The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1903-08-27
Letter from a Delinquent Subscriber.
We shall be glad to receive anu panhsh
others, accompanied by checks.

We shall he glad to receive and publish
others, accompanied by checks.
To THE EDITOR OF THE JOURNA AL: In
closed you will find check which you may
get cashed on one condition, and that is,
you shall publish this letter. The reason
why it must be published is, that it may
teach others the futility of trying to avoid
paying their subscriptions. Some years
ago conceived the idea that l was in some
way comforting a favor on the editor of The
Journal in reading his paper, and SO its
weekly arrival was looked upon with a sort
of condescension little short OF contempt.
Of course l read the home news, how Mr..
Smith had visited Swanville, Mrs. Jones'
hens had begun to lay, the widow Clark
had ''chopping bee," the old lady Overlook
had lost her "specks," and the rest of those
occurrences that make up local history.
They seem very trivial to- strangers, but
they are serious facts to the native.
Now, won't say how many years ago it
was, but one day l glanced with indiffer-
ence over the columns of "County Ccrre-
spondence," when my eye lighted upon my
own name 1t was the first time l had
seen it printed that way. 1t was followed
by the letters p. d., which of course ought
to have been Ph. ID. | at first attributed
the mistake to the compoSitor, but could
scarcely understand how such gross blum
der could have escaped the eye OF the proof
reader. A friend came to my assistance,
and explained that those cabalistic letters
were often used by traders who ran cred
it business, and indicated poor devil. That
explained the matter completely, and the
phraR SO exactly suited my condition that
my respect for The Journal was vastly in
creased. | at once resolved to read it more
carefully in hopes of finding an equally
good estimate of some OF my friends in
Waldo county, knowing that many of them
deserved degrees as honorable as my own; !;
but 1 failed to find that any of them were
ever sized up with such accuracy as myself.
So matters have stood for the past few
years, the paper has followed me from place
to place, but for some reason itnever Occurr-
ed to me that l ought to pay for it. The
yellow slip on the cover never attracted
special attention, for it seemed to concern the
pOSt OllCe uepdIIl IlueHt ulOIe GudH uIe. IL
was my wife that first made the trouble.
She asked me if was not owing consider
able for my ''down east" paper, and intimat-
ed that probably my credit might be improv-
ed if the bill were paid. 1 made light of her
remarks, as usually do of her advice, wish
ing to retain the enviable reputation indica-
ted by the p. d. But few months ago, Mr.
Editor, received from your office most
scandalous document; in the eyes of the law
just enough, perhaps, but to me most repre-
hensible. Of course you will not admit it,
now that you have the check, but | will take
occasion here to state that it was a dunning
letter you sent me, and to the honorable
title which formerly appeared with my
name, you added another letter, so that it
now stands p. d. q.
Now, shall probably continue to take
your paper as long as | live, and shall pay
for it when l can't help it; but wish to re-
mark to anyone in arrears with his subscrip-
ton, that it is Just as well to pay up at once
unless he delights in honorary stiles, Or has
no wife and no conscience, which in the end
amounts to about the same thing
j. n. CLARKE.