The record-union., 1899-03-31

what was up. On my next round I may
meet him, and his smile will tell me
that he has been accepted. If he has
been turned down re'k lool at me in a
way to bring the sshivers. Up to a
month ago I had an old chap on my
route who was in love with woman
in New Jersey. She began writing to
him in the fall of 1891 At the start
her letters came about once a fortnight.
After few weeks she wrote once a
week. Then she shortened her time to
twice week, and finally it gve 20 be
a daily correspondence. ne mast have
written as often as she did, and as
most of her letters were double postage,
it must have taken up most Of their
time. The old man, who might safely
have owned up to Being 65, never
missed meeting me at the front. door,
and for long time he had no excuses.
When her letters got to coming two or
three times a, week he thought some ex-
PLANTATION in order and said to me:
I'm the lawful guardian of my sis
ter-in-law, you know. and she cant
even pay bill without 1eellng that she
must write to me about it,
ALL WAS OVER BETWEEN THEM.
Il don't know what happened to
break EN- up,' sighed the carrier, but
few weeks ago her letters ceased
coming and after an interval of one
week one big, last letter arrived. That
that letter meant business and was
final could be told by the firm and dig
nified superscription. The old man had
worried a good deal during the week
and he looked dubious as I handed him
7 ha 1oft
and he said:
Some widders think themselves
mighty smart, but when you set law
yer to find out how much they are
worth it takes the sn1artness all out of
'em.'
II don't like to see love matches
broken up but of course I must deliver
whatever comes into my hands. One of
the unpleasant features of the work,
but one,in which there is more or less
humor, is the delivery of dunning let
ters. The knowledge that You owe a
| bill is unpleasant enough, but when
your creditor sends you statement Of
account in black and white it's like ad-
ding insult to injury. You'll think it
queer, but I'm honest in saying that
I've made personal enemies by deliver
ing dunning letters. The delivery makes
ME the connecting link between creditor
and debtor and the latter holds me re-
spOnsible. 1t is only in few cases,
however. Most people receive dunning
letters without emotion, taking it is a
part of the programme of life. A letter
carrier is a pretty good commercial
agency. He gets to know the people who
pay on receipt of the first bill and those
who hang off until they receive a third
and fourth. have man on my route
who has excited my admiration by his
manner of receiving duns.
ut doesn't look as if he ever paid out
d dollar in cash. He is the debtor of
doctors, coal men, grocers, butchers,
bakers, shoemakers, druggists ard dry
goods stores, and l have left him six
letters at a time without disturbing
his philosophy in the slightest. Law
yers get after him occasionally, as 1
can tell by the printing on the en-
velopes, but his smile is only chased
away for few minutes. In a year
have not delivered to him one single
letter which was not dun, yet he has
a .hello!' for every day and is letting
the other folks do all the worrying.
mere is one Dill, sdlu tiie carrier
! as he looked at his watch and began
to grow uneasy. which / can deliver
with a feeling Of assurance. No one
ever blames me for passing out that
letter. 1t is the family doctor bill. The
reason isn't so much that it's expected
and looked upon as necessary evil but
the recipient feels that he won't be
pushed and can pay at his own conven-
ieuce. l think most doctors are easy
with their patients. I know l some
times deliver the same bill a dozen or
twenty times before it is psad, and see
the people throwing the letters aside
without opening them If dunning let
ters bring me enemies, a. hundred circu-