The times., 1899-10-01
some CURIOUS LETTERS
Queer Epistles That Come to Gov.
ernment Officials.
One Man Enters an Objection to n
Charges, Reads His Postal Cards
and Papers-A Confederate Veteran
Requests "a Violin of the President.

Many queer letters are received In the
Executive Departments in Washington,
and the clerk who has to read his chiefs
mail frequently finds epistles that pro-
woke laughter. All the communications are
answered, even though they are unintelli-
gible, for a failure to answer them would
only bring more letters.
From several departments Times re-
porter gathered few of the curious let
ters. The names of the writers and their
residences are not made public.
Here is one where the author had dog
days and snake badly mixed:
Deer Sur: 1 thought l would let you know
gest the fix am in in 1873 l was bit on my
leg By rattle snake and for the last years
/ am in dog days that is when it bit me the
Z of August 1873 am blind all through dog
dayes my leg is the color OF a snake spotted,
brakes and runs, last year it layed me up A
months. / do not eat or drink nothing in Au-
gust if I bit a piece of meat in dog days 1t
turns green in 20 minutes. ] feel awful cross
and want to Bite everything that comes near
me, the snake eurls up on my foot and stays
there through dog dayes and my cripple arm
j got through soldering so | think l am de-
serving good pension
Here follows a letter from the South
west:
81 lost my eyesight at the age of 8 days the
Rebles com there and under took to force my
Government that caused my mother to be up all
night on the second day of my birth from which
she tooken cold and / nurced the same from her,
have not been able to day light since / am
| depending upon the public for my support since
my father died he brave soldier and fought
| hard for your side
| A country physician wrote the following
and mixed not only the dates, but the
symptoms of his patient:
Sur: 1 surtiiy treted the sed sojer FUN 1883
| to Date-foarmerfy his stumck tube iined
! to his nervous systim but now it are rotted off
cosng great expectoring and hard of breth
Your obdt servt-
This old veteran wanted violin, and he
wrote the following letter to the Presi-
dent:
Dear Sir: am old confederate yetran serv-
| ed in the exconfederate army of the lost case
! from the fact i thought write | served four
long years in the latter Part of 1854 l Mortal
| ly wounded was shot on the left OF my
! chest the ball intring Passing through missing
! My hart About inch the ball Logging in Ny
| left leg the ball still remaining in My leg
! though Ny leg is cut off with the bullet still
in it so / am in bad shape and would like
| to Pass the time of as Mutch so can so
/ Humbaly asst you Mr.. President to Present Me
| individual to Me good viaean and | believe
You will for have stood By you please send
| Me present Of a volean.
A horse and the night air made this
man a perfect wreck:
/ Dear Sir: Yours received treted VIM. Akens
| after She cum Hoam from the surfis for polypup
IN his nose and Running soar in his pastur joint.
| The polypup cum from the mite and es-
| posur.
The wounde cum from the cick of boars
The following letter comes from a New
England State:
| / got kicked by COW while drawing milk fer
union patierot and l wan $500 er yere an will
Civ you half the stuff eff you git the list.
r1,;c o,,,e ~ t.
mon one in country villages, but her let
ter is original:
i tell yo how old soiers are treated by
our Red heded postmistris she only fourth
class anyhow and keeps astoar redenge all tine
postei cards & letters too, wich we can't get ouI
papers tel she have the same red herself She
reports to Com. Pleusins that my husben died
of devilment wieh are a DUN lie he die OF the
army and he war more piouser than our dun
Red heded postmistris &c. Your truly,
This letter is probably not intended as
an advertisement for a particular brand
of pills, but to show how a man Car
cure himself when the best doctors have
failed:
At Bermuda Hundrad had great deal o.
trouble with my bowels The Dr. gave me qui
nine-no good. One day a member of our bant
the base drummer-gave me 4 boxes OF Pills
! helped. At Red River l again at
tackled with dyspepsia and bowels. / went anC
got a bottle of French red wine and pound O
cheese which cured me at onct. The DR.. don'
me good.
While in Tennessee got sunstroke and nov
l have cold airs resting my lungs and Ange
lima Pictorials, which the DR.. says is a resul
Of sunstroke. ]. II. S.
This mans claim is well founded, ant
his request may be granted in time:~
We workin the canal aroun iland no
TO- We eutten down trees under water
Tha was tug steamboat pulling out tina trees
One end OF the rope tached to tha Captain
(capstan) tha other end to tina tree. The rop
slack under the water. ! in the water tn
water was up to my waste. straddel TIL
rope but unbeknownst- al OF a suddent tha stem
, er footed, tha rope titned and war throne h.
to Breakfast and now, by gum, want pensin.
The writer of this letter did not get hi
claim allowed, but he is still writing am
insisting that he deserves a pension.
! hoop you would take know offence a gains
me nor think of me (sor). don't doc this so
4 too insult you my dear friend. Sor am knoy
solger in the | Snever in eny rig
ment and all | clame my pencion is my gu
g bote paten (patenD which god handed in
c yishen to from hevan all jonted upp. go
+, diden't doc this for my ingre Qnjury) go
: never dos eney thing wrong. My gun bote bote
goot burnt when my hous burnt please send m
check for 33, 900 dollars