Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1897-06-26
SECURED GREELEY.
HOW THE GREAT EDITORS HAND
WRITING SERVED A TURN.

Its I1Iegibility Was Taken Advantage OF
by the Manager of tho Country Fair,
and tho People of Oswcgo Falls Saw
and Heard the Lion of the Day.
Every composition who ever put in
type any ofHoraco Greeley copy will
certify to the fact that his handwriting
was almost illegible. 1t was the despair
of the composing room, and even Gree
ley himself couldn't always deciphcr 1t.
A man who was many years ago presi-
dent of the Oswcgo County Agricultural
association said several days ago that he
had good reason on one occasion to be
thankful that Mr.. Greeley's writing
was hard to decipher. This fact secured
for him star attraction ut the fair
which he could not have obtained other
wise. The association of which he was
president made great effort each year
to Guido rival associations i'll its fair,
and one of its regular attractions was Il
distinguished speaker who delivered m
address to the crowd on any subject that
he might select
when 1 was made president, " said
the ex-oiliccr Of the association, I WAS
Young and ambitious. wanted TO give
the best fair that ever had been held ut
Oswego Falls, and l was willing TO
work hard TO accomplish such result.
Long beforehand I stirred up the farm
ers to raise big sQuashes and pumpkins,
and prepared Il good schedule OF horse
races. secured Il man to make Il bal
loon ascension, and all that was lacking
in my programme was the speaker.
"At that time Mr.. Greeley was the
most conspicuous man i'll tho United
States. We all wanted to sec him and
hear him speak He was very busy
man, however. and | knew that we had
about one chance III ten of securing
him. determined to take that chance.
After much preliminary thought and
many consultations with others | pre-
pared and sent to him very creditablc
invitation TO attend our fair and deliver
an address on any subject that he chose.
l assured him that he would find only
friends III his audience, and | said tha!
we had long looked for such an oppor-
tunitv TO hear him. Two days later the
village postmaster told me that he had
a letter that he thought was addressed
TO me- | had heard Il good deal about
Greeley's handwriting, and | knew at
once that this WAS my reply from Mr..
Greeley When l opened the envelope. |
found \ sheet of paper on which were
irregular scrawis that I couldn't de-
cipher With several of my friends l
puzzled over it Il long time, but could
not read it. remembered that the ed
itor of our paper had ut one time been
familiar with Mr. Greeley's handwrit-
ing, and took the letter to him. He
was little out OF practice but he de-
ciphered it after half an hours eXami-
nation. Mr. Greeley regretted that he
was unable to accept our invitation.
That was great disappointment TO me.
l thought it over, and suddenly it
dawned on me that there was JUST Il
chance that might by strategy get Mr..
Greeley to Oswego Falls after all. l
sent him another letter that must have
staggered him. Mr.. Greeley was well
aware of the fact that his writing was
almost illegible, aud he WAS never
much surprised when his letters were
misconstrued. 1 simply took advantage
of that, and in my second letter |
thanked him for accepting our invita-
ton. To leave him no loophole for es-
cape, told him that we had begun to
distribute handbills announcing the
fact that he was going to deliver the
address at the fair. and l added that |
had ordered the printers to place his
name in big letters on our three sheet
posters. | knew that when he got my
letter he would conclude that we had
read his letter declining the invitation
as letter of acceptance, and l hoped
when he learned how far we had gone
with our printing that he would con-
clude to come.
.'We received 10 reply from Mr..
Greeley, but from time to time we sent
him our posters and information about
the fair and the town. y week before
the day set for the address we sent him
time table and told him on what
train we should look for him. | YVES
uneasy all this time, because l knew
that if Mr. Greeley didn't turn up |
should be blamed When the day for
the great event arrived, | went to the
station to await the train. Sure enough,
Mr.. Greeley was on board. introduced
myself to him as the man who had sent
him the invitation and who had re-
ceived his very kind acceptance Mr..
Greeley looked at me closely, and there
was a suspicion OF smile on his face.
f" You had no difficulty i'll reading
my letter. he said.
"'W Well, it was little hard to deci-
pher it at first, replied, and we were
in doubt for few minutes whether you
mad said Yes or NO" TO our invita-
ton. When we did decipher the letter,
we were very much pleased to find that
you had agreed to come.
g" Humph!' said Mr. Greeley express
lively. You ordered your posters at
once, didn't you:'
Eyes, replied, we wanted every
one to know what an attraction we had
to offer
'Mr. Greeley again looked at me
closely, as if he were bit suspicious
He delivered the address, and the
largest crowd in the history of the as
ISOLATION heard him. Whether he
suspected the trick had played Oh
him never discovered. He intimated
to one of MY friends that ne had his
suspicious, and he made the remark
that would make ~ excellent politi-
clan. That was his only comment. l
still have Nj. G1eeleys letter, and any
one who will examine it will see how
easily it might have been mistaken for
an acceptance. New York Sun.
The Roman Fishermen.
A traveller III Rome tells of citizen
who was evidently too lazy to sit Oh
the bank Of the Tibcr and fish after the
1 AZ. ~ -. b..