The Portland daily press., 1895-01-19

cancelled postage stamps to
Miss Edna Brown,
Kaneville
Kane Co.,
Also the name and address of those to
whom you have written, and they are
to do the same.
Anyone receiving number fifty will
please return to Miss Brown without
copies as this ends the chain. Anyone
not wishing to write these letters is re-
ouested to return this, SO that Miss
Brown may know that the chain has
been broken. Although this may seem
small matter to you get anyone break
ing the chain will involve serious loss
to the enterprise.
Signed.
The lady who received the above letter
made three copies of 1t as requested,
mum bered them Copy %" and gave one
of them to another lady who resides in
the same house, and who to test the
genuineness of the enterprise" resolved
to take measures to find out about it.
So she addressed letter to the pastor
of the Congregational or any other
church in Kaneville, H., having previ-
ously found out that Kaneville is small
place of about 1000 inhabitants and To-
Gated about miles from Chicago. In
due time she received the following re
ply: -, -,
Jan. 10, 1895.
Miss -, Portland, Me,
housekeeping to your inquiry
concerning chain of letters, of which
you enclose sample copy. allow me
to say that Miss Edna Brown is worthy
yonng lady residing in this village and
was moved by humane impulse in
which you inquire The statements
made by her In the original letter were
no doubt strictly true, but in passing
through the hands of SO many people.
who have "read between the lines" and
then instead of carefully copying Miss
Browns statements have written out
their own impression and sent them out
as facts, the real facts have been greatly
The Young lady for whose benefit the
stamps are being collected, is not
myth, but vital su bstantial young lady
and she has been cripple since she was
six years old. Her name is Miss Matte
German. She wants to go to Chicago
for treatment, but lacks the means. 1t
is not true that medical institute" in
Kaneville or elsewhere, has offered to
treat herr if she will collect lone million
cancelled postage stamps" Neither she
nor Miss Brown has ever made or author
lied any such statement. The simple
truth is that Miss Brown has started this
| "chain" OF letters for the purpose of col
Letting stamps and selling them to col
lectors and dealers and giving the pro-
ceeds to Miss German to aid her In pro-
curing treatment in Chicago. This is all
there is in 1T.
Now while take pleasure in saying
that Misses Brown and German are
worthy young ladies and have my SYM
pathy in this undertaking allow me also
to say that I hope you will not do any
thing to extend or continue the letter
chain.
Miss Brown has received several mil
lion of stamps already and they are still
coming by hundreds OF thousands daily.
our postmaster is overworked and this
"chain" letter business is becoming
burden and nuisance to this community.
Sincerely yours
Tt remains only to be said that the
ladies residing at No. 152 Pearl street
have complied with the request of the
pastor and have not added to the burden of
Kaneville by sending postage stamps there
or asking their friends to do SO. They
have learned that others in this city
have received this "chain" letter and
that some have followed its instructions
though not without some grumbling
since it involved the bother OF writing
three fairly long letters and paying out
in all eight cents for postage and to have
to do this for some unknown person hun
dreds of miles away and perhaps
swindler did seem to be something OF an
imposition.
Similar letters have been received in
Bath and elsew here in Maine. 1t has
been reckoned that these letters multiply
so fast, increasing by three every time,
that number 10 would mean LOGO, 600
stamps fer Miss Brown. il every body
obeyed the letter as seems to have been
the case, it would also mean 100, 600
letters, for the wretched postmaster III
Kaneville to handle, without any in
crease of salary thereby.
A million postage stamps will about
ell two barrels; that is, 100000 will fill
one barrel. If Miss Brown had not dis
posed of her several millions" she must
by this time have built an addition to
! her house.
Let us hope that her success will not
induce some swindler to operate SINH
larry for base, personal motives, for
though we cannot give any figures, there
| is no manner of doubt but that MIL
lion canceifed postage stamps nave a
at.