The Green Forest tribune., 1904-02-20
FACTS ABOUT MISS GRAHAM
Relatives Feel She Has Been
 Done a Great Injustice.

Relatives Feel She Has Been
 Done a Great Injustice.
 The relatives of Miss Mamie Graham here feel that she has been done very great injustice by the following paragraph which we clip from the Berryville Pro- press of last issue:
 "A fraud order has been issued by the post office department against Miss Mamie Graham of Green Forest. About two years ago some of her friends, without Investigating the postal laws which forbids the use of the mails for such purposes, started an endless chain letter arrange ment for her benefit for the pur- pose of buying her piano. The letters stated that she was blind and needed assistance and the letters met with a ready response and she soon received enough to buy the piano. But the chain was started and continued to grow. As howing how wide spread are these letters the editor recently received in the same mail two of the chain letters, one from Silex, Ark, and the other from Kansas City, Mo. Returns at Green Forest amounted to some S4.00 or S5 .00 per day and since the chain was started it is estimated that Miss Mamie has received not less than S4 ,00O or 5000. She now lives on her farm somewhere in the southern part of the state and the recent order of the post office department will materially lessen her reven- ues. She was perhaps worthy object of charity, but her friends fell on 8 wrong plan to raise money and overdone the matte er."
 This statement is erroneous in several of it's assertions and in behalf of Miss Graham and her relatives, and friends who have assisted her in this matter, THE TRIBUNE will give space to a statement of the facts as they actually exist.
 About two months ago there was an order made by the postal department requesting the post master here to mark the letters received here as fraudulent and return them to the writer where addres was given and to forward such as bears no return card to the dead letter office at Washing ton. This order, however, has been rescinded at the option of the department itself, and the letters are marked ''refused" upon the order of Miss Graham, she being powerless to stop them from coming.
 The scheme was put on foot about four years ago, not in violation of the postal laws, for there is no regulations whatever against such operations. It was not started as an endless chain, the original letters stating tha when the series of numbers was carried to % an ample sum would be realized for the purch ase o1 the desired piano. Each person addressed was requested to senc five cents and write three letters asking three friends to write three and so on, making like requests numbering one higher each time than the number of the one re. ceived. In the course of time the serialnumber was dropped ir some of the letters and others made the objective number reao 215, some one evidently having accidently placed 1 between the ? and the 5, consequently the chain was not stopped.
 The chain has brought to Miss Graham's address here during this time letters averaging from tw elve to fifty daily. Most O.
 them contained 5 cents, a few O them more, while quite a numbe