outcome would be. About the 2Sth
of June, 81. the first results of the
chain began to appear At the same
time the kaneville postmaster received
several letters inquiring about the
kaneville hospital and cripple of his
town named Edna Brown. Without
stopping to investigate-what need OF
investigation when he knew every pan,
woman and child. and every bob-N led
dog for ten miles around?-he answered
positively that kaneville did not pos
sess a hospital, that only one girl by
the name of Edna Brown lived there
and that She was certainly not in need
of medical assistance Then the pa
pers began to cry fake.
From a mail of a hundred letters q
week the kaneville receipts >wellci to
fifteen and twenty thousand letter.
daily. kaneville does not possess a
railroad. and the mail was carried from
stage coach. a very satisfactory ar
rangement under ordinary circuia-
stances. but hardly sufficient to accom-
modate stamp chain. No longer would
the top OF the crazy coach bear the
ever increasing burden. and the mail
pouches were packed and pressed and
crowded inside while the occasional
passengers found themselves compelled
to walk or catch ride" with some
obliging farmer. The poor postmaster
was paralyzed. No more time TO gossip
with the village preacher about the
latest wedding, the only thing that
occurs to break the Kaneville monotony;
no more time to pitch quots with the
boys in the street; no time for anything
but to sort and stamp letters and to pile
them up for delivery to Edna Brown.
The postmasters wife was called in and
pressed into service. Then there was
nobody to tend store" and the farm
ers' wives were kept waiting with their
butter and eggs. which they were anx-
ions to exchange for factory cloth and
molasses. That wasn't nice After
this they would take their product to
a market where they could get waited
on; Elburn was not so far away. and
Elburn had just as pretty calicoes as
kaneville and paid just as good prices
for eggs, too.
Then the bewildered postmaster got
mad. He sat down and wrote to Wash
ington that he did not propose to handle
twenty thousand letters a day on two
hundred and fifty dollars a year, that
he wasn't in Kaneville for the sake of
the postmastership and that his gro
sery trade was going 10 wreck and
ruin through that fool of a stamp chain.
that Mr. Bis>ell must either put a stop
TO it or send somebody to look after ii.
Mr.. BiSSell couldn't stop 1t. so Kane
ville's postmaster had an assistant
offered him, and was advised to be
patient, for the chain must end some
time. But the chain has not ended.
and the Kaneville post Office is still
swamped with letters. But the chain
was started. and neither the Kaneyllle
postmaster nor the loud cries OF the
press could stop it.
Kaneville itself has gone daft over
the unheard-of sensation. At the be-
ginning Mettie opened the letters that
were brought to her. carefully removed
the stamps from the envelopes and tied
them up into neat packages. But soon
the work became too extensive for the
IL
the family and friends offered assist
ance. But with them all to help only
a small portion of the daily mail could
be opened. Then the Garman cellar
was brought into play and drygoods
boxes filed with unopened letters
gradually accumulated until the small
apartment was packed to the ceiling.