The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-08-03

Just for the Fun of 1t.
Maud Holmes had never gotten such
letter. She said she thought the
stories of matrimonial agencies were a
Joke. But when this letter came to her
promising more letters as 1t did she
thought it would be great run TO ans
Wer. she waited until she saw her
sister, Nellie Holmes, who is a school
teacher in the district south of Galya.
then they two composed an answer
which would be discreet and at the
same time give opportunity for further
correspondence.
Nellie Holmes was inclined to the
belief that someone in the neighbor-
mood was having fun with her sister,
ana as the correspondence grew Maud
came to the same opinion. However,
Maud wrote for pictures and descrip-
tons with all the assurance of an old
hand at such work
Mauds first note, written with much
giggling secrecy, reads:
Dear Sir: Your letter of the Goth at
Maud. was very much surprised to re-
celFe Such a letter from an entire Sfrang-
er. l am not in the habit of correspond
ing with strangers. But if it will give
you any pleasure you may write again.
Maud Holmes.
with long discussion of the weather
and his travels about the state in
search for good farming land. He eau
toned Miss Holmes against writing
TO him unless her parents were willing
and said he thought himself much old
er than she and therefore in a sense
her guardian. The second letter was
malled from a railway station near
Mcpherson.
In all the correspondence which fol-
lowed there was. new mailing point
for every Clark letter. Sometimes he
would write that he was back in Ohio
and would hand his letter to a friend to
be mailed from the San Francisco train
which passes through Galva. Some
tunes the letter was mailed by Clark
IN his travels. Whatever the plan Of
mailing, it was always mentioned in
the letter. And in keeping with this
explanation all the letters were mailed
on trains or at way stations. All bore
the postmark of some neighboring
town.
Every town within a radius of thirty
miles IS represented in this pack of let
tiers. Only one came from Toledo
Ohio, and that was marked by the
Toledo postmaster, "Remailed by re-
quest of sender"
Pen and Paper Lover Jealous,
Although Farmer Holmes did not
know his neighbor, doc" Ryno, it may
be that Ryno had watched and admired
his pretty younger daughter. There
are but two of the Holmes girls, and
they have had much attention from the
young men of the, neighborhood.
Whether Ryno wrote the letters or not
1T is evident from their trend that
clark was Jealous of the farmers bows.
once he wrote: Il trust that you do
not go to dances with young men. /
would not fail in fo;+
as to smile at any other woman
Again he wrote describing a dress
Which she had worn six months be-
fore. He explained his accuracy bv
saying that he dreamed Of her often
and always saw her clearly. "You are
quite tall" he wrote, 'and were dressed
in a red waist and a dark dress and
light-colored felt hat. Altogether Won
were a lady quite my ideal"
From this description the girls felt
certain that Mr.. Clark, whoever he
was. had seen Maud. They had fur
ther proof from the mailing Of the let
ters that the writer lived in their
nelghborhood. They took their moth
| er into confidence, but refused her adj
vice to stop the correspondence. They
were positive that they would in the
! end discover the writer, although thew
mad still no thought that it was any,
| thing but fun.
| Evidently feeling the need of sub
stantiating his claim to being actually
as he represented to be, Clark sent to
the county Republican at this time a
communication asking that his arrival
in the state and possible settlement
mere be mentioned. The paper at first
| took no notice Of the communication.
but later when it was repeated some
such announcement was made.
1t was about a year ago that the
item appeared and was copied by the
| other newspapers of the district. Ref
erence was made to the large sum OF
money Mr.. Clark intended to invest
IN land and of the fortune he had in
her1ted from an aunt and uncle. The
item closed with this interesting "but: .
! 1T is heard he is single gentleman