Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1898-08-14
; : : :
BaNsT WHlrE re- HeR,
Miss ePhsash 4ssKssts Having st3stea .s
:.Fspdless CHAIN

:spdiess Chain.
Miss Natalie Schenck of Babylon, l..
l., started an endless chain" of let
tiers to- raise money for the Ice Plant
Auxiliary of the National Red Cross
society. Four weeks later Postmaster
Dowden and Chief Of Police Weeks
OF that village were III despair, and Miss
Schenck and her mother have asked
papers to announce that they wisl.the
chain broken and the influx Of letters
and money to cease.
Miss Schenck is II years old. She
took a great interest in the war and
decided to help the Red Cross move
ment. Her mother is cousin If Mrs.
August Belmont, and during the sum
mer they live with Mrs. Schenck's
brother, Mr.. Matthew Morgan It was
from MIR. Morgans house that Miss
Schenck wrote to a number of her
friends asking each of them to send
her 10 cents and to write to four Of
their friends with the. same request.
The letter sent out was as follows
The ice plant auxiliary in conncc-
ton with the National Red Cross, be-
Ing in need of money to supply the am
, bulance ships, chain has been formed
to collect some. and if you. on receiv-
ing this, will make four copies and
send them to four of your friends you
| will greatly help the wounded soldiers.
| When you have made four copies,
please return this letter to Miss Ma
talie Schenck. Babylon, Long Island,
with 10 cents inclosed. The number
starts at one and ends at one hundred,
so that the person receiving the lat
ter number will send 10 cents to Miss
Schenck same address, without max
ing copies. Please number the head OF
each copy and make them exactly like
this one, only number the next high
est number and sign your name and
address to each copy Please make no
delay in sending out copies. and, above
all, do not break the chain that means
SO much to our brave soldiers on land
and sea"
Within three days Miss Schenck had
received three or four answers. The
next day the number was slightly :r-
| creased. Within a week Postmaster
Dowden noticed that she was getting
a hundred letters a day.
That's a good many" said Postmas-
ter Dowden, but all of sudden
things took big jump. The post Of
fee was swamped by Miss Schenck ::
letters. had to hire an extra clerk,
and one morning over $500 letters
came to her in the one mail"
Then postry ster Dowden began re-
ceiving lette.A of inquiry asking If
Miss Schenck was really collecting
money for the Red Cross or if it was a
swindle
They inclosed stamps said the
postmaster mournfully, so | had to
answer them. l am not Obliged to an
swer letters Of inquiry, but if don't
then some kicker writes to Washing
ton that l am keeping their stamps
Why, I've sent hundreds of answers tc
inquiries. simply taking their letters
and indorsing them This is o. X
OF the letters received, more than
1000 contained no money. The eX-
cuses were many and varied. Many o.
the writer's declared their hostility t
the scheme. One woman wrote 81,
closely written pages explaining tina
i.~- ~e~ls that Ohio IL:
not afford to write the four letters re
quired, but she approved of the scheme
She failed to inclose 10 cents, how.
ever
All letters were not like these The
majority contained dimes, but severa
had dollar bills. and number sen
checks. The postmarks showed tha
the chain had reached to every stat,
IN Ii" ''"';;:4 - Se4ada. to MeXlco
and even to cuba. A lcIuer contaln7l.
a dime came from Mrs Mckinley; an.
other came from Mrs. James A. Car.
field, while a letter from President Sic
kinley is saved and is highly priced
The Hon. Levi P. Morton also sent {
dime. as did each member OF his fam
lily
This is undoubtedly the most sue
cessful endless chain ever started,
said Mrs. Schenck, and had l realized
what my daughter was starting
would have stopped it. We did no
consider what the patriotic American:
were capable of. We want it stopped.
Mr. Morgan thinks that Postmastel
Dowden deserves great credit "rht
daily mail in this village" said Mr.
Morgan. does not average over 300 let
ters day. Here it jumps to nearly
twenty times as much. think tn,
government ought to stand the eXtr;
expense Postmaster Dowden is put to
and if it don't | will
The following table will show ius
now far an endless chain" will gt
when the mnltiplier is four and tn,
series is continued only to twenty:
..-...........
II
&.
Observation-Disclosures. 25,
1902
s Observation-Disclosures 1896
1888
................... C5.53t
9 Observation-Disclosures. 2G2 IA,